Pacquiao, Roach at loggerheads over reunion

Filipino boxing legend Manny Pacquiao said Tuesday, November 20 (Wednesday, November 21, Manila time) he hopes to be reunited with long-time trainer Freddie Roach for his January bout against Adrien Broner but admitted he had not spoken to the veteran cornerman about renewing their partnership. Pacquiao ended a 16-year association with Roach ahead of his victory over Lucas Matthyse in Kuala Lumpur in July, breaking up one of boxing's most famous double-acts. However the 39-year-old raised eyebrows during a press conference in New York on Monday when he said Roach would be back in his corner for his January 19 fight against Broner in Las Vegas. Roach though expressed bemusement about Pacquiao's announcement in remarks to Sports Illustrated, saying he had not been in contact with his former protege. According to Pacquiao, Roach was kept out of the Matthysse fight primarily because of health concerns as the 58-year-old former boxer is battling Parkinson's disease. He had elevated his bosom buddy, Buboy Fernandez, to head trainer. Pacquiao believes Fernandez, will continue to work well with Roach, who owns the Wild Card Gym in Hollywood, where Team Pacquiao will hold the final phase of training starting before Christmas. “Buboy and Freddie, they’re a team,” Pacquiao told fighthype.com.“Buboy is always there. He has experienced many fights with Freddie. So I think Freddie can instruct Buboy to do something like that. Because, you know, Freddie’s not young anymore and I’m, you know, I feel pitiful [for] Freddie. I’m praying for him, for the healing of his sickness. My plan, my thinking is he can use Buboy to do mitts in training, supervise and watch the training, like that. “[Roach] can rest and just watch the training, and instruct the training, strategy-wise, advise some techniques like that. Because Buboy, he knows what Freddie wants.” Pacquiao and Roach, of course, have worked together since Pacquiao first set foot in the United States in 2001. Like a father "I still have never directly spoken to Manny (since 2017)," Roach said. "I'm not going to make a move until Manny calls me. I've been like a father to Manny for 15 years. If he can't call me, there will be no deal." When asked to clarify the situation by AFP on Tuesday, Pacquiao said he hoped Roach would work as a "supervisor," with Fernandez taking a lead role in training. "I don't have any problem with Freddie Roach," Pacquiao said at a media roundtable. "All I say is that I think the other work in training should be assigned or designated to Buboy. "Freddie can supervise or instruct Buboy, this is what we're going to do." When pressed on whether he had spoken to Roach however, Pacquiao admitted that there had been no contact. "We have scheduled to talk today," he said. "My idea is to let Buboy handle the mitts, and (Freddie) should just supervise and correct the training situation, or techniques, or anything like that." Pacquiao said he plans to divide his training camp into