LOS ANGELES — When Erik Morales crumbled to the canvas, no one in Manny Pacquiao’s corner was probably happier than trainer Freddie Roach, the man who has dedicated his life to make the Filipino reach his enormous boxing potential.
“The best win of my life,” said the bespectacled Roach on Tuesday afternoon at the Wild Card Boxing Club in Hollywood which he owns, and where Pacquiao begun his long journey to become arguably the greatest Filipino boxer.
“When Morales went down, I just felt so high. It was a great feeling,” Roach said, his eyes shining like a jewel.
“Everything we planned came into play and worked. We went to the body and broke that guy down. After five rounds, our game plan worked. He listened to me and we had a great strategy,” said Roach.
Roach said Pacquiao followed his instructions to the letter, but he was still amazed at the manner the Filipino fighter methodically broke down the Mexican legend, considered one of the fiercest and brainiest boxers to climb the ring.
Pacquiao beating Morales so comprehensively just leaves Roach in awe of Pacquiao.
Although he takes pride in having trained Pacquiao, he also understands that a trainer can only do so much. It’s the fighter’s call once the bell rings.
“I only have to guide him through and when the bell rings, he’s the one who fights,” said Roach.
The 45-year-old boxing guru, credited for transforming Pacquiao from a limited knockout artist to a multi-dimensional fighter, admitted he had the hunch that Morales was ripe for the picking by the 6th round.
“After the 6th round, Erik’s cornermen were already rubbing his legs. He also looked tired and though he still came out strong in the succeeding rounds, it was obvious he was fading” related Roach yesterday in an overseas interview with Bulletin.
According to Roach, the “legwork” done on Morales in every round after the 6th canto proved that Pacquiao was doing a remarkable job in banging the Mexican’s body with surgical precision.
“Manny’s body shots were really crushing Morales and that really took its toll on him,” he said.
Roach said that Pacquiao’s patience and his improving ability to follow their game plan to the letter resulted in that spectacular 10th round TKO victory.
“I was disappointed the last time. Manny wanted to knock Morales out right away that he forgot to follow our game plan,” Roachm said.
March of last year, Morales scored a close but deserving 12-round decision win over a badly-cut and overeager Pacquiao.
Roach and Pacquiao first saw each other in the middle of 2001 when Rod Nazario, then Pacquiao’s business manager, visited the Wild Card Gym on Vine Street near the corner of Santa Monica.
Nazario recalled that Pacquiao immediately saw in Roach the trainer he had been looking for. The feeling was mutual. Roach found the boxer of his dreams.
Since then, the two have almost been inseparable with Roach giving him the wisdom of the ages and trying as much as possible to be in the corner of nearly every Pacman fight.
On the two occasions that he wasn’t there to prepare him for fights, Roach sent his brother Pepper to preside over the training in the Philippines. In the second instance, Pacquiao spent several weeks training here before heading back to Manila for a non-title assignment.
A former featherweight fighter in the 80s, Roach, now 45, was tapped by ex-world heavyweight champion Mike Tyson to train him in one of his comeback fights. Roach’s magic did not work with Tyson. The ex-champ lost.
Although Pacquiao is his main man, Roach’s training skills are not exclusive to Pacquiao. He also handles, among others, James Toney and Filipino-American light-fly world champion Brian Viloria. — With reports from Dennis Principe
