Manny Pacquiao will make me a huge score when he beats Keith Thurman, says trainer Freddie Roach

Manny Pacquiao’s long-time trainer Freddie Roach is so certain his protégé will beat Keith “One Time” Thurman in their world title fight next month that he’s willing to lay a huge wager on the Philippines boxing icon.

Pacquiao, 40, will battle Thurman for the 30-year-old’s WBA welterweight super title in Las Vegas and the Hall of Fame trainer says he’s ready to make “a huge score” betting on the eight-time division world champion to win their July 20 bout.

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Bookmakers have installed Thurman (29-0-0, 22 KOs) as the slight favourite (1.72-1) against Pacquiao (61-7-2, 39 KOs), who is 2.1-1 to reign victorious at the MGM Grand Garden Arena – and Roach likes that the odds are stacked against his protégé for the first time in years.

The last time Pacquiao was the underdog was against Floyd Mayweather Jnr in their mega fight in 2015. But you will need to go back – way back – to find when Pacquiao was the ranked outsider.

When he fought the legendary Oscar De La Hoya in their 2008 fight, he was 8-1 to win by stoppage. De La Hoya famously quit on his stool at the end of the eighth round in a shock defeat that propelled “Pacman” to superstardom.

Roach is rubbing his hands with glee at the prospect of another Pacquiao victory after their success last time in January when they teamed up to defeat Adrien Broner by unanimous decision in their WBA world title fight in January.

“Manny loves beating undefeated fighters, especially the younger ones,” said 59-year-old Roach, who has been Pacquiao’s coach for more than 10 years.

“Heck, at this stage of the game, everyone Manny faces is younger. But that makes it fun for Manny.

“And when Manny is having fun, his opponents had better watch out.”

Pacquiao kicked off his US training camp with eight rounds of sparring earlier this week after spending five weeks of training in the Philippines.

The fighting senator was back at Roach’s Wild Card Boxing Club in Hollywood, Los Angeles preparing for his third world championship fight inside 12 months.

“I was very pleased with Manny’s first day at Wild Card. [Assistant trainer] Buboy [Fernandez] and [strength and conditioning coach] Justin [Fortune] have him in great condition for the rigours of this part of training camp. We were scheduled for six rounds of sparring and Manny insisted on going eight with two sparring partners.

“He’s running the Hollywood Hills like a deer. Nobody has the work ethic and conditioning like Manny. I can already see we are going to have to hold him back throughout camp.

“This is a great match-up. Thurman has youth and size. I’m sure he will come into the ring with 160 pounds behind his big right hand. Manny will be under 150 [pounds],” Roach continued.

“But we will have speed and movement. Winning this fight will come down to taking chances. Manny proved in his last two fights, against [Lucas] Matthysse and Broner, that he has his killer instinct back. Thurman better be prepared to shoot the works.”