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Philippines, 01 Jul 2025 |
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NEW SCHEDULES AT THE WILDCARD GYM -- UNTIL PACQUIAO RETURNS By Ed de la Vega, DDS PhilBoxing.com Thu, 03 Jun 2010  You really have to give it to Freddie Roach. I mean all the accolades and the respect for what he has accomplished as a trainer. And, because of such success, the number of boxers that gravitate to his sweat shop on Vine Street in Hollywood called Wildcard Gym jumped exponentially. Even the Armenians and the Russians are now a common sight at the Wildcard. Of course, the Pinoys and Latinos are there as well and so are a few Europeans and Canadians that occasionally pop up to experience the ambiance. And, that is not to forget the ?Out-of-State? fighters and other Asians whose numbers is fast increasing. One would only need to peek in to the gym to see that there hardly is a place to train in spite of the expansion Roach made a few months back. But even with that everyone gets their time and space. From the 11-year old wannabes to the great names in boxing and everybody in between ? they are all there. And, the more people that trains there, the more people will continue to flock in because the sheer number of boxers training there creates a good opportunity for sparring. Realistically, Roach needs a much bigger gym but I am sure no matter how big he builds it, training space will eventually be a premium. Such is the reputation he has build- a trainer par excellence. Roach is simply a class above any of the present day trainers. Period. Hey, they didn?t give him the ?Trainer of the Year? Award the fourth time for nothing! Lately, with the addition of the young Cesar Chavez Jr., in the stable of boxers he trains, sparring schedules has been changed. Well, at least until the real big name comes. Manny Pacquiao! Then it becomes Pacquiao time. With that, everyone becomes second fiddle for no one deserves Roach? undivided attention more than the ?Boxer of the Decade? that is Pacquiao. In the meantime, now everybody starts queues for sparring at 10 am. That goes on through the lunch hour up to 2 PM. At 2 PM Chavez Jr walks in and Roach focuses on young and up coming Mexican for the next 2 hours or so. After that, the young aspiring boxers and everybody else that just train for physical conditioning can commence their work again. Incidentally, because of the volume of work Roach has, now even the press needs to go through her Secretary, Marie Spivey for ?scheduled interviews?. No more of the so-called ?ambush-interviews? that occasionally happen in the past. And, the fans and ?looky-loos? are politely shooed away too. There simply isn?t any time for them to visit, much less the space for them to hang around. Incidentally, on Friday, Roach flies to New York to receive his 4th Trainer of the Year Award. Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ed de la Vega, DDS.  |
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