The Wild Card Boxing Club is undoubtedly the prom queen of boxing gyms in the world. Fighters from a variety of countries come to train at this hotspot, hoping to learn just a little bit from the man who makes it go, owner and Hall of Fame trainer Freddie Roach. Roach’s story is well documented. He struggles daily battling Parkinson’s Disease and claims the only time the disease is not getting the better of him is when he is training fighters in the ring. Very few doubt the greatness of the legendary trainer. Most who do point to the fact that Roach has very few fighters considered “home grown talent,” whom Roach trained from the very beginning of their professional careers. I disagree, however. If he wasn’t a great trainer, fighters would not be coming to him on a daily basis.
Roach has trained and produced over 20 world champions. Already a member of the Boxing Hall of Fame, he was voted the 3rd most popular person in the Philippines, a country with a population of over 94 million, based solely on the fact that he trains the country’s most popular man, Manny Pacquiao (Roach only travels to the Philippines to train Pacquiao). Besides Pacquiao, Roach currently trains other world-class talent, such as Amir Khan, Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., Peter Quillin, Lateef Kayode, Viacheslav Senchenko, and Jorge Linares. With such a large stable of fighters, one has to wonder if Roach’s popularity and reputation may be leading to his downfall as well.
One man can only do so much in 24 hours. Roach’s daily battle with the deadly disease makes me believe he is close to burning himself out. Bear Bryant coached Alabama and died shortly after retiring. Joe Paterno died just months after being fired by Penn St. Is boxing keeping Freddie Roach alive? Maybe it’s a bit premature to say that, but this workload has raised some other questions. Are Roach-trained fighters getting 100% focus from their hall-of-fame trainer? More importantly, are Roach-trained fighters developing at a sufficient rate to super-stardom?
Manny Pacquiao has already reached the pinnacle of the sport, and only a fight with Floyd Mayweather can increase his notoriety. Roach took Pacquiao to greatness from early on in Pacquiao’s professional career. At the time, Roach was not flooded with world-class fighters and had proper time to devote to his star pupil. Fast-forward to today and Roach’s number one priority is still Pacquiao, and no other training camp comes before Manny’s. With Pacquiao nearing the end of his fighting career (he has stated his desire to begin his political career full-time), Amir Khan and Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. look to be Roach’s next potential mega-stars, but it is easy to make the case that neither fighter is developing at a steady rate.
Khan looked sluggish and unprepared in his December loss to Lamont Peterson, a fight which Khan seemingly took for granted as an easy victory. Would his mindset have been the same if Roach could have devoted 100% of his time to Khan instead splitting time training Pacquiao for the third Marquez fight? Chavez Jr. is already a household name and one of the most popular athletes in Mexico. His fights in America are consistently drawing crowds of over 10,000, but his constant struggle to make weight, his out of the ring troubles (he received a DUI two weeks before his most recent fight against Marco Antonio Rubio), and his lack of defensive skills make some believe he isn’t as good as advertised and has only been matched very well. Would these struggles be occurring if Chavez Jr. had a trainer to devote 100% of their time to him?
Lateef Kayode is supposed to be the next great cruiserweight, potentially moving to heavyweight down the line and should be getting a world title shot before year’s end, but as he has stepped up in competition, he has been exposed in fights against journeymen Nick Iannuzzi, Matt Godfrey, and Felix Cora Jr. Kayode is currently slated to face the very experienced Antonio Tarver. With Kayode’s lack of development, a guy like Tarver, even at 43-years-old, could take Kayode to school. Would Kayode have developed more quickly under the guidance of a trainer devoting 100% of his time to the Nigerian? Senchenko, Quillin, and Linares are all top level fighters (Senchenko is a world champion) and near the top of their respective weight classes. Would they be better off spending their time with another world-class trainer who can break down an opponent and devote 100% of time to that one fighter’s preparations, or are they better off getting a fraction of Freddie Roach’s time?
Roach is, without question, one of the top 10 greatest boxing trainers of all time, but the fact remains that his schedule and overloaded stable of fighters is preventing his top quality talent to develop into elite fighters. Guillermo Rigondeaux just won a world title in January after having left Roach because he wasn’t getting what he felt was the proper attention. Perhaps Roach needs to do what trainers like Barry Hunter (Lamont and Anthony Peterson’s trainer) and Kevin Cunningham (Devon Alexander’s trainer and former trainer of Cory Spinks) have done. Focus on no more than three world-class fighters at a time and allow the others to get sufficient work somewhere else. There are a ton of great trainers in boxing. Fighters shouldn’t just pursue the big-name trainer. They should pursue the right fit.
Email comments, thoughts, and questions to [email protected], “Like” The Boxing Observer on Facebook, and follow me on Twitter @BoxingObserver.
