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Freddie Roach has given his thumbs up to the idea of staging a fight between the sons of boxing legends and rivals Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr.
Emmanuel 'Jimuel' Pacquiao Jr. has been training for his second amateur fight later this week. Meanwhile, Koraun Mayweather has previously been spotted training with his father.
When asked about a fight between the two youngsters, the Hall-of-Fame trainer replied:
“I like that.”
Watch FightHype.com’s full interview with Freddie Roach:
The multi-time Trainer of the Year awardee has been training Pacquiao Jr. for his second amateur bout on May 12.
The 21-year-old made a successful start to his boxing career in March, winning his first match via decision after a hard-fought contest.
Pacquiao and Mayweather dominated boxing for more than a decade. They squared off in 2015 in a match called the 'Fight of the Century', which ended with 'Money' beating 'PacMan' on points.
Freddie Roach and Manny Pacquiao’s 20-year friendship
Roach molded Pacquiao from a raw, undisciplined slugger into the refined eight-division world champion that he is known as today. Their partnership, which started in 2001, produced a dozen world titles and terrorized multiple weight classes.
The trainer shared with Sports Illustrated why he thinks his partnership with ‘PacMan’ lasted for two decades. He bared that unlike many prizefighters, Pacquiao takes losing well.
This was further proven by Roach staying in the Filipino’s corner despite suffering losses at the hands of Erik Morales, Timothy Bradley, Juan Manuel Marquez, and Floyd Mayweather Jr.
The lone hiccup in the relationship between the two was possibly the Jeff Horn loss in 2017. After a widely disputed defeat in Australia, Roach suggested Pacquiao, a Filipino senator during that time, needed to choose between politics and boxing.
Afterwards, the two didn’t speak for over a year—a span that included Pacquiao stopping Lucas Matthysse in 2018. The long-time partners eventually reconciled. Their reunion led to Pacquiao’s wins over Adrien Broner and Keith Thurman in 2019.
The 41-year-old Pacquiao called it a career following a loss to Yurdenis Ugas in 2021. Roach believes that his friendship with the Filipino boxing icon, which started in 2001 against Lehlo Ledwaba, will go far beyond boxing.
Watch Freddie Roach and Manny Pacquiao train in this video uploaded by Fight Hub TV:
