Roach: Not Sure If Pacquiao is Mad at Me – I Haven’t Been Paid

Hall of Fame trainer Freddie Roach has revealed that his star pupil for the last decade, eight division world champion Manny Pacquiao, barely spoke to him in the aftermath of the recent twelve round decision loss to Jeff Horn.

The loss unexpected, with nearly every expert picking Pacquiao to either dominate or knock the untested Horn out. Neither happened, with Horn winning a unanimous decision based on scores of 117-111, 115-113 and 115-113.

There is a rematch clause in play, if Pacquiao decides to go in that direction.

After the contest was over at the Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane, Roach claims that Pacquiao wouldn’t even say two words to him or look him in the eyes. Roach also claims that he’s yet to be paid for his work in the fight.

“I was trying to see where his head was at, and I could not even get him to say hi to me. I don’t know if he was upset with me or what,” Roach told Sports Illustrated.

“I really don’t know if he’s mad at me. But I can tell you this: I haven’t been paid yet. So who knows?”

In the weeks leading up to the fight, Roach had warned that if Pacquiao struggled against a fighter like Horn – it was likely time for the 38-year-old veteran to retire from the sport.

Roach wonders if Pacquiao was being silent because he was worried that his trainer would advise him to hang up the gloves.

“Maybe that’s what he thought I was there to tell him,” Roach says. “But I wouldn’t pick that moment. There were a lot of people. I wouldn’t embarrass anybody like that. He was definitely avoiding me.”

Roach explained that Pacquiao fought in a manner that he’s never seen in over ten years of working with the Filipino star.

“Manny wasn’t himself. He didn’t look like the Manny Pacquiao I’ve known for a long time. It was almost over in the ninth. One more round like that and, man … he just couldn’t do it,” Roach says.

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