Roach on possible reunion with Pacquiao: I would train him for free

It has been more than a year since Manny Pacquiao lost on points to Jeff Horn in Brisbane.

It was a highly disputed decision and many believe that Pacquiao won. Nevertheless, it ended one of the most successful trainer-boxer partnerships the sport has ever known.

Freddie Roach said he wasn’t sure if it was their locker room talk that hurt their long standing relationship.

The coach said he animated to Pacquiao that juggling his time between Senate work and boxing took its toll. It certainly showed against Horn.

“You know, Manny, being a senator and being a world-champion boxer is very difficult . . . I know you’ve always multi-tasked, but you might want to think about doing one before the other,” Roach told Pacquiao as reported in LA Times.

• Moving on: Why Pacquiao parted ways with Roach

Roach said he remembers Pacquiao being silent after the talk.

“Manny, are you mad at me?” asked Roach. “He just smiled at me. That was it. And I haven’t spoken to Manny Pacquiao since.”

On Sunday, Pacquiao will be returning to the ring to challenge Lucas Matthysse, perhaps the strongest puncher he’ll be fighting in years.

But Roach won’t be in his corner. He didn’t hear the actual firing. He was just left out when Pacquiao assembled another coaching team.

“Being let go is part of the sport. Usually when a fighter loses a big fight, someone gets blamed and usually it’s the trainer,” Roach said.

“But Manny has never blamed anyone but himself in his 16 years with me. Nobody was ever fired. We had wins and losses and he’d accept it, even when he got knocked out.”

If Pacquiao asked him to train for free, Roach said he’d say yes.

“I’d be the first one on the plane. We have a lot of history. Manny’s my friend. Money . . . I have enough.”

Pacquiao himself didn’t shut the door on his former trainer.

“Did you talk to Freddie?,” Pacquiao asked the Times’ Lance Pugmire. “When you talk to him again, can you please say hello? And please say, thank you.”

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