Freddie Roach was a crowd pleasing fighter in the early eighties and was a fan favorite on ESPN’s Top Rank series. During an eight year pro-career he amassed a 39-13 record and tangled with the likes of Bobby Chacon, Hector Camacho, and Greg Haugen, but never achieved his dream of becoming a world champion and after retiring from the sport he ended up like most boxers; beat up and broke. Then after working a number of meaningless jobs which included a stint as a telemarketer, Roach became an apprentice under the tutelage of his old trainer, the venerable Eddie Futch. Fans today probably don’t know who Eddie Futch is, but he is regarded by historians as one of the greatest trainers in the history of the sport. He grew up in Detroit during the great depression and sparred with the great Joe Louis and had a chance to learn from a number of other brilliant boxing minds which included Louis’s trainer Jack Blackburn, a man who had been a great lightweight during the first part of the 19th century. From 1958, when Don Jordan became Futch’s first champion when he won the world welterweight title all the way until Wayne McCullough won the WBC 118 pound title in 1995, Futch’s presence was felt through out the sport and he not only established a legacy as a great trainer, but left his mark as a good human being. In fact in 1985 he chose not to be involved in the training camps of either Larry Holmes or Michael Spinks for their historic match because he had previously worked with both of them and thought that it wouldn’t be the honorable thing to do. Futch’s last champion, 1992 Silver medalist Wayne McCullough credits the trainer for his success as a professional and commented, “Eddie was just unbelievable. The knowledge that he gave me I’ll pass it on as a trainer. He told me stories form the thirties and the forties. He sparred with Joe Louis and Henry Armstrong the guy I love. Eddie was an encyclopedia up here. I really do miss him, he is really is the reason I became a world champion. I believe he was the best trainer who ever lived.” Despite having passed away in 2001, Futch’s presence is still vibrating through out the boxing landscape through the work of Freddie Roach, the man who was on the lost path until he became the master’s apprentice for five years and has since established his own legacy along the side of the great Eddie Futch.
Notes:
In all, Futch worked with twenty-one world champions and has been credited for orchestrating Ken Norton’s 1973 upset of Muhammad Ali. Jack Blackburn is considered to be a great lightweight, but he was around at the wrong time. First he was victimized by racism and secondly, he had to contend with the great Joe Gans. Blackburn spent over four years in jail for killing a man and shooting his wife. Check out our videos at youtube. Just type In FightFanNation.
