Floyd Mayweather Jr. was businesslike. Manny Pacquiao was cordial.
Freddie Roach? Not so much of either. The undisputed champion of what vitriol existed at Wednesday’s mega press event in downtown Los Angeles the Filipino superstar’s trainer was brash and unequivocal, working the pre-conference red carpet like a seasoned Hollywood pro as he claimed he and Pacquiao were concocting a strategy for “Money” that would yield an upset KO loss for the undefeated champ.
“He’s going to be in trouble,” Roach said of Mayweather. “He’ll fall right into our power and he’ll get knocked out.”
Most of the trash talk for the Mayweather-Pacquiao showdown is coming from the corner. (Showtime)
The 55-year-old corner man also landed the cleanest verbal blow of the formal event during his time at the podium, claiming “We’re fighting the best fighter in the world, but we’re gonna kick his ass,” then turning to Mayweather two seats away and saying, “I’m sorry, but good luck, Floyd.”
Roach and the Mayweather clan have had a prolonged battle both in and out of ring.
He and Floyd Mayweather Sr. never met during their own pro careers — which yielded a combined record of 68-19-1 with 32 knockouts — but Roach replaced Mayweather Sr. as Oscar De La Hoya’s trainer before the “Golden Boy’s” ultimately unsuccessful matchup with Floyd Jr. in 2007.
Two years later, Floyd Sr. was in Ricky Hatton’s corner when the Englishman was brutally stopped by Pacquiao in two rounds.
The promotion of that fight was marked by Mayweather Sr. christening Roach as “the joke coach,” and De La Hoya himself weighed in on the merits of the trainers before the fight.
“Mayweather is more technically sound when it comes to using different combinations with the mitt work,” he told ESPN. “Freddie, he’ll have you throw combinations, but it’s a repeated combination over and over and over. The strategy really isn’t 100 percent. I love Freddie Roach to death, I really do. Nothing personal to him, but from my experience, Floyd really had me at the top of my game.”
As for Floyd Jr., Roach’s press conference chatter this time around didn’t leave a mark.
“I faced Freddie Roach before in the past, and of course I was victorious,” he said.
“He’s a good trainer. The things that Freddie Roach is saying, he’s supposed to say. But when all is said and done, it comes down to the two fighters.”
