Manny Pacquiao needs to find the fountain of youth and that may very well be a move back down to junior welterweight.
Manny’s trainer Freddie Roach spoke on a move back to 140 lbs and what it’ll do for Manny’s lost power:
“There’s a lot of competition in the 140-pound division, a lot of them are going to 147 because they want to fight Manny for the bigger money but as soon as Manny goes to 140 all of those will come back down,” said Roach.
“He’s never been a big puncher at 147,” said Roach. “I don’t think he’s lost his punch or his killer instinct; he’s just been fighting bigger, stronger guys. I think the knockouts will still start coming again at 140.”
Manny’s last fight at junior welterweight was a KO of Ricky Hatton in 2009; he’s had just one KO since. Manny will face stiff competition at 140 lbs with fighters such as Chris Algieri (whom he’s scheduled to fight in November), Lamont Peterson, and Danny Garcia holding titles in that weight class.
Manny thinks it’s the same division he left, when in fact the boxers are much stronger and younger than him. It’ll be interesting to see who Bob Arum pairs him with going forward.