Oscar De La Hoya’s selection of Freddie Roach as his trainer for the Floyd Mayweather Jr. blockbuster was as beautifully orchestrated as one of his well-placed combinations, specifically targeted for maximum impact, set up with a little purposeful deceit, and finished with a just-legal punch on the belt line.
He feinted Floyd Mayweather Sr. with a financial offer to stay as trainer, then said they must part ways because he felt the burden of widening the Mayweather family rift — coincidentally, after they failed to reach terms.
He hooked Manny Pacquiao’s trainer, which means the principal rival to Mayweather’s mythical pound-for-pound kingdom could be without his coach for a proposed April fight — coincidentally, just weeks after Pacquiao signed, then withdrew from, a contract with De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions.
He finished with a body shot to Top Rank Inc., his ex-promoter, and now archrival, which won the recent standoff for Pacquiao’s rights — but coincidentally, Roach’s hiring enhances De La Hoya’s access and sales pitch to the Filipino star.
And then, he pushed off the media in an international teleconference Tuesday, and parried the obvious by saying money “had no impact whatsoever” on it all.
Come one, come all, to challenge the great De La Hoya, whose ability to land that combination and emerge unscathed in business is substantially easier than against his real challenger. To do so May 5 comes down to three months of interaction between a fighter, who hired and fired five trainers before sticking with Mayweather Sr. for six years, and a newly hired trainer who suggested he might formulate two game plans, which raises the axiomatic query, if you have two game plans, do you have one?
They have 94 days to work on it.
Meantime, De La Hoya replaced the most desirable trainer for this fight with one of the most desired trainers in boxing.
Roach has trained Mike Tyson, Pacquiao, and James Toney. He also inherits a ready-made fighter and disciplined worker.
But the implementation clock is ticking, and there is no dress rehearsal.
