SAN ANTONIO, Texas – Freddie Roach, the teacher, gave Manny Pacquiao, the student, a passing grade.
In a scale of one to 10, the celebrated trainer said Pacquiao deserves a five.
“Yes, a five,” said Roach moments after Pacquiao encountered some anxious moments before stopping Jorge Solis in the eighth round at the Alamodome.
Roach said he wasn’t really pleased that Pacquiao took the game, gallant Mexican lightly.
“There was no challenge and so he was playing with the guy. So, after he took a cut in the sixth round, I told him to be serious,” said Roach.
The celebrated American trainer flew in from Puerto Rico, where he’s training Oscar dela Hoya for a May 5 showdown with Floyd Mayweather, just to be in Pacquiao’s corner.
Roach came shortly after noon, carrying with him just a small military backpack. He said he’s scheduled to fly back to Puerto Rico the following morning.
Even Justin Fortune, who took over Pacquiao’s training in Los Angeles in the absence of Roach, was quite amused that the Filipino boxer seemed to have fooled around.
“Maybe he wanted to get some rounds. I told him ‘what are you doing?’ He can’t do that because he can put himself in trouble,” said Fortune.
And Pacquiao almost did when he suffered a one-inch cut on his left eyebrow after an accidental clash of heads in the sixth round.
“The guy (Solis) came to fight. So when Manny took the cut he took the fight seriously. Did I get nervous? No,” said Fortune.
If he did, it didn’t show.
