LEGENDARY boxing trainer Freddie Roach knew Manny Pacquiao would become a champion after only one round on the pads.
The Hall of Famer coach, Pacquiao, insists that there will never again be another PacMan after his recent retirement.
Manny Pacquiao and Freddie Roach training at Wild Card Boxing Club 2008
Roach met Roach in 2001 when he was a young, unknown flyweight world champion who wanted to escape poverty by pursuing a career as a fighter.
Pacquiao had traveled to America to train and set up his first office in San Francisco. He then moved almost 400 miles south towards Los Angeles.
He walked in to Roach's Wild Card boxing studio, and the rest was history.
SunSport spoke with Roach about Roach's comments: "From the moment he walked into my gym, he said that he heard you were good on the mitts."
He said that he had a new coach after he did one round with the mitts. I replied, "I think I have found a new fighter."
"And I knew that we had a connection from the first round of mitts. He's always been a great person, and a great man.
"He's an excellent example of how great champions train, it wasn't luck, he trained his s**t everyday, and he's the best role-model out there for younger fighters."
Pacquiao and Lehlohonolo Ledwaba became overnight stars in their first fight.
It was the beginning of one of the most storied careers of all-time, and it ended with PacMan ruling over EIGHT divisions.
After a remarkable 72 fights, Pacquiao decided to end his historic run.
Roach is left with the same amount of memories and lessons learned that he used to coach his current fighters.
Even Pacquiao's Filipino proteges are included in this list, but they cannot be compared to Pacquiao himself.
Roach stated: "I train a lot of fighters right now, and a few Filipino fighters.
"Everyone is asking, 'Is this the next Manny Pacquiao?" There isn't!
"This is not a one-time deal. We've had a great friendship for a long time. I don't think any Filipino fighter can be compared to Manny Pacquiao.
"There are some great fighters out, I have a few good prospects, yes, but they're not Manny Pacquiao's.
"An eight-weight champion in the world, that record will never again be broken I feel."
For the unbeaten American's unified WBC welterweight titles, Pacquiao (42 years old) was to face Errol Spence Jr (31 years).
Spence pulled out after suffering an eye injury during sparring. Ugas was then promoted to the undercard and later won on points.
Soon after PacMan confirmed his exit from boxing in a tearful retirement speech, he announced that he would run for president of the Philippines next year.
Roach paid tribute to his friend, a former fighter.
"I'm glad he's ending it all and he's moving on to bigger and better things."
