Freddie Roach and Manny Pacquiao
Manny Pacquiao of the Philippines (R) talks to his coach Freddie Roach during a promotional event with his next opponent Chris Algieri of the U.S. (not pictured) at a hotel in downtown Shanghai August 26, 2014. Pacquiao will defend his WBO welterweight title against Algieri at the Venetian's Cotai Arena in Macau on November 22, 2014. REUTERS/Carlos Barria

Hall of fame trainer Freddie Roach says he has a game plan in place to help Manny Pacquiao defeat Floyd Mayweather. The fight has yet to be announced, but Roach expects the fight to take place in Las Vegas on May 2nd and is currently working on the assumption that all signs are go for the reported $250 million dollar megafight.

“I honestly feel the fight is going to happen,” Roach told SecondsOut. “Bob Arum wants the fight, I want the fight and Manny wants the fight; a lot of good names want this fight and usually when these high people want it, they get it.”

Roach revealed that his game plan is to hire sparring partners that fight identically to the man known simply as “Money.” Roach confirmed that Mayweather is the best fighter in the business and that it will by far and away be Manny Pacquiao’s toughest challenge to date. In addition to the tactical battle that will be taking place before the fight, Roach knows that Mayweather has a unique style that is defined by his defense and counter punching.

Similar to teams in College Football trying to mimic the style of the high-octane spread offense in practice, sparring partners will not be the same as the real thing once Pacquiao steps into the ring with the pound-for-pound King. Mayweather has the speed to equalize Pacquiao and arguably is the best in the world at Pacquiao’s Achilles heel: counter punching.

“I’ve done some research on Floyd and on sparring partners,” said Roach. “This is going to be the biggest challenge ever but I think my guy can pull it off but it won’t be easy. It’s a very tactical fight and I have to come up with a great game plan.”

Meanwhile, Mayweather announced on Sunday during the 4th quarter of the NBA All-Star game in New York that no agreement has been reached for the two fighters to step into the ring, but that he was hopeful the fight would still take place. The fight is expected to be the biggest bout in boxing history and would eclipse the previous record set by Mike Tyson and Lennox Lewis.

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