Just what makes Freddie Roach?s face light up when asked about Manny Pacquiao?
Punching power? Lightning-quick reflexes? Courage?
Actually, these are all Pacquiao traits, but what tickles Roach?s fancy most is Pacquiao?s work ethic, an attribute the Hall of Fame trainer believes will carry him past Oscar De La Hoya on Dec. 6 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
“The key to Manny Pacquiao?s success is his work ethic, he works his ass off,” Roach wrote in his blog in The Ring magazine website over the weekend. “When he walks through the door at Wild Card Gym, he?s always the same person. His work ethic is phenomenal. He averages 40 to 50 rounds a day, that?s a normal workout.”
“He doesn?t want to rest. He?s non-stop. He constantly wants to learn, and get better,” said Roach, who began training Pacquiao in 2001 as then business manager Rod Nazario was looking for someone to harness Pacquiao?s raw talent.
Seconds into their first team-up with the mitts, Roach was convinced Pacquiao will go places.
Since hooking up with Pacquiao during that summer day over seven years ago, the 48-year-old Roach has never been absent in Pacquiao?s corner on US soil, giving his assistants the chance to call the shots in the corner in only two occasions when the fights were held on Philippine shores.
Since making his smashing US debut in June 2001 when he captured the International Boxing Federation super-bantamweight crown from Lehlo Ledwaba of South Africa, Pacquiao has fought 13 more times in the US, including the trilogy with Erik Morales and the twin tussles with Juan Manuel Marquez.
Pacquiao hopes that his 15th ring appearance in the US will be the most memorable, and to assure that he gets more than a puncher?s chance against the naturally bigger De La Hoya, his training has been hellish at the Wild Card.
So far, Pacquiao has sparred at least 130 rounds and by the time he arrives in Las Vegas on Dec. 1, he would have logged close to 150 rounds under the strict supervision of Roach, training assistants Buboy Fernandez, Nonoy Neri and Eric Brown and conditioning coach Alex Ariza.
