Roach: Pacquiao needs to be that 24-year-old that fought Marquez the first time

By Boxing News - 10/08/2012 - Comments

Image: Roach: Pacquiao needs to be that 24-year-old that fought Marquez the first timeBy Chris Williams: Trainer Freddie Roach is still pining away for the Manny Pacquiao he once knew back in the old days in 2004 when Pacquiao was a mere 24, struggling against Juan Manuel Marquez to earn a controversial 12 round draw in a fight that Pacquiao was totally dominated in from the 2nd round on. For Roach, that was Pacquiao at his best, the one-armed fighter that was incredibly easy to hit and who moved around the ring like he had a colony of red ants in his boxing trunks.

Roach told Maxboxing.com “Manny needs to be that 24-year-old that he was when we first fought him, and that’s what we’re gunning for. I’ve gone back and I’ve watched the first, second and third fights, and we’ve got to really, really get back to that perpetual motion that we had in the first fight.”

I’m sorry but it’s not possible for Pacquiao to be 24 again, and I’m surprised Roach is resisting the reality of Pacquiao’s advanced age. Let’s face it, Pacquiao will never see 24 again. For that matter, he’ll never see 29 again. Pacquiao is a much different fighter than he was a mere three years ago back in 2009 when he fought Miguel Cotto. Pacquiao could still at this point in his career; he hadn’t lost his ability to move. But since then, he’s become a plodder, he can’t fight as hard and he looks visibly older.

Is it a coincidence that his legs stopped working at the same time he started looking older? I think not. I believe they’re tied in with each other. For fighters with fast twitch nerve fibers like Manny Pacquiao, they slow down often by their early 30s and are basically shot. Look at the great sprinters in track. They lose it by the time they hit 32, 33, and basically have to retire. Pacquiao is one of those guys that got over with his hand speed, and now that his speed and movement are abandoning him, he’s getting exposed.

But I’m really surprised that Roach is wasting his breath longing for the Pacquiao from the past, when he of all people should know that once a fighter starts losing it they’re not going to age in reverse and get back to where they were when they were 24. It’s not going to happen. All this mumbo jumbo that Roach is bleating about Pacquiao using perpetual motion to beat Marquez isn’t possible. You can’t tell aging fighter to be 24 all of a sudden. Roach shouldn’t even waste time talking such nonsense. The only thing Pacquiao can hope for is to put out enough effort to maybe fight hard for one minutes of every round while catching his breath in the other two minutes.



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