Freddie Roach believes the showdown between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. will be finalized soon, and the Hall of Fame trainer is already preparing their fight plan for the upcoming bout.

Mayweather announced during the 2015 NBA All-Star Game on Sunday that no contract has been signed by both parties. Roach is not surprised, though, and the veteran boxing trainer strongly believes that the long-awaited bout will finally happen on Cinco de Mayo weekend on May 2.

Previous negotiations for the top two boxers of their generation did not come to fruition because the two camps failed to find a common ground. According to Roach, the current situation is way different than before because both Pacquiao and Mayweather have already told the public that they really want to make the super fight happen.

"I think we're close enough it will happen sometime in the near future," Roach told AFP via BoxingScene. "Floyd says he wants to fight. Manny says he wants to fight. Fights get made like that."

And to prove how serious he is when he said that he expects the fight to be finalized soon, Roach admitted to BoxingScene that he has started watching tapes of recent fights of Mayweather to have a better idea on how to prepare his prized fighter for the upcoming bout.

"I've done a little bit of research on Floyd and a little bit of research on sparring partners, because the Floyd that I watched five years ago is a little different than the Floyd that I watch today," Roach said. "I've been watching a lot more [recent] fights and not old fights. He still doesn't make a lot of mistakes. He has a couple of flaws."

Roach believes that Pacquiao's southpaw stance will be a factor in the upcoming fight. Previous reports indicated that Mayweather has had difficulties facing southpaw fighters before.

The 54-year-old trainer, who also added that Pacquiao has already started training for his next fight, is confident that the Filipino boxing icon will emerge victorious against Mayweather. He said, though, that it will not be easy as it will be the biggest challenge for Pacquiao in his career, and the fight plan that they are going to prepare will be critical.

"It's a very tactical fight and I have to come up with a perfect game plan for this one," Roach said. "This is going to be one of the biggest challenges ever. I like challenges and my guy can pull it off. It won't be easy."

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