Freddie Roach: No soft touches for Pacquiao, who could return in 9 months

Manny appears to be on the fast track to recovery, or at least much quicker than originally reported, and could be right back in the ring nine months from now, according to trainer Freddie Roach. Manny is currently undergoing a 30-day period of immobilization of his arm, following surgery to repair a tear in his right shoulder, but will return to America immediately after to begin the rehab process.

Roach says that despite the injury setback, there won't be any tune-up fight for Pacquiao, and expects him to jump right back into deep waters. A reporter asked about the potential for Pacquiao to fight Paulie Malignaggi in a return bout, and Roach conceded that it would be a good fight - though he doesn't necessarily want to give Paulie that opportunity.

Specifically, Roach says that though he and Malignaggi used to be friends, he's not too fond of him at the moment because of all the harsh criticism he's had for Pacquiao over the last year or so. Roach has been so annoyed by Paulie's public comments that he's passed on word to Malignaggi's team that Paulie isn't welcome at the Wild Card Gym any longer. But as for how he see's a fight between Manny and Paulie playing out:

"Manny will kill Paulie ... it's like taking candy from a baby," he said.

Personally, I'm not so sure I'd say a fight with Malignaggi would be truly "deep waters," but I suppose it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world.  In any event, Roach said that he thinks Pacquiao still has a couple of fights left in him and that one of them could potentially be a Mayweather rematch. Lord help us all if we have to endure that whole thing over again...