Just days ago Manny Pacquiao made his return to Los Angeles, California and has been getting back to work at the Wild Card Gym. In less than three weeks Pacquiao will face Miguel Cotto, with much more than just the Puerto Rican’s WBO Welterweight belt on the line. In conjunction with Pacquiao’s return to the states has also come a waive of attention from on goers at the gym as well as the reality that the heavily anticipated showdown in just around the corner.
Pacquiao’s prior time training in Baguio City, Philippines was well documented by a myriad of sources. While there were many positives to take from the experience, such as Pacquiao’s intensity in training and sharpness in sparring, there was also some speculation that their was some animosity brewing in camp between the fighter and his trainer, Freddie Roach.
Some of this behavior was on display for the world to see at the very end of last week’s first Pacquiao/Cotto 24/7 installment. Seeming slightly agitated, Roach was seen pleading with his charge that it was time for the camp to leave and return home to Los Angeles while Pacquiao seemed more pleased with the notion of staying put. Despite apparently not seeing eye to eye Roach insists that everything in camp went smoothly and will continue to do so.
“There were no disagreements in camp,” the world renowned trainer stated recently. “I just felt it was urgent that we do get out of there before the typhoon hit. I was worried about the safety of the sparring partners and Manny and the team and myself. I was just very concerned that the typhoon was going to come quicker than it did. Manny was more relaxed about it and I told him that I would be waiting in Manila for him just trying to get him motivated to go. That night at midnight he got motivated for me to go and he called me and said “let’s go.” So we left at midnight and went right to Manila.”
Initially Roach claims to have preferred Vancouver, Canada to set up training but was overruled because he was told of the risks of too much downpour. While the trainer may have been hesitant towards the idea of having camp thousands of miles away in the Philippines, he eventually settled in and claims that it was some of the most solid work the team has ever had.
“Those first four weeks were the best that we ever had,” Roach stated clearly. “Manny was on fire from day 1. I thought he was trying to impress me because he knew that Baguio was far away and I wanted to stay closer to Wild Card but when he chose Baguio I thought he was just trying to show me how great it was but he never stopped. He was on fire the whole month there and we had a great camp. The weather messed with us a little bit but we ran in the rain. We went in the pool. We did what we had to do. We ran inside sometimes and we had no distractions. We had a great first month.”
With Team Pacquiao now back to their roots a few things have changed but the beat is still the same. While sparring partners Urbano Antillon and Jose Luis Castillo have returned home, once beaten Welterweight Rashad Holloway has joined the mix and Roach claims that his fighter is getting closer to this peak everyday.
“Training camp is going very well,” Roach stated with a bit of ease. “Now we are back at the Wild Card and Manny boxed great yesterday and had ten good rounds and he’s about 95% there right now and we are ready to go. We are just getting ready for Miguel Cotto and whatever he brings. If he wants to box us or he wants to fight us, we’re ready for both and we had really good sparring.”
The attention was then turned to Pacquiao’s bid to win a title in a seventh weight class. Years ago such a scenario might have seemed outlandish but the Filipino icon has proven his worth with back to back stirring victories over bigger men in Ricky Hatton and Oscar De La Hoya. Trying to remain objective, Roach can’t help but praise what Pacquiao is trying to accomplish in the sport.
“Manny is a throwback,” Roach said with confidence. “He is like a Henry Armstrong type. You don’t have fighters like that today that move up in weight like this to win championships in all of these different weight divisions. He is carrying his punch and his power with him along with his speed. He is just getting better and better in the ring. This is just one of the greatest achievements ever. He is in the level of the top 5 fighters of all time of any era.”
Roach is indeed correct that Pacquiao has had amazing success rising in weight but was quick to put to rest any ideas of going beyond 147 pounds. While Pacquiao has been on a tremendous rise as of late, Roach doesn’t see any big bouts happening past the Welterweight limit.
“For him to fight at 147 we have to feed him 5 times a day to keep the weight on him,” he claimed. “I think this will be our final stop but you never know. If something comes at 154, maybe we’ll go there.”
In the 80’s and early 90’s there wasn’t a bigger attraction than ‘Iron’ Mike Tyson. From winning the Heavyweight championship at a record young age to always being in the news, usually in negative light, Tyson found a way to always captivate an audience and fill up an arena. Roach claims, however, that Pacquiao has exceeded that same level of popularity.
“Even Mike Tyson didn’t have the drawing power that Manny Pacquiao has right now,” Roach states. “Mike was always the biggest guy training and the attention was always there at the airports but the way Manny Pacquiao arrived the other day I never saw a crowd like that. People were swarming to try to get a touch or a look at Manny Pacquiao. His countrymen love him and he is a great inspiration for his country.”
While that statement serves as a fair comparison, Roach was then asked to compare Pacquiao’s impact to that of the greatest of all time, Muhammad Ali. Despite not possessing nearly as much bravado as the Louisville, Kentucky legend, Roach believes his fighter has still found a way to capture the masses in a much different manner.
“Ali was a proponent of a political position and also became a spokesman for the civil rights movement at the time when it was really emerging into everybody’s vision,” Roach recalled. “Ali had a tremendous political impact, particularly his stance on the Viet Nam war and when he came back to fight, people just idolized him. Manny Pacquiao does not have that major political statement because he is not controversial but he is engaged in politics in the Philippines and everything that he does is very pro-humanity, so he is rather loved by people in the Philippines, the United States and all over the world. To that extent he has really crossed over to the American public.”
Being popular and having the support of your country is great, but at the end of the day the fights are fought inside of the ring and on November 14th Pacquiao will be facing an extremely dangerous challenge in Cotto. Despite being well schooled and physically bearing, Roach is uncertain as to whether the Puerto Rican is the most formidable opponent Pacquiao has yet to face.
“I don’t know if it is his biggest challenge,” Roach says bluntly. “We have fought some great fighters like Morales, Marquez and Oscar De La Hoya. He’s a very good fighter and he is champion of the world. Manny is moving up a weight class but we fought Oscar at this weight. I am very confident in my guy and we are 100% ready for the fight. I feel like Manny, with the power he is punching with right now at this weight I feel that he is going to knock Cotto out. I look forward to the win.”
Freddie Roach has an underlying brutality in how he states his feelings, whether they are positive or negative. You can sense in his voice that while he may respect Cotto he certainly doesn’t fear the Caguas native. Talking further about Cotto, Roach took a look at his recent string of fights.
“The fight with Margarito of course he did take a beating in that,” he said. “His first comeback fight was against an average guy and he didn’t look that great but getting knocked out for the first time takes your confidence away. He’s gaining confidence and he looked better in the Clottey fight of course, but he did try to quit in the 9th round when he was holding his eye with a real bad cut. But he sucked it up and came on and won the fight. It was a good one for him and it gave him a little more confidence back but that is our job to take that away from him right away. We are not going to let him get any confidence in this fight – we are going to start quick.”
As he speaks you can almost hear how routine all of this is for Roach. Since linking up with Pacquiao for their first fight over eight years ago the two men have experienced so much together that they are like father and son. Roach has gotten to see the inside of Pacquiao’s life and win or lose he will never forget the impact that his fighter has had on others, as well as himself.
“He is so well-loved in his country nd he wants to help the people and the people love him for that. It is amazing the crowds we draw. I am so popular there right now because of Manny. The people are nice to me and they treat me great. The only time they leave me alone is when Manny comes so sometimes I am happy when he is there. People know who Manny Pacquiao is and he is genuinely admired. But I have never seen anything like the adulation that he is treated by Filipinos in the Philippines and all over the world.”
Chris Robinson is a freelance journalist based out of Las Vegas, Nevada. He can be reached at www.FaceBook.com/CRHarmony and more of his work can be found below.
