Freddie Roach has already lost track of the number of times he felt he was on top of the world.
But he hopes to get the big one of his celebrated career on Dec. 6.
That is if his prized pupil, Manny Pacquiao, conquers Oscar De La Hoya in what many billed as the biggest boxing show of the year in Las Vegas.
“That would be the best day of my life,” Roach said when the Bulletin caught up with him at the Wild Card Boxing Club in Hollywood just moments after sweating it out with Pacquiao.
While Roach is a cinch to make the Hall of Fame, he is on the cusp of becoming a god who can be mentioned on the same breath with the likes of Angelo Dundee and Eddie Futch, who is incidentally Roach?s mentor, should his iconic puncher from Gen. Santos City emerge triumphant at the MGM Grand.
Roach is the type of guy who has been there and done that but he remains hungry for recognition even if he is widely regarded today as being second to none in the world of training and calling the shots in the corner.
He is so motivated by the prospects of earning another accolade that he has promised to do everything possible to see Pacquiao?s arms raised in victory even if he admits that “even a year ago, I thought Oscar might be too big for Manny,” said Roach in an interview with GMA TV?s Dominic Menor.
“But then after training Oscar and training Manny and seeing the differences, Manny has grown into a bigger and stronger person. The size difference isn?t going to be that great. If that?s the only advantage Oscar has, he?s in trouble,” said Roach.
Asked whether he is giving Pacquiao a 50-50 chance of upsetting De La Hoya, Roach sounded a bit insulted.
“I don?t mean to assume but the general consensus is that I?m getting is about 50-50, meaning 50 percent thinks Manny will win, 50 percent don?t. On my side, I think we have a 90 percent shot to win this fight,” said Roach, who spent eight weeks training the Golden Boy last year in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Still, Roach admits that even at 35, De La Hoya has a lot of championship juice left in the tank.
“There?s a 10-percent chance I?m giving Oscar to win because he has a good left hook. I gotta give him credit. He has knockout power in his left hook. That?s his best shot and it?s my biggest concern.”
