Next month, on May 2, it will be the ninth anniversary of the richest boxing fight in history. The momentous clash between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao brought in around $600 million. Both boxers received never-heard-of purses. Billed as the ‘Fight of the Century,’ the match for the unified welterweight titles ended with the American champion winning unanimously. Rumors of a rematch between the now-retired boxers abound. However, as it appears, the skeletons of the historically significant contest refuse to surrender. They keep raising their pesky heads time and again.

Freddie Roach remains among those select few who know the stories from the fight inside and out. The soon-to-turn 65 Boxing Hall of Fame trainer enjoyed a nearly sixteen-year association with Manny Pacquiao. He watched the Filipino phenom scale through eight different weight classes. He was speaking with renowned sports announcer Dan Patrick on Audiorama’s ‘Undeniable With Dan Patrick’. Over the course of the discussion, Roach spilled the beans on some of the known facets of the mega-bout.

Manny Pacquiao and Freddy Roach: Bitter Truths from the Past

With a few minutes left in the show, Patrick took up the Mayweather Jr.-Pacquiao fight. Freddie Roach shared that until the time he became aware of how serious Pacquiao’s shoulder injury was, he didn’t do much about stopping the fight. Manny Pacquiao needed surgery. In its absence, he would be entering the fight with a sustained injury. So he revealed that they had reached a deal with the Mayweather Jr. camp. The American boxer used to take painkillers for his weak hands. It helped him absorb the impact during hits.

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Thus, per the agreement, both would be allowed to use painkillers: Floyd Mayweather Jr. for his hands and Manny Pacquiao for his shoulders. However, things changed on fight night. They learned that while ‘Money’ could proceed with taking the painkillers, ‘PacMan’ couldn’t.

Dan Patrick asked, “Did Mayweather’s camp know that he had an injured shoulder?” Freddie Roach replied, “Yes.” He could never bring himself to believe that the Filipino icon could fight the greatest battle of his career with a single hand. When Patrick asked, because of the circumstances, what sort of changes became apparent in his camp, Freddie Roach replied, “Manny couldn’t be as aggressive as I wanted him to be…”

The host asked if the course of the fight would have been different had the 8-division world champion been in better shape. Roach replied, “I believe so well—not just healthy though, but maybe a little younger.”

What if history repeats itself?

Nevertheless, the fight, in the end, barely met the fans’ expectations. Pacquiao’s injury blunted his attack. Floyd Mayweather Jr., on the other hand, went about following his typical defensive fighting style. All three judges favored the American champion, with two giving him a 116-112 score while the third scored 118-110 in Mayweather Jr.’s favor.

Earlier this year, talks of a rematch between the two gained strength once again. However, any confirmation of the highly anticipated fight remains unavailable. As most of the fans know, even the original 2015 fight was a delayed version. The talks for a clash between Mayweather Jr. and Pacquiao camp were underway since 2010. The bigger question is, in this day and age will there be enough buyers to watch even an exhibition fight between two retired boxers?

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Do you agree with ‘Master Roach’ that a healthier, much younger Manny Pacquiao would have easily beaten Floyd Mayweather Jr.? Let us know in the comments section below.

Despite Past $600 Million Success, Floyd Mayweather vs. Manny Pacquiao Rematch Could Fail to Live Up to the Hype