Why Roach turned down Crawford for Pacquiao

MANILA, Philippines – Freddie Roach revealed the reason they went for Jessie Vargas instead of rising star Terence Crawford as Manny Pacquiao’s next opponent.

“The fight with Crawford didn't happen, mostly because I wanted to see how this training camp (for Vargas) goes,” Roach recently told Fight Hub TV.

So what’s different in this training camp compared to Pacquiao’s previous ones? This marks the first time the Filipino icon is training right after Senate sessions.

And Roach, for his part, wants to see first if Pacquiao can indeed be a “fighting senator.”

 “If it's a good training camp and everything goes well...if being a senator works with his boxing, we'll be okay,” the trainer added.

Roach simply doesn’t want to pit Pacquiao against the much dangerous Crawford (29-0, with with 20 KOs) without making sure he can perform well as a boxer while serving in the Senate.

Some boxing observers balked at Vargas’ selection as Pacquiao’s next opponent, claiming Crawford – the unified WBC and WBO super lightweight champion – presents a bigger challenge.

If Pacquiao takes care of Vargas on November 5, Roach said they’ll consider Crawford then.

“I just have to make sure that this is going to work first. If this doesn't work, then we're going to have to make some adjustments and change things a little bit,” he continued.

“But if it does work, then we can fight anybody.” – Dino Maragay