Mother of Manny Pacquiao Dionesia Dapidran-Pacquiao
Apr 12, 2014; Las Vegas, NV, USA; Mother of Manny Pacquiao Dionesia Dapidran-Pacquiao holds up his gloves after the WBO World Welterweight Title bout against Timothy Bradley at MGM Grand Garden Arena. Pacquiao won via unanimous decision. Reuters/Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

World renowned trainer Freddie Roach has confidence in Manny Pacquiao. He stated that even though his ward has many distractions, the Filipino boxer can still fight at the top level. This came after the news came out that Pacquiao is gunning for a senate seat in the upcoming Philippine elections in May 2016.

“One thing about Manny Pacquiao is once he walks in the boxing gym, all that other stuff goes away,” Roach shared to Lance Pugmire of The L.A. Times. “He’s always dedicated, always works very hard, and I don’t think that will change. Once he’s in the gym, he knows what he’s there for. It’s still what he does best, and he knows that.”

Pacquiao has recently announced his opponent of choice in his April 9, 2016 comeback fight, naming Timothy Bradley, whom the Pacman has met twice in the past.

In the same interview, Roach also stated that Bradley “looked good” in his previous fight against Brandon Rios. The latter was knocked out by Bradley in the ninth round of their fight last November. However, Roach undermined the KO victory saying that Rios was “fat” and that the latter did not provide much challenge against Bradley.

The Pacquiao-Bradley meeting will be the third between the two rivals after facing off in 2012 and 2014. In the first one, Bradley won a controversial 12-round split decision. In the second one, Pacquiao came away victorious with a unanimous decision in another 12-rounder.

Pacquiao has snubbed the likes of British boxer Amir Khan and Americans Terence Crawford and Adrien Broner in choosing Bradley, who is a former welterweight champion.

The 32-year-old Bradley has a career record of 33 wins against 1 loss and 1 draw with just 13 knockout wins. Pacquiao, who has recovered from a shoulder injury he suffered during the training camp for the Floyd Mayweather fight of May 2015, has 57 wins, 6 losses and 2 draws with 38 career knockout wins.

Pacquiao, who is currently an elected congressman in his country, is famous for being a boxer first but is also a singer, actor and basketball player among the other roles he has done in recent years.

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