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STRAIGHT SHOOTER Freddie Roach talks about Manny’s political career, the Arum-de la Hoya rift and why the success of 'Pac-Man' and 'Golden Boy' doesn’t have anything to do with him By Dominic Menor PhilBoxing.com Wed, 11 Apr 2007 JUDE Turcuato, one of the hosts of "In the Zone", said it best: Freddie Roach is a victim of his own success. He’s so good everybody wants him. Everybody wants him badly he needs to spend less time on some fighters to accommodate others. For the first time since Manny Pacquiao fought in a US card, Roach wasn’t training him in Vine Street in Hollywood. He was training Oscar de la Hoya thousands of miles away in Puerto Rico. Roach had said though that he’ll be in Pacquiao’s Alamodome gig on Saturday (Sunday in Manila). De la Hoya, Roach said, had approved. In between Roach’s whirlwind schedule, “In the Zone,” a weekly radio program airing over dzSR, caught the trainer extraordinaire recently minutes before he was about to hit the sheets and call it a day. Everybody wants a piece of him? Freddie understands enough. How have you managed being in Puerto Rico and helping out Manny train in Los Angeles? It’s been very difficult because I’ve been concentrating on Oscar de la Hoya and his fight. I thought Manny was going to come here for three weeks. Oscar invited him but he thought he’d be better off in the Wild Card. [Manny and I] had a short camp this time because he has obligations in the Philippines. We’ve been in touch through the telephone. Are you going to be in Manny’s corner come fight night? Yes, I will be in Manny’s corner. I definitely will be there. They know that. We’ve talked about that. Manny asked me. I told Oscar that I’m going for that day. I’m paying my own fare. I’m not charging Manny for that. Me and Justine Fortune … he works for me as a training coach. There’s no complication. Manny’s my fighter and Justine’s my training coach with all my fighters. I talk to them. We’re all on the same page. Everything’s fine. Is there anything you can tell us about Jorge Solis? You know, Manny and his group accepted the fight before seeing a tape of [Solis]. So the first thing I did was to go out and get a tape of his fights. He’s tall. He’s a bit taller than [Eric] Morales. He’s a pretty good boxer, but he’s hittable. He comes to you a little bit. He has 32 wins and 26 knockouts but I don’t recognize any big names on his record. He’s well-protected. He hasn’t fought anybody of Manny’s class yet. And he’s a featherweight, a 126-pounder coming up to 130. I just don’t feel he’s strong enough to put up Manny. Manny is in great shape. We set up three great sparring partners for this fight. And they gave him good work everyday. I don’t think this fight will be much of a problem for Pacquiao. Based on your conversations with Oscar, how does he want to deal with the promotional issue between him and Bob Arum? You know, Oscar is getting ready for the biggest fight of his life and I’m training him everyday and we don’t really talk about issues outside of his fight, to be honest with you. Of course, Manny comes up once in a while because Manny’s my fighter. And he knows I’m going to leave camp and go to his fight. He’s well aware of that. He told me there’s no problem whatsoever. He still likes Manny a lot. The courts are going to decide who the promoter is, not Manny Pacquiao. Both people have contracts and we’ll see which one was signed legally and which one wasn’t. That court case is pending still. ‘Thing is, I’m going to just take a step back and be Manny’s trainer and Oscar’s, try to get them ready for their fights and stay out of that legal battle as much as I can because the courts are going to settle that, not me. What’s your opinion about Manny throwing his hat in politics? I know he’s always been interested in politics. In my opinion, I actually think he can do more for his people as a fighter. I don’t really think you have time to be both, be a fighter and politician. I’d like to see him finish his career out and win a couple of world championships and go into politics much later on. That’d be my choice, of course, because when you’re a boxer you have to be focused on boxing 100 percent. It’s hard to do two jobs at once. But Manny told me he wants to do it, and he thinks he can help his people. I can see his point, but I think there’ll be a better time when he finishes his career. But that’s just my own opinion. How is Oscar? Do you feel he’ll be exactly where he needs to be come May 5? We’re a little bit ahead of schedule. He’s already on weight for the fight. I gave him an extra day-off last week because I don’t want him to overdo it. He has very good work ethics. He’s training really good for the fight. This is the first time I’m working with Oscar, and he asks me a lot of questions about the Philippines. Because after this fight, he’s going to try and have Boom-Boom Bautista fight for the world title in Cebu and also maybe Gerry Pe?alosa getting a rematch of his last fight. He’s actually planning a trip to the Philippines to promote [that], and I think [the card is] going to end up in Cebu. He’s very excited because I tell him all the beautiful places in the Philippines. He wants to visit Boracay and places like that. He’s very interested in the Philippines and I told him he has a good fan base there. Compare Manny and Oscar and their work ethic. Manny Pacquiao when he comes to training, I’ve never seen a better athlete in my life. He’s 100 percent focused in whatever he does. I was really surprised that with Oscar de la Hoya, even at a later age and he’s already been successful in boxing and in life, he’s still very dedicated. He really works hard. Whatever I ask him to do, he does. He and Pacquiao their work ethic are great that’s why they’re world champions. Click here to view a list of other articles written by Dominic Menor.  |
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