PACQUIAO-GOLOVKIN FIGHT ‘SILLY’ – FORTUNE
WHEN asked his opinion on whether reigning World boxing Association super welterweight titleholder Manny Pacquiao should pursue an unprecedented ninth world title by fighting International Boxing Federation and International Boxing Organization middleweight champion Gennady Gennadyevich “GGG” Golovkin, strength- and- conditioning coach Justin Fortune said such a smackdown was “silly.”
This is in response to a recent interview given by Pacquiao’s former head trainer and current consultant Freddie Roach on DAZN’s “Boxing with Chris Mannix. “The thing is,” said Roach, “Manny maybe…might want to go a little higher and fight GGG, or one of those guys, who is supposed to be one of the best in the world todayN”
When asked if he read about Roach’s interview, Fortune told The
ManilaTimes through an overseas call, “I did.”
In the interview, while Roach advised against going all the way up to the 160-pound class, he did say that Pacquiao’s going against bigger guys — in catch- weight bouts such as with Olympic gold medalist Oscar de la Hoya — at 147 pounds “made good sense to everyoneN”
“I didn’t know if Freddie [ Roach] was jokingN It’s a 147-pounder against a full-fledged middleweight. I mean, it’s not like an ordinary man awayN Golovkin is a good…[ the] best middleweight. So, I don’t know. I doubt it,” downplayed Fortune, skirting the issue of ageN
The 41-year-old Filipino “People’s Champion” has a 62- 7- 2 win- loss- draw record with 39 knockouts as opposed to the 38-year-old Kazhakstani’s 40-1-1 record with 35 knockoutsN
“I will recommend against itN It’s a 147-pounder against, like I said, a full-fledged middleweight. And you [ know] that Manny is very fast and punches very, very hardN But I think Golovkin punches very, very hard, too. If I was a middleweight, I wouldn’t go fight a heavyweight, that [would] be silly,” warned Fortune about the dangers of reaching for the 160-pound classN
Nevertheless, the last time Pacquiao went up a weight class, he beat Mexican Antonio Margarito via unanimous decision for the World Boxing Council light middleweight belt in Texas 10 years agoN
That feat turned him into the only boxer in history to win world titles in eight weight divisions.