Everyone has different reasoning for the things they do in life. Whether the agendas are hidden or completely up front, people vary on their purpose towards their tasks at hand. In observing the work of fellow journalist Brad Cooney over the years it is strikingly evident that the New York native is guided by his pure love for the sport of boxing.
After growing up in New York, Cooney would venture all over the country, migrating to such places as Virginia, California, Texas, and eventually Mississippi. Along the way he picked up an interest in the sport of boxing and eventually starting networking and writing for various websites online. As he settled into his newfound hobby, Cooney remembers being inspired to pen a book of his own.
“I still to this day feel like a little kid at Christmas time every time I interview a Shane Mosley or a Manny Pacquiao,” Cooney claims. “I just love it and I still have the passion for it. I’ve been blessed with the opportunity to speak with these guys and that’s kind of where my idea for the book came from. I remember that I used to write for a website and one of the owners of the site had written a book and it inspired me to do the same thing. It was just a compilation of some of my interviews and thoughts on the sport.”
As his progression on the book became more of a reality, Cooney came up with the simple title ‘Let’s Talk Boxing’. He also came to the conclusion that he needed somebody worthwhile to be on the cover. Without hesitation he thought that one of the top trainers in the sport would fit the role perfectly.
“When I first got into writing Freddie Roach was a big part of the boxing world,” Cooney reflects. “I already knew who he was and ended up growing an admiration for the guy. I followed his career and after working for a few boxing websites I got the chance to interview him. When the idea eventually came to me about writing a book I thought ‘Who better to have on the cover than Freddie Roach?’. I called Freddie years back and asked if he would be interested and to my surprise he said that he would be honored to be on the cover. I was honored in return, from just hearing him say that. I flew out to L.A. with a buddy of mine and we did the photo shoot and we’ve been friends ever since.”
As he arrived in L.A. Cooney was set to meet Roach at the trainer’s Wild Card Boxing Gym. Upon arriving in the facility, Cooney remembers being taken back.
“The Wild Card Gym is a definite experience,” Cooney says up front. “Obviously it’s a legendary gym and its located in Hollywood, right there on Vine Street. It’s wall to wall pictures of legends and fighters and there isn’t a bare spot on that wall. There are magazine pictures of Freddie and Manny, Freddie and Oscar, Mike Tyson, and other legends in the game. The gym just has so much history. You never really know who’s going to walk in through those doors. So many fighters and people associated in the sport often stop by.”
Despite the overwhelming aura inside of the Wild Card, it wasn’t completely what Cooney expected it to be. Despite being in the heart of Hollywood, the gym itself was modest and old fashioned in many regards.
“When I first walked it I was surprised because it was smaller than I thought it would be,” Cooney continues. “I had the impression in my head that Freddie Roach and all of his famous fighters would be training out of this fancy, big-time gym but that wasn’t the case. When you walk in its rather small and not really that big of a gym.”
Despite having only talked to Roach on the phone prior, Cooney remembers Roach befriending him as though they were childhood buddies. It was the trainer’s modest nature that Cooney noticed right off the bat.
“I remember walking into the gym to see Freddie and the first thing he said was ‘I’m glad you made it out safe,’”, Cooney remembers. We did the photo shoot that day. Freddie was just a humble guy and he still is a very humble guy to this day.”
When asked further about Roach’s humble demeanor, Cooney credits it to the trainer’s upbringing. Roach was a product of his environment and even as a youth boxing consumed his life.
“Freddie is a blue collar guy from Massachusetts,” Cooney claims. “His father was very strict in the house. And his father was a very strict man as well. All Freddie did growing up was box along with his brothers. In Freddie’s household whoever was doing the best in the boxing ring was treated the best by his father and that was told to me directly from Freddie.”
In talking to Roach about his eventual move out West, Cooney remembers that the trainer wasn’t affected by a change of lifestyle. Despite being in a new environment, Roach was still the same person at the end of the day.
“Coming out of the Boston area he just brought that blue collar attitude out to Hollywood with him,” Cooney states. “He didn’t really ever have the Hollywood thing about him and he actually moved to Las Vegas before he ever went to the West Coast. Not that the West Coast is any more or less that back East, but Freddie just never had that West Coast mentality. When he got out there he just had that humble, blue collar mindset.”
After his initial meeting with Roach, Cooney would establish a friendship with the trainer that still exists to this day. That friendship would lead to Cooney returning back to Los Angeles time and time again for training camps with the man who would end up being Roach’s prized pupil, Manny Pacquiao.
“I think the first camp I went to was for his fight with Juan Manuel Marquez,” Cooney points out. “That was pretty incredible. Just seeing Manny Pacquiao around his entourage is something else. The first time I ever interviewed Manny Pacquiao was very difficult because he used to speak horrible English. This was around 2004, the first time I interviewed him. He spoke very poor English and I had to rephrase the questions over and over but we eventually go through it. My friendship with Manny has developed over the years and his English has always gotten better. Nowadays we just joke about it. We both remember when we were struggling just to have a conversation with each other.”
Outside of interviewing and interacting with Manny, Cooney was there to see first hand how the Filipino’s training sessions took place. Being honest, Cooney remembers being shocked at how much intensity the Filipino fighter possessed.
“The first time was unbelievable,” Cooney recalls. “When the guy trains I thought that he might not be ready for a 130 pounder at that time but when he worked the heavy bag the gym just stopped. It was almost like somebody was taking a baseball bat to the side of a garbage can. I just remember thinking that somebody that small shouldn’t be able to hit that hard. His speed and work ethic stood out but he is also just like a little kid at times because he likes to joke and goof around.”
While Cooney was able to notice that Roach and Pacquiao were unique in their own separate ways, he was also able to take in exactly how much each man cared about the other. The ride that Pacquiao and Roach have been on as of late has been tremendous but it all stems from the bond that the two have with one another. That bond is something Cooney has been lucky to be a part of it and he speaks about each man with an unbiased appreciation when discussing their camaraderie.
“The survival of their relationship is because they genuinely care about one another. What happens is that Manny has so many people in his camp from his advisors, attorneys, and assistants, Filipino people, American people, and all kinds of people. What happens is that when the two are spread apart a lot of people wedge in there and kind of fill up that vacuum. What happens is once Manny and Freddie reconnect and get close to each other, all of that goes away and people scurry like cockroaches after you turn the light on. When they are together you can see just how much they care about one another.”
