MANILA — Somewhere over the Pacific Ocean this past Saturday night, perhaps shortly after the Philippine Airlines 747 had leveled off at 38,000 feet, and the flight attendants had begun to roll out the opulent service of First Class, Freddie Roach must surely have leaned back in his spacious chair, closed his eyes, taken a deep breath and let out an audible sigh of what can only be described as pure and utter relief.
After nearly one month in the Philippines, the public circus that was Manny Pacquiao training in his home country had mercifully come to an end. Now, Roach was headed home. Now he could look forward to two weeks of intensive, closed-door workouts in the middle of his private domain where he has total control, the Wild Card Boxing Club in Hollywood, Calif. Now, he could finally get his fighter to bear down and focus and get him ready for what Roach describes as the most-difficult challenge Pacquiao has ever faced.
?This is the toughest fight of our lives and I?ve said that from day one,? Roach said after Pacquiao?s last workout in the Philippines this past Saturday at the Elorde Gym in Quezon City, Metro Manila. ?This guy (Margarito) is coming to win. He?s hungry. If he wins, all that stuff (the hand wraps controversy) goes away that he?s blamed for. He has nothing to lose.?
The normally unflappable Roach wasn?t exactly sounding the alarm bells, but he was clearly not all that happy with the way things had gone over the past month. The rock star treatment offered by Filipinos to their once-in-a-century hero and Pacquiao?s desire to please his rabid, wide eyed countrymen, combined with a wild, say-anything press corps that would put Randolph Hearst to shame, creates a relentless onslaught moving in multiple directions at once. As usual, Pacquiao seems impervious to it all, and past history tells us that he actually thrives in the midst of chaos. But when you?re in charge of preparing your most-prized ward to fight a hungry giant, the never-ending distractions can get more than a little grating.
?This one is going a little bit overboard,? Roach said of his second training camp with Pacquiao in the Philippines. ?With the trips from Baguio to Manila (six hours drive), it doesn?t seem like much on your day off, but it?s a really draining trip, and it?s a dangerous drive. He doesn?t see it that way. But these are distractions. You know Michael Koncz (Pacquiao?s chief adviser) getting married and Manny singing six songs. Is that a distraction? Of course it is before we fight. He met the President yesterday. I mean he can meet the President anytime he wants. Why does he have to meet him on my time??
Roach?s demeanor was surely further fouled by the scene in the gym last Saturday. Roach wanted the 10 rounds of sparring to be private so Pacquiao could focus. Somehow, inexplicably, the session became open to the press and various other friends and acquaintances.
