Freddie Roach intercepts the old lady as she makes her way across the parking lot behind the Wild Card Gym and gives her a hug. ?This is my ma,? says Freddie. The old lady nods a greeting and walks over to her car. She gets in and drives off, edging out on to Vine Street and heading north towards Hollywood Boulevard.
?She still drives to Vegas by herself now and then,? says Freddie. Not telling the rest of it. Not yet. Not talking about the guilt that used to eat him up. Not talking about the father he used to favour or voicing the regrets about the children he has never had or speaking of the sons he has made of the fighters he has turned into champions.
Freddie pushes open the door to the downstairs gym and walks in. This is the place he built for Manny Pacquiao a few years back so his biggest star could prepare for fights away from prying eyes. Pacquiao is due to arrive later. For now, the room is deserted. The frenzied beat of fighters working the speed balls and pounding the heavy bags rolls down through the ceiling in a busy, thudding hum.
A boxing ring dominates the room. Freddie sits on the ring apron. Now and again, the best fight trainer in the world lolls back against the ropes. He looks well, much improved from a couple of years back. He is on some new medication for his Parkinson?s disease. His tremors have diminished. His face looks clearer and less strained. ?My mother asked me two days ago, ?What are you doing to your face??,? says Freddie. ?I told her, ?Nothing?. She said ?Bull****?.?
Freddie starts to talk about the fight, the biggest fight he has ever been involved in, The Fight of the Century, the richest fight in history, Pacquiao v Floyd Mayweather Jr a week on Saturday at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. He says where he thinks the fight will be won and lost. He says it represents a struggle between the good and the bad in boxing. He paints a picture of Pacquiao as a decent, honourable, generous man.
