As he looked forward to Manny Pacquiao?s Dec. 6 fight with Oscar dela Hoya, trainer Freddie Roach also looked back to the Golden Boy?s showdown with Floyd Mayweather Jr. last year.
Roach trained Dela Hoya for the Mayweather fight in May of 2007 at the MGM Grand for the WBC light-middleweight title, one where the 35-year-old king of pay-per-view lost a 12-round split decision.
Dela Hoya blamed Roach for that loss, his third in his last six fights.
?The strategy Freddie had was the incorrect one. My thought was to be aggressive with Mayweather. That was a big mistake, the incorrect strategy,? Dela Hoya had said.
In yesterday?s teleconference also graced by Dela Hoya trainer Nacho Beristain, Golden Boy president Richard Schaeffer and Top Rank big boss Bob Arum, Roach threw it back to his former ward.
?The game plan we had for the fight was working well in the early rounds and I thought we were winning. Then he abandoned the game plan and then of course we ended up losing the decision.
?Then I guess about a month ago he started blaming me for the loss. But you know he?s always blaming somebody so he can blame me for this one, too,? said Roach.
The two-time Trainer of the Year, who?s been in Pacquiao?s corner for more than seven years now, said what he saw in Dela Hoya against Mayweather will help Pacquiao win this one.
?It?s the mistake that Oscar made in the fight and we?re going to take advantage of this. I?m not gonna tell you what it is,? said Roach, who must have seen something so bad in Dela Hoya?s arsenal.
?It?s not something that Mayweather did but it?s a mistake that Oscar did and I know it well and we will take advantage of it,? said Roach.
It must have something to do with Dela Hoya?s stamina, or how the former Olympic champion can withstand body punches as hard as Pacquiao could throw them. But Roach just wouldn?t let it out.
Beristain, however, doesn?t think that Roach knows Dela Hoya too well after working with him for only one fight.
?You don?t get to know a fighter with one fight,? Beristain, who also trains the Marquez brothers, Juan Manuel and Rafael, said as interpreted by Jaime Quintana.
Beristain said it?s not even an advantage Roach having worked with Dela Hoya.
?Not at all. I don?t see any advantage in that. He trained Oscar for one fight but Oscar is a good fighter he adjusts to different opponents and different styles,? he explained.
?It?s sort of like when you go to school and learn and continue to learn you don?t stay with your first grade teacher all throughout your career,? Beristain added.
