Roach using tricks to motivate Pacquiao for Marquez fight

By Boxing News - 10/29/2011 - Comments

Image: Roach using tricks to motivate Pacquiao for Marquez fightBy Dave Lahr: After fighting Juan Manuel Marquez (53-5-1, 39 KO’s) twice previously and looking to have lost both of those fights, Manny Pacquiao (53-3-2, 38 KO’s) is in need of special help for him to try and finally beat the now 38-year-old Marquez on November 12th. Freddie Roach, Pacquiao’s long-time trainer, has resorted to tricks now to try and get Pacquiao to another level to where he can summon up enough will power to get past the tough Mexican.

“When Manny hits the speed bag I put a picture of him [Marquez] wearing that t-shirt, just to remind Manny. I said to Manny, ‘You don’t like this guy, do you?’ He just smiled and walked away. He will not answer me.”

Let me analyze this. Pacquiao is probably not saying anything because he doesn’t want tip his hand how much he burns inside about having been beaten in the two previous fights. And he likely doesn’t want Roach to know because if he gets battered again Marquez and loses, Pacquiao will lose face in front of his trainer. It’s better to keep quiet and mask your true emotions then to let your trainer know how bothered you were by the two previous fights and then put yourself into a situation where you have even more pressure on you. But doesn’t Roach seem more than a little desperate in seeking any trick possible to try and get Pacquiao to beat Marquez finally? How sad.

Roach says “He’s [Pacquiao] really extra motivated in this fight. He’s been a little harder on his sparring partners than usual.”

Of course Pacquiao is. He’s clearly worried. He already got punched around twice before by Marquez, and he doesn’t want to get dominated again by him, especially with Marquez nearing his 40th birthday. You know how bad that’ll make Pacquiao if he loses to a fighter that old? It’ll erase all the titles that Pacquiao has collected, some of them catchweight jobs, against a litter of opponents. It’ll make those wins look worthless, like collecting stamps without any value.



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