By John F. McKenna (McJack): In a report in today’s Sun Star trainer Freddie Roach is predicting that his fighter World Boxing Organization (WBO) welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao (53-3-2, 38 KO’s) will KO WBO/World Boxing Authority (WBA) lightweight champion Juan Manuel Marquez (53-5-1, 39 KO’s) in their Trilogy.

Pacquiao and Marquez will hopefully settle the score once and for all when they meet on November 12 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. The first two fights ended controversially with no clear cut winner. Pacquiao was held to a draw in 2004 and won a close decision in 2008.

Roach was quoted as saying “I expect Manny to knock that guy out. Manny used to have one hand before and move towards a single direction but Pacquiao is a complete fighter now.”

Roach went on to say that “Pacman” is a multi faceted fighter now as opposed to the one dimensional fighter who faced Marquez in 2004 and 2008.

Pacquiao has put on weight by adding muscle and now routinely fights as a welterweight while “Dinamita” still fights at lightweight. The Trilogy will be at a catchweight of 144 pounds. There is some question as to whether Marquez will be able to compete effectively at the higher weight.

Manny, who has always been known for his blazing speed has been able to take the speed with him to welterweight. Pacquiao has routinely fought bigger fighters than himself for the last several years. That will not be the case when Manny squares off against the smaller Marquez.

Trainer Roach is so confident that Pacquiao will knock out Marquez that he has indicated that the bigger question is not if he will knock out “Dinamita”, but what round.

Some of the talk by Roach may be intended to keep Manny focused on knocking out Marquez by letting the media know that he fully expects him to knock “Dinamita” out.
It is no secret that Roach was not happy with the touching of gloves and the hugging that took place in the Pacquiao – Mosley fight last May. He undoubtedly let Manny know of his displeasure. This time, Roach wants there to be no mistake that he wants Manny to knock out his foe.

Roach also wants to cut back the number of rounds Pacquiao spars from 150 to 100. Manny is a workaholic in the gym and Roach does not want to have a repeat of what happened in the Mosley fight in which over-training resulted in Pacquiao having leg cramps. The leg cramping prevented Manny from using lateral movement while he was attacking Mosley, leading some boxing analysts to suggest that “Pacman” who relies so heavily on speed was slowing down.

Roach’s major task in preparing his fighter for the match with Marquez will be to prevent Manny from leaving his fight in the gym.