Pacquiao should fight Horn, not Lomachenko or Crawford – Roach

MANILA - Hall of Fame trainer Freddie Roach revealed that the had a conversation with Manny Pacquiao following the Filipino's stoppage victory against Lucas Matthysse earlier this month in Kuala Lumpur.

Roach, who was not brought in by the Pacquiao camp for the Matthysse fight, was on ESPN where he praised Pacquiao's performance and discussed the possibility of training the Filipino boxing icon again.

"I talked to Manny and I told him that he looked good. I think his opponent tried to pack it in early. He couldn't handle Manny's pressure. It was a good fight for him," said Roach.

"We have had several conversations where we have talked about working together. The truth is I'm happy with the 16 years I was next to Manny. He is already 39 years old. He still has good speed and power. But father time does not forgive and we all get slow."

While there was no definite opponent for Pacquiao's next fight, Roach said that a bouts against either WBA world lightweight champion Vasyl Lomachenko or WBO world welterweight champion Terence Crawford were bad ideas.

Should Roach have it his way, he'd rather have the Filipino boxing icon fight a rematch with Jeff Horn, after which Pacquiao should retire. Pacquiao lost his then WBO world welterweight title a year ago to Jeff Horn in a highly controversial fight in Brisbane.

"Horn would be a good fight to finish [his career]," said Roach. "But the names they are talking about out there [Vasyl Lomachenko and Terence Crawford], I think they wouldn't be the right opponents. I think that I wouldn't like those fight for Manny." — DVM, GMA News