Freddie Roach reveals unusual tactic to get Pacquiao to try to knock out Algieri

Before Manny Pacquiao climbed the ring against Chris Algieri, Freddie Roach was raring for his ward to get a knockout win against the American fighter.

 

After all, it had been five years since Pacquiao stopped an opponent, with the last such victory coming against Puerto Rican toughie Miguel Cotto in 2009.

 

Pacquiao certainly tried his best, sending Algieri to the canvas no less than six times in the fight.

 

But the Filipino ring icon had to settle for a unanimous decision win as Algieri kept rising back to his feet to beat the count.

 

After the fight, Roach raised a laugh when he told reporters he had resorted to an unusual tactic to try to get Pacquiao to finish Algieri with a knockout.

 

"Eleventh round, I said 'I want you to knock him out'," said Roach.

 

"He says 'In Jesus's name?' I said, 'If that's what you want me to say?' He said 'yeah'.

 

"So I said 'Knock him out -- in Jesus's name!', he laughed.

 

"Really I tried everything I could to get that knockout." 

 

Pacquiao, who has always been deeply religious, has embraced born-again Christianity in recent years. — Report from Agence France-Presse