NEW YORK CITY?Manny Pacquiao formalized the promotion of longtime friend Buboy Fernandez to the role of chief trainer on Monday but revealed that Hall of Fame cornerman Freddie Roach will be given the title of a supervisor or consultant in the runup to his return to the ring early next year.
Appearing at the Gotham Hall for the first leg of a two-city press tour, Pacquiao likewise declared that he will still train at the Wild Card Boxing Club in Hollywood but it will be Fernandez who will call the shots during the final four weeks of training.
Pacquiao meets Adrien Broner in the first defense of his World Boxing Association welterweight crown on January 19 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas and that the second half of his training camp will be done in the US after spending the first four weeks in the Philippines.
?Freddie will supervise and watch over my training but Buboy (Fernandez) will be the chief trainer,? said Pacquiao of the special role that Roach will assume.
Getting consultants isn?t actually alien in the boxing world. Oscar De La Hoya, when he prepared to face Pacquiao in 2008, brought the legendary Angelo Dundee in camp but it was the voice of the equally revered Mexican maestro Ignacio ?Nacho? Berstain which sounded the loudest.
Roach, 58, began training Pacquiao in June 2001 and had only been absent in three Pacquiao fights since then. When Pacquiao got ready for Argentine banger Lucas Matthysse last July in Kuala Lumpur, Pacquiao took a chance in Fernandez and he rose to the occasion as the eight-division world champion scored an emphatic seventh-round stoppage.
Instead of being asked to travel to the Philippines, Roach remained in Los Angeles and watched Pacquiao and Fernandez produce a classic.
Told about Roach?s new job description, Fernandez didn?t look at all amused as the new setup might affect the equilibrium since he was looking forward to train instead at conditioning coach Justin Fortune?s sweat shop just a few minutes away from Roach?s place.
Still, Fernandez is confident that he can follow up the Matthysse massacre with yet another head-turning stint as the top dog in the corner.
?Me and Manny, we have discussed my new role in the corner,? said Fernandez.
Pacquiao, who turns 40 on Dec 17, will travel to the US on Dec. 22 after spending four weeks in Manila and General Santos City.
However, Pacquiao and Roach haven?t discussed the matter and whether Roach will accept his new designation is still up in the air. Pacquiao and his team arrived in Los Angeles Monday night on a private plane and is billeted at the Waldorf Astoria, venue of the second and last press conference. (Nick Giongco)
