Manny Pacquiao's coach has predicted an uncharacteristic knockout finish when the legendary boxer returns to the ring.
Pacquiao stopped Lucas Matthyse in 2018, but prior to that had not KO'd an opponent since 2009 when he put away Miguel Cotto.
And Freddie Roach, who runs the famous Wild Card boxing gym where Pacquiao trains, believes the Filipino will deliver a devastating performance against replacement opponent Yordenis Ugas on Saturday.
“Manny Pacquiao has been the best fighter I’ve ever trained," he said. "To win titles in eight divisions and be in fights here at MGM so many times, has been a dream come true.
"I’ve trained over 40 world champions throughout my career, but no one competes with Manny Pacquiao.
“We’ve had a good training camp and Manny has worked really hard for this fight. Putting a sparring partner on the canvas was a motivation for all of us. We’re going to bring that into this fight."
Roach also believes that his fighter is still working as hard as he did in his prime, despite being 42 years old and coming into the twilight of his career.
“His work ethic today is as good as it was 20 years go," he continued.
"He’s been unbelievable in training and sparring for this fight, I don’t know if it was a bigger confidence boost for me or Manny, but I’m expecting this fight to end in a knockout the way he’s been looking.”
Ugas, however, is a world champion in his own right, winning the regular welterweight strap last year, and will be confident of pulling off a massive upset.
His coach Ismael Salas has promised that his fighter will take the fight to Pacquiao after being promoted from an undercard bout to the main event.
“The experience that Ugas has from the Olympics and over 500 amateur bouts is going to be the most important thing for him in this fight," Salas said.
"We’ve been on a roll for these last 12 fights since Ugas has started working with me. We’re going to keep it going on Saturday.
“To fight Manny Pacquiao is an honor - to me, he’s a legend and a person who is an inspiration for millions of fighters.
"But when you look back at his recent fights, he hasn’t delivered a knockout in a long time, he’s dropped guys, but it’s been a while since he’s knocked someone out."
Cuban-born Ugas has made a point of noting that he is fighting for his country on Saturday, and his coach argues that as an immigrant in America, he has had much harder fights outside of the ring than Pacquiao.
“Ugas fights for his pride and for his love of the sport," Salas continued.
"For a long time he has been struggling here in the United States. We are immigrants, and every immigrant has to adjust to the way of living.
"Despite all of the changes he has been through, he has had success. He needs to keep working for what he loves, which is boxing.
“Pacquiao comes from a lot of angles, but so does Ugas. Ugas has mastered fighting southpaws, so we’ll see who is going to be able to see their opponent’s punches coming.”
