A lot was made going into Manny Pacquiao’s fight this past weekend about his long time trainer Freddie Roach not being in his corner. As it turned out, Pacquiao showed that long time friend Buboy Fernandez was more than capable of doing the job and praised his coach afterwards.

Fernandez has long been a part of the Pacquiao camp as an assistant trainer in the corner to Roach, as well as a personal friend of Pacquiao.

This weekend however he was given the main job as head coach and proved his credentials with flying colors following his boxer winning by 7th round TKO.

Speaking to the word’s press after the fight at the official press conference, Pacquiao said of him afterwards:

“Buboy told me that you got it but do not be careless. Just be patient and looking for a counter punch and throw a lot of punches and hard punches. And that’s what we did. Buboy said his stuff and I followed Buboy’s instructions.”

When asked if he’s considering retirement, Pacquiao dismissed the notion:

“I’m not gone. I’m still there.”

Indeed he is. Plenty of fight left in the old dog yet, as they say.

The three favorites for his next bout appear to be Amir Khan, Terence Crawford and Vasyl Lomachenko at the moment.

Niall Doran is the Founder and Managing Editor of Boxing News and Views. You can follow him on Twitter @NiallerDoran and on Instagram @niallerdoran