Manny Pacquiao and his team have expressed confidence in their chances against Chris Algieri in Macau, China on November 22, so much so that trainer Freddie Roach has talked about moving to junior welterweight to face Danny "Swift" Garcia, the top dog at 140 pounds.
"I like that fight," Roach said of a matchup with Garcia. "His Dad's a little bit crazy - he's my friend and a good guy - but he's just doing what he's supposed to do, he's taking guys out of their element. He talks a lot of s**t and I think that's honestly how they beat Amir Khan.
"I would just laugh at him. Manny Pacquiao doesn't give a s**t about trash talk. It won't affect him in the slightest."
That would be a big money fight for both Pacquiao and Garcia, and has the potential to rejuvenate Garcia's stagnant momentum. Since upsetting Lucas Matthysse in 2013 Garcia barely defeated Mauricio Herrera in Puerto Rico, then knocked out the woefully overmatched Rod Salka.
There is little left for Garcia to accomplish at 140 pounds. He can unify the division by taking on Lamont Peterson, or take a crowd-pleasing bout against his friend Adrien Broner, but so far there's been little movement from his camp. There's also chatter that a move to welterweight is in the works.
"Just getting some personal things together back home. I have a few things with my gym I trying to get done. Just taking care of the little things before I negotiate my next bout," Garcia responded to a question about his next move.
When asked about going up to 147 pounds Garcia said, "I can't tell you when, but the move is coming."
Moving to 147 pounds could actually squash the fight with Pacquiao, whom Roach said would be more effective at a lighter, more natural weight.
"I just think it's much better for Manny to fight at 140. He's much more productive at that weight. It's much more natural for him to fight at that weight," Roach said.
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