JM: Freddie, your show “On Freddie Roach” will premiere this Friday on HBO, tell us about how the idea of the show initially came about?
Freddie Roach: “Well you know John, I think Jim Lampley was the first one to come up with the idea of the show. It was his idea first. Jim and Peter Berg got together and collaborated on the style that we are going to use on the show. It is a style that hasn?t been used in quite some time because there is no narration or anything. I was open enough to the idea of letting them see my life the way it is. The cameras followed me for a year; it was 6am to 11pm almost daily. We went to the Ukraine together; we went to the Philippines together. It captured my everyday life. There was nothing scripted, and they never told me to do anything or asked me to do anything. The show is 100% natural. We did have a preview screening of it, and I was very happy with it. It is hard to watch yourself on TV (laughs).?
JM: Freddie, what is your motivation to keep training fighters despite the physical struggles you go through on a daily basis?
Freddie Roach: ?My main motivation is no matter how bad or how hard it gets, if you keep working you can prevail. I think we all have problems in life, and when you get knocked down you have to push yourself back up and get on with it.?
JM: How effective is the show in capturing that on camera?
Freddie Roach: ?The cameras definitely captured that. My brother had a stroke, and somebody asked me why I didn?t go to the hospital to see my brother. I told them I am not a doctor, I can?t help him. Then I grabbed my mitts and went back to work. Some people may think that?s intense but, again I?m not a doctor and I can?t help my brother. Overall, I am a very open person and I let them into my life completely. Filming would start at 6 am and finish when I went to sleep at night.?
JM: It takes a special eye and talent to train elite fighters. When was the first time in your life that you realized the gift you possess?
Freddie Roach: ?I had a great mentor in Eddie Futch. When I worked with him as his assistant for five years that really helped me out a lot. Eddie was my trainer when I fought, of course. He taught me a lot on how to fight. When I was his assistant, he taught me the finer points, and gave me lessons on not changing people and how to revert to the fundamentals and work on that. He was a great role model, of course. Virgil Hill was the first fighter I trained. For my first fighter, I trained an Olympic silver medalist and I realized when I worked with him that I could be really good at this.?
JM: Do you enjoy watching the show from what you have seen? Did you ever think you?d be the star of a TV show?
Freddie Roach: ?I?ve only seen the first two episodes. I am waiting to see the others. I can?t see the others yet (laughs). The first two episodes were really good though. I never thought I?d be able to do anything in Hollywood. I tried out for a beer commercial one time. They had all these actors acting like boxers and I figured I would get that part pretty easy. Then I realized they weren?t looking for boxers, they were looking for actors who could act like a boxer. That is when I thought I?ll never do anything in Hollywood again. When Peter Berg and Jim Lampley came to me and asked me if I was open to do this and I said yeah.?
JM: Were their times when the all of the cameras got burdensome?
Freddie Roach: ?The camera crew was great. I was with them for a year, and it was a lot of fun sometimes. The other times I wanted to send them home but I didn?t (laughs). It was a great experience all around. I am not sure if I can do it again, but it was fun while it lasted.?
JM: What can fans expect from the show?
Freddie Roach: ?It is a very compelling show and people that are interested in boxing can see what we go through outside the ring. 24/7 hits on that a little bit, but this show hits on it a lot deeper. It shows that we struggle like everyone else in life and how we get through it.?
JM: Last but not least, while I have you, do you ever see a Mayweather-Pacquiao fight happening? A lot of boxing fans are slowly losing all hope of this fight ever happening.
Freddie Roach: ?We have been chasing him for two years. All of a sudden, he gets a get-out-of-jail free card and wants to call us out. I honestly think that fight needs more time to develop and promote. It is a big fight. I am happy he called us out, but just because he called us out doesn?t mean he is willing to negotiate. It is definitely a good time for it to happen. I definitely think this fight will happen this year. I am a fight fan just like everyone else. I wish that fight was tomorrow. I would love to start getting ready for that fight right away. I would like for that to be our next fight, but I believe that will be our second fight this year.?
