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A Pacquiao win by knockout would make Freddie Roach happy

Boxers Manny Pacquiao, left, and Chris Algieri pose for a photo in Los Angeles, Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2014. They will fight for Pacquiao's WBO welterweight title at The Venetian Macao hotel on Nov. 22. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
Boxers Manny Pacquiao, left, and Chris Algieri pose for a photo in Los Angeles, Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2014. They will fight for Pacquiao's WBO welterweight title at The Venetian Macao hotel on Nov. 22. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

Can Manny Pacquiao give celebrated trainer Freddie Roach the knockout he needs to shut the mouth of the Mayweathers – Floyd Sr. and undefeated pound-for-pound No. 1 Floyd Mayweather Jr.?

Roach was visibly irritated by the constant insinuation by the Mayweathers that Pacquiao’s remarkable streak of knockouts suddenly ended whenstrength and conditioning coach Alex Ariza left the team after Roach convinced Pacquiao that Ariza was causing dissension within Team Pacquiao and had to go.

Pacquiao agreed although some say he did so rather reluctantly because he had built up a strong friendship with Ariza who, to this day, praises Manny both as a fighter and a good human being.

When Ariza hooked up with Floyd Mayweather Jr., the claims of hanky-panky involving Pacquiao’s surge through several weight divisions began with Mayweather asking Pacquiao to effectively stop talking, hinting that he would be exposed.

He was clearly playing the Ariza card and hoping that fights fans would believe his claim that Manny was on some form of performance-enhancing drugs and that the derogatory information came from Ariza.

Mayweather points to the fact that Pacquiao’s last knockout came in November 2009 when he scored a 12th-round TKO over Miguel Cotto in what was indeed vintage Manny.

Mayweather conveniently forgot to mention that when he faced Cotto, the Puerto Rican went the distance and gave Mayweather all he could handle.

The  Mayweather father and son tandem failed to realize that not counting the cheap shot Mayweather resorted to against an apologetic Victor Ortiz when his hands were down and Floyd sneaked in a punch that knocked out Ortiz, his last stoppage was a 10-round TKO over Ricky “The Hitman” Hatton in 2007 which was long before Pacquiao had stopped knocking people out.

In fact Pacquiao annihilated Hatton in two rounds on May 2, 2009 sending the Briton into retirement in a hurry.

If the training of Pacquiao at his Pacman Wild Card Gym in General Santos City has shown us anything it’s that Manny is still the same in terms of his training ethic and as Roach has said many times before there is no other athlete who trains as hard as Pacquiao.

While there was a break in training because of a promotional trip to Hong Kong last weekend to help promote the Algieri fight, Pacquiao did take time out to work out in the former British crown colony both to give the fans who mobbed him wherever he went and the media, another chance to size him up.

By all accounts they liked what they saw.

Roach matter-of-factly stated that Pacquiao “is doing very well and is in good shape.”

If there is any need to reinforce the belief that Pacquiao could win by a knockout, we’ve got to take Roach’s word at face value and that is, Manny “may have broken Victor Postol’s nose when they sparred last Saturday” before taking off for Hong Kong.

By all accounts Postol is the best of the three sparring partners Pacquiao is working with. The other two are lightweight Stan “The Man” Martyniouk who stands 5’10” and has a record of 13-2 with two knockouts and tough Mike Jones who some years ago was being mentioned as a possible opponent for Pacquiao.

Jones stands almost six feet tall and is a solid welterweight with a record of 26-2 with 19 knockouts.

Roach has described Jones as “a big puncher” and has said Pacquiao “is doing very well with him” while Postol is “very smart and has Manny thinking, like Algieri will.”

Roach told us that Pacquiao had “hurt Mike Jones a couple of times” while Martyniouk isn’t heavy-handed but he too is tall and according to Roach “gives us what we need because he moves well” which helps Manny work on cutting off the ring and cornering Algieri in case he decides to stick and move.

When Yahoo Philippines asked Roach whether he wants a knockout when Pacquiao battles Algieri when they meet in a 144 pound catch-weight bout for Pacquiao’s WBO welterweight title in Macau on November 23, Manila Time, he indicated he’d love to see a knockout that would “shut the Mayweathers’ mouths for sure.”

Pacquiao’s adviser Michael Koncz told Yahoo Philippines he too is longing for a Pacquiao knockout but he didn’t say the aim was to shut the blabbering Mayweathers.

Floyd Jr. had earlier told Pacquiao to focus on his fight against Algieri and win, in the face of Manny’s challenging Mayweather to step into the ring next year and give fight fans around the world the fight they’ve longed for over the past four years.

In the face of Mayweather Jr.’s advice a knockout against Algieri will  make it much harder for Floyd to justify avoiding a fight with Pacquiao much longer,  without incurring the ire of the media and fight fans, many of whom have been turned off by his antics.

But by far the most satisfying experience would be if Pacquiao is able to reprise his days as a fighter who ripped through his taller opponents such as Oscar De La Hoya, Miguel Cotto and Antonio Margarito and give the believers the knockout they have long been waiting for and help Roach in his desire to shut the mouth of the Mayweathers.