Having been on the corner of a Floyd Mayweather Jr. opponent in the past, world-renowned trainer Freddie Roach is stating that his experience against the undefeated American before will be of big help for Manny Pacquiao in the upcoming Mayweather-Pacquiao super fight on May 2, 2015 at the MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada in the United States.

Back in 2007, Roach was the coach of former champion Oscar De La Hoya when they faced Mayweather Jr. on top of the ring. Then-undefeated in 37 fights, the American preserved his immaculate record with a close 116-112, 115-113, 113-115 split decision victory over the “Golden Boy”.

Eight years later, Roach will be facing Mayweather Jr. once again-- in the same venue where De La Hoya was defeated and also like in 2007, in a highly-anticipated super fight during the Cinco de Mayo weekend.

“Oscar was really big but I’ve been in some big fights in my life and that was one of the biggest of course. I thought we won the first six rounds, I thought we kind of blew it in the last six rounds,” Roach admitted in an interview with ontheropesboxing.com. “Clearly I thought the fight could have been a draw but the thing is, I learned a lot about Mayweather in that fight. I learned how he kind of works a little bit, so it’s helping out with my strategy with Pacquiao quite a bit.”

Roach added that he has watched the tapes of the Mayweather-De La Hoya fight plus more recent bouts and that they already have a “complete gameplan” against Mayweather Jr. and that he’s glad that Pacquiao is on-board with their strategy.

Roach, who describes his second tiff against Mayweather Jr. as the biggest in his career as a trainer, is hoping that the result against the undefeated American won’t be the same as what it was eight years ago and this time to put a stain on the American’s immaculate record.

To contact author of this article, email j.quizon@IBTimes.com.au.

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