LAS VEGAS ? Nacho Beristain, the maker of great champions from Mexico, said Tuesday there?s no animosity between him and fellow trainer Freddie Roach of the US.
Or at least he tried to hide it.
?No, not at all,? Beristain told Filipino scribes Tuesday during the formal welcome ceremony for boxers Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez at Mandalay Bay.
?I respect Freddie Roach and his work. There is no rivalry,? added the Olympian, who has trained 16 world champions over the last 40 years.
But that doesn?t seem to be the case with Roach, a fellow Hall of Famer, who said he didn?t like something Beristain said about him sometime.
?Freddie Roach didn?t want to give me his autograph. But that?s okay,? Beristain, who trained former champions Ricardo Lopez, Daniel Zaragoza and Gilberto Roman, said.
Back to business, Beristain, through an interpreter, said he?d always had high regard for Filipino fighters who have fought most of the boxers he trained in the past.
He said he respects Pacquiao, known as the Mexican killer.
?We know that Filipino fighters are very good. We respect Pacquiao. We respect his style,? he said.
Beristain was also told that Pacquiao fans fear Marquez, a typical Beristain fighter.
?It?s good (that they?re scared of Marquez) because they should be. We?re really confident that we will come out with the victory,? he said.
Beristain said the past three months were the greatest for Marquez ever in terms of training.
?This is the best training he ever had.?
Then, Beristain talked about fight week, and the last couple of days heading to the big rematch.
?This is the crucial week for us. I?m going to take care of him (Marquez) like a little girl. Any little detail, you know even his nails, and then watch his weight,? the Mexican trainer and manager said.
Marquez has never had any problems with his weight since he was practically born as a featherweight, unlike Pacquiao who climbed all the way up from 108 lbs, a light-fly, through his career that started in 1995.
Ricardo Jimenez of Top Rank, also from Mexico, said all Marquez has to do in Vegas is watch his weight, pegged at 131 lbs last Saturday when Pacquiao was at 133.
?He can just stay in his room, do some treadmill, work the rope, and do some exercises. He?s got no problem with the weight. All he has to do is maintain it.
?He?s not the Erik Morales who goes to the gym even if there?s really nothing more to do there. Not the Beristain guys. All they do (during fight week) is focus,? Jimenez said.
