Will the Pacquiao Vs. Margarito Fight Be Manny's Last?

9:00 PM // 0 comments // Ian Purugganan // Category: Pacquiao //

ON the day Manny Pacquiao was scheduled to fly to the U.S. for the final phase of training for the Antonio Margarito title fight, trainer Freddie Roach decided to drop a bombshell.

With all seriousness, Roach, 50, admitted possible retirement beckons upon the boxing champion, hinting the coming Nov. 13 bout with the towering Mexican from Tijuana may prove to be the last in Pacquiao’s illustrious career.

The famed trainer said Pacquiao’s job as congressman representing the province of Sarangani definitely has a lot to do with it.

“We are going to lose Manny Pacquiao to politics, for sure,” Roach said in an interview by BBC World Service.

Roach recalled he began to have a feel of the inevitable following a conversation with the world’s top pound-for-pound fighter just a few days after training camp opened up last month.

“After the first couple of days of training, Manny came up to me and said `I miss my job.’ And I said, `you’re at your job,’ and he said `no. I miss Congress’.”

The revelation Roach made came at a time when Pacquiao’s entourage was set to depart for the U.S. late Saturday night for the remaining two weeks of training before finally coming face-to-face with Margarito at the Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

The 31-year-old boxing champion sparred for the last time at the Elorde gym in Quezon City yesterday afternoon, going 10 rounds against sparring partners Amir Khan, the world light-welterweight champion, Michael Medina and Glen Tapia.

And unlike in the past, Roach admitted Pacquiao has been training with less passion this time.

“He’s getting better and better every day, but it’s coming a lot slower than usual,” he said. “Usually, Manny has his first sparring session and could fight 12 rounds the next day. I can’t say that at this point in the camp.”

And for the first time, Roach confessed to the popular British broadcasting company that they’re cramming in training camp now.

“We’re fighting against a big, strong guy who’s going to be in great shape and we’re a little behind schedule which is very unusual,” he said. “I’m not sure if it’s the size of the sparring partners that’s giving him trouble or he’s just not himself yet.”

Although Roach didn’t cite specific reasons, Pacquiao’s constant playing of basketball at night made him missed several morning workouts during their four-week stay in their high-altitude training camp in Baguio.

Pacquiao also traveled back to Manila twice during weekends to honor previous commitments he made as part of his job as Saranganin congressman.

Still, Roach remains optimistic things will turn out for the better once the group settles down in the U.S. and resume training at the Wild Card gym in Los Angeles.

“But we do have two hard weeks of sparring coming up before we start tapering off and slowing down and saving it for the fight,” said Roach.

Roach’s statement also put in danger the full-time shelving of a mega-showdown with unbeaten Floyd Mayweather Jr. in a fight the world obviously wants to see.