Freddie Roach has been very clear in his personal assessments regarding the progress of Amir Khan.
Recent comments from Roach all lean towards the head trainer of Manny Pacquiao realizing that sooner than later, his prized pupil will be defeated.
Never to be outdone, Roach has been taking every opportunity to mention his belief that Amir Khan could take down Pacquiao and even goes as far as to opinion Khan could easily handle Floyd ‘Maynever’, Jr.
These type of conversations can be perceived as ‘supporting one of your clients’, or actually ‘throwing Manny Pacquiao under the bus’.
Manny Pacquiao and Bob Arum seem ‘tighter than lug nuts on an abandoned vehicle’, but Pacquiao and Roach…maybe not so tight.
The word coming out of the Pacquiao training camp leads one to believe the ongoing issue of the seemingly growing larger by the minute entourage surrounding the Fillipino star (that visibly irritates Roach) can be viewed as becoming a huge divide in their relationship.
Manny Pacquiao actually enjoys celebrating with the many Fillipino friends that he surrounds himself with, and now appears to merely ‘tolerate’ the comments from Roach regarding his fight preparation, or personal lifestyle.
November 13th will be either the beginning of a new chapter in the ‘Freddie Roach: Trainer of Champions’ biography, or the ending of ‘Team Pacquiao and Roach’ when Pacquiao takes on the ‘Tijuana Tornado’, Antonio Margarito.
Roach likes to stir up controversy no matter who his employer is fighting, but he sometimes allows his arrogance to get in the way of good common sense.
Freddie Roach questioned the hand wraps of Oscar De La Hoya prior to the Pacquiao vs De La Hoya bout back in December of 2008, just as a way of attempting to get under the skin of the Golden Boy.
A rather odd move, when prior to that fight Roach had trained De La Hoya for his bout against Floyd ‘Maynever’, Jr. in May of 2007.
The obvious question: Did Oscar have illegal hand wraps during his time with Roach?
Roach claims he ‘just trained De La Hoya’ and never had anything to do with wrapping his hands.
This is worth mentioning only because of the now diminishing controvery involving next up opponent, Antonio Margarito.
The now much too obvious promoting of Amir Khan by Freddie Roach can only be viewed as there being a real concern by Roach of the ability Manny Pacquiao has against Antonio Margarito on November 13.
It’s one thing to make your client feel he is a future star, but quite another to have your future star in training camp, sparring, and gaining valuable insight into your champions’ strengths and weaknesses, on a daily basis.
Good sparring partners are usually brought in as preparation for an opponent that has a similar style, power, height, or weight as the one your own guy will be fighting.
Amir Khan in no way has any similarities of Antonio Margarito, so why would he be invited to train, and spar with Manny Pacquiao, unless there was an ulterior motive?
A legitimate question for all boxing fans to ask, and an even more legitimate one that needs to be asked by Manny Pacquiao.
Maybe Freddie Roach is just being a good businessman, who is covering all bases with his love of Amir Khan, but at the expense of Manny Pacquiao?
The obvious conclusion is that Freddie Roach has his own legitimate concerns of whether Manny Pacquiao can last against a much bigger, and stronger, Antonio Margarito come November 13.
Roach has carefully laid the groundwork for his always interesting, and even humorous excuses when his fight plan fails.
It’s just funny that this time, his plan has seemingly gone unnoticed by the mllions of boxing pundits that follow him on a daily basis.
Remember the words, “Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer”.
Freddie Roach has accomplished what few are capable of in the ring, and maybe it’s now time he’s acknowledged as the ‘premier manipulator in the sport of boxing’.
Wanda Rollerson (Denver): “Manny Pacquiao is on record as saying he only wants to have a few more fights, so why not start building up your stable of future stars by Freddie Roach”?
Danny Wilson (Denver): “Freddie Roach plays the role of the martyr very well. His Parkinson’s disease usually means most tend to give him a break on what he says, but it does seem like he has an agenda that doesn’t include Manny Pacquiao in the future”.
Isiah Baca (Westminster): “I like Freddie Roach and if he feels Amir Khan is the next superstar in the sport, he would be wise to promote him as much as possible. Pacquiao may lose to Margarito, but if he beats the ‘Tornado’, Pacquiao vs Khan could put Roach in a bad position, because then he may have to choose sides”.
