Roach bares Pacquiao's options if Mayweather says no to rematch

LAS VEGAS – Should he get past Adrien Broner here on Saturday (Sunday Manila time), Manny Pacquiao will train his sights on a rematch with Floyd Mayweather Jr.

But there’s always a chance that Mayweather will have second thoughts about giving Pacquiao another crack, especially if the latter looks good against Broner at the MGM Grand Garden Arena here.

If a Mayweather rematch won’t materialize, Freddie Roach said Pacquiao won’t run out of options.

Pacquiao’s training assistant said the Filipino icon could take on the winner of the Mikey Garcia-Errol Spence Jr. clash on March 16.

Roach prefers Garcia. 

“I hope Mikey Garcia wins his fight,” said Roach. “He's a good fighter. He's got a lot of heart and a lot of balls calling out Spence. (Manny fighting the) Winner of that fight would be a big fight,” he said in chat with Filipino sportswriters during Pacquiao’s last day of training in Los Angeles Monday (Tuesday Manila time).

Garcia, 31, is undefeated in 39 fights (with 30 KOs). Like Broner whom he defeated, Garcia is a four-division champion (featherweight, super featherweight, lightweight and super lightweight) and should be the most dangerous opponent Pacquiao will have faced in years. 

Roach also mentioned WBC welterweight champion Shawn Porter — incidentally a former Pacquiao sparring partner — as a possibility,

“I tried to hire him as a sparring partner and he said yes. But Manny said we might have to fight him down the line. And Porter said the same thing,” added Roach.

“He and Manny have boxed many, many rounds,” the bespectacled cornerman continued.

Then there’s Keith Thurman, who is the “super champion” of the WBA’s welterweight division. For some reason, the WBA has regular champions, and this puts Pacquiao on a collision course with the undefeated Thurman (28-0, with 22 KOs).

“That's a fight I like,” said Roach.

With the exception of 41-year-old Mayweather, Pacquiao’s other prospective opponents are in their early 30s. Garcia and Porter are both 31, while Thurman is 30. 

All three are in their prime.

And Pacquiao, 40, would still welcome a fight with any of them.