Roach wants Pacquiao to rest until September 2013 to recover from KO

By Boxing News - 12/12/2012 - Comments

Image: Roach wants Pacquiao to rest until September 2013 to recover from KOBy Chris Williams: Trainer Freddie Roach doesn’t want Manny Pacquiao to get back in the ring in April like his promoter Bob Arum has already planned for him to fight. Roach thinks that’s way too soon after Pacquiao’s knockout loss to Juan Manuel Marquez last Saturday in Las Vegas, Nevada. Roach thinks Pacquiao needs a lot more time to recover from the effects of the knockout, and he prefers that he not fight until September 2013.

Roach said to Philstar.com “April or May is way too soon…you get hit with a shot like that and maybe you had a concussion. I wouldn’t be thinking of a fight until maybe September. That’s my idea of the soonest.”

That sounds like smart advice from Roach. If Pacquiao rushes back into the ring in four months to fight Marquez for a 5th time this April, there’s going to be a good chance that Pacquiao gets knocked out again. But even before that, Pacquiao will be getting a lot in training camp in March and early April, and that’s just way too soon for him to be getting hit hard after a knockout like the one he suffered against Marquez.

September is a good amount of time for Pacquiao to recover from the knockout because it gives him nine months for him to shake whatever effects from the bad knockout. Pacquiao was out cold for almost two minutes after getting blasted from a nice right hand from Marquez in round six of their scheduled 12 round fight. Pacquiao fell over like a tree that was cut down and he never even braced his fall.

Roach may have a hard time keeping Pacquiao out of the ring until September because if he fights only in September next year then he’ll miss two other big fight paydays, and I can’t see his promoter Bob Arum going along with that. I think Pacquiao will be back in the ring in April, and will likely fight four months after and then in third time near the end of the year.

It would be good for Pacquiao’s sake to wait until September before he gets back in the ring, but I don’t see Arum going along with the program. If Pacquiao only fights in September next year there will be a lot of lost cash, and I think Arum won’t let that happen. I suppose the rational will be something along the lines of ‘Boxing fans will lose interest in the Pacquiao-Marquez 5 fight unless it happens quickly to take advantage of the interest’ and ‘Marquez might lose to someone if we wait until September to fight.’

Marquez would have to get in a stay busy fight in April or May of next year because he’s not going to sit and wait until September before he fights again, and if he’s put in with someone too good he might possibly lose. Marquez is a great fighter but he’s still beatable now that he’s fighting at 140 and 147. If he’s put in with the wrong guy that can outwork him he might lose in theory, and that would wreck a Pacquiao-Marquez 5th fight.



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