|
|
|||||||||||||||
|
Overshadowed by
Oscar and Manny,
Roach Reveals
His Feelings to Pound4Pound
By William Trillo
It was just past 6pm California time
and I realized I had yet to see or hear any thoughts
from Freddie Roach on the news that broke some 7 hours
earlier that Oscar vs. Manny was indeed signed &
sealed. If anyone deserved to chime in on this matter
it was Roach, who has trained both Oscar & Manny and
will be sitting in Pacquiao’s corner on that awaited
December 6th Las Vegas night.
I took a gamble and called Freddie’s
Wildcard Gym in Hollywood, and sure enough Roach was
still hard at work but was able to give me a couple
minutes of his time.
I congratulated Roach on the fight
being made to which Freddie replied, “Thank you. I know
it took a while to get this thing ironed out but I am
glad both sides worked hard and this fight is going to
move forward. I firmly believe that Manny has what it
takes to win but it’s going to take a lot of hard work
by both of us.”
Roach continued by saying that Manny
would be coming to California soon and they would be
putting a game plan together to beat the fighter he
trained for his showdown with Floyd Mayweather Jr.
Moving away from Pacquiao, I asked
Roach why he was not going to be working with Bernard
Hopkins for his upcoming fight with Kelly Pavlik, he had
trained Bhop for his last two fights so I asked him if
maybe he had fallen out of the good graces of Golden
Boy.
Roach said that wasn’t the case. “Oh
no it’s not like that at all, I decided not to work with
Bernard right after his last fight.” It was Roach who
went on record suggesting that after Hopkins fight with
Calzaghe that maybe Bernard should consider retiring. At
that post fight press conference Roach told me he was
concerned that Hopkins went to the wrong corner on a few
occasions when the rounds were over. This is not the
first time Freddie has made a decision not to work with
a fighter because of his concern for their health. It
probably won't be the last.
Roach than added, “Oscar called me
and talked with me after things were signed. There are
really no hard feelings between us at all.” Freddie even
suggested that it wouldn’t be out of the question to see
him working in the corner of another Golden Boy fighter
again in the future.
I told Roach I was glad because I
didn’t want to see this promotion turn into another war
of words and trash talking like Oscar’s fight with The
Pretty Boy. Roach chuckled a bit and then reminded me,
“That would be nice but I am sure Floyd Mayweather Sr.,
(Oscar's trainer for this fight) is going to stir things
up a bit.” I agreed and told Freddie he has been around
long enough to be able to deal with Floyd Sr. “Yeah, you
are right,” said Roach.
Roach closed our chat by reaffirming
his belief that Pacquiao has what it takes to defeat
Oscar and that if Manny puts in the work there is no
reason he should lose to Oscar. It’s a belief that I am
coming to lean toward myself. I think Manny can pull off
the upset as well.
With the sounds of bells ringing,
ropes skipping and bags getting beat in the background
Roach said good bye and he went back to the thing he
knows best, training fighters. If things go according to
his plans he will still be able to say he trains the
best Pound4Pound fighter on the Planet at the end of
2008.
|
||||||||||||||
