By Esteban Garduno: Freddie Roach has been talking long hard for anyone that wants to hear him about how his fighter Manny Pacquiao is going to beat Joshua Clottey on March 13th. As you would guess, a lot of the predictions by Roach have made its way back to Clottey and angering him to the point where he seems totally obsessed with punishing Pacquiao and taking his World Boxing Organization welterweight title on Saturday night. Roach may think he’s doing Pacquiao a favor by trying to get into the head of Clottey with his trash talk, but it could make things much tougher for Pacquiao, because he’s the one that will have to be in the ring with the angry and committed Clottey, not Roach.

It’s usually not a good idea for a fighter to fight angry, because they don’t think clearly and make mistakes. However, in some cases being pissed off can actually help a fighter by making them even more willing to fight as hard they can. In Clottey’s case, he’s feeling really disrespected by the way that Roach has pointed out his flaws and predicted a knockout win for his fighter Pacquiao. This could hurt Pacquiao if Clottey is willing to go to any lengths to win.

Roach may not be aware of this, because he’s been out of the ring for ages and might not understand what it means to given an opponent extra motivation. Many trainers and coaches purposely bend over backwards not to upset their opponent by showing disrespect because they rightfully know that a motivated opponent is harder to deal with than one that has been treated well.

Roach may not know or care about any of this, because he seems to have become slightly cocky with the success that Pacquiao has had in the past five years. Roach is riding the gravy train and I think Roach has a feeling that Pacquiao is invincible in the ring. I don’t know if he is, but it doesn’t help to give an opponent extra motivation, especially if you’re not the one that’s going to be taking his shots.

Pacquiao will have to answer for the barbs that Roach has been slinging at Clottey for the past month, and he could end up taking a great deal more punishment as a result. Maybe Roach doesn’t care, because he seems to be trying to push Pacquiao into retiring in a couple of fights. But it won’t help Pacquiao if he gets beaten up by Clottey, and has nothing left for a subsequent fight against Floyd Mayweather Jr.

Roach should leave the trash talking to the fighter. If Pacquiao wants to downgrade Clottey, then he should be the one that does it and not Roach. It seems like Roach has taken over the job of Pacquiao by yapping 24/7 about how badly flawed Clottey is. Roach doesn’t like to keep his mouth shut, and prides himself on being outspoken, but he should at least think about what it could mean for his fighter.

If Clottey is willing to fight his heart out to make Roach eat his words, it will be Pacquiao who could end up paying for it.