It's just about that time, just a handful of days left until Pacquiao finally meets Mayweather in the ring to end 5+ years of speculation. Manny finished up his training camp on Monday and headed towards Las Vegas on their team bus for a four-hour drive to Sin City.
"Our long, international, boxing nightmare will soon be over," said Roach. "Boxing has been held hostage by Floyd Mayweather and his antics long enough. Manny is going to stand up to Floyd on [Saturday] and put a bully in his place. On paper -- and in the sports books -- Manny shouldn't stand a chance. But neither did David against Goliath. Just remember, Manny has always come out on top when he was the underdog] and you don't have to look any further than his victories over [Lehlo] Ledwaba, [Marco Antonio] Barrera and [Oscar] De La Hoya.
"As Manny said earlier, ‘It’s time for Floyd to lose.’ Manny is on a mission. This fight is his crusade. The fans of the world are rooting for Manny to win just like they willed this fight to happen. He is their champion. This will be their victory."
It's funny that Roach mentions the word 'crusade' because that's really the angle they've taken for this whole promotion, a holy war against the infidels that are the Mayweathers. It's a classic "Good vs. Evil" mentality which will make it even easier for some casual fans to root for the 'good guy' in Manny Pacquiao. Don't get me wrong, Manny really is an extremely good guy by most accounts - not a perfect guy - but that's more than fine by me because not one of us is perfect, nor should be looked upon as such. Depending on your predisposition, you may either buy into the whole "David vs. Goliath" notion or simply view it as hyperbole for promotional purposes. It really doesn't matter either way though, once the bell rings it'll just be the two men in the ring that determines the outcome - no stories, no narratives, no hype.