Manny Pacquiao has beaten Freddie Roach to the punch in the book business but for the world?s No. 1 pound-for-pound trainer, it?s never too late to tell your story to the world.
Last year, two Pacquiao books hit the stores ? one with his blessings and the other, unauthorized. Pacquiao is listed as the author, with Timothy James, in the book ?Pacman ? My Story of Hope, Resilience and Never-Say-Never Determination? (Dunham Books, Tennessee, 2010). There?s a local edition available published by Anvil and sells for P330. The hardcover US version retails for $24.99 but is discounted to $16.49 at amazon.com.
The unauthorized book was written by Gary Andrew Poole entitled ?Pacman ? Behind the Scenes with Manny Pacquiao, the Greatest Pound-for-Pound Fighter in the World? (Perseus Books, Philadelphia, 2010). It sells for $25 but is discounted to $16.50 at amazon.com.
Both Pacquiao books were released within two weeks of each other last November.
Now comes Roach?s blockbuster entitled ?The Wild Card ? Hard-Fought Lessons From a Life in the Ring.? Roach is listed as the author with Peter Owen Nelson. The foreword was written by Pacquiao whose name is capitalized in bold letters at the top of the book cover with his title as the IBO lightwelterweight champion of the world. Clearly, the book was written after Pacquiao stopped Ricky Hatton for the IBO crown in May 2009 and before he won the WBO welterweight and WBC superwelterweight titles.
Roach?s book will be out in the market on May 1. Orders are now being taken at amazon.com where the book may be bought at a discounted price of $13.96 from a listed price of $24.96. The book has 320 pages compared to 240 for the authorized Pacquiao book and 280 for the unauthorized version.
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The book is described as ?the most inspiring and amusing autobiography of the greatest trainer in boxing today, Freddie Roach…an ex-pug living with Parkinson?s, the most famous white man in the Philippines, a formidable street fighter and a millionaire who slept for years in a makeshift apartment within his Los Angeles gym.?
Here?s what amazon.com said about the book: ??The Wild Card? begins with tales of Roach?s abusive youth, his own boxing career and his apprenticeship under legendary trainer Eddie Futch, trainer of Joe Frazier, before moving on to his courageous battle against Parkinson?s disease, his relationship with Hollywood celebrities (Mickey Rourke, Mark Wahlberg) and his rise to the top of his profession training world champions like Mike Tyson, Oscar de la Hoya, Michael Moorer, Bernard Hopkins, Wladimir Klitschko, James Toney and his prized pupil, the pound-for-pound No. 1 fighter in the world Manny Pacquiao.? The book contains 25 colored photographs.
Nelson?s articles have been published in Vanity Fair, Harper?s, The Believer, and McSweeney?s, among others. He lives in Los Angeles like Roach and writes for HBO Sports? series 24/7.
When Roach went to Ukraine to work WBA welterweight champion Viacheslav Senchenko?s corner in his title defense against Charlie Jose Navarro in Donetsk last August, he brought Nelson along. Senchenko retained the crown via a unanimous 12-round decision.
Roach recently said a reality TV show focusing on his life is under negotiation for airing with producer Peter Berg, known as the mastermind of ?Friday Night Lights.? He mentioned that 55 hours of footage have been shot and will be split into several episodes. The New York-based AMC network, originally American Movie Classics, has shown interest in airing the series.
AMC senior vice president for programming Jim Stillerman said the docu-series will feature ?Roach?s work with boxers as he struggles to ward off the creeping symptoms of Parkinson?s disease.? He added, ?We want to find great character-based stories in a verite fashion that have a similar narrative framework to a drama series…The shows are not about what they?re doing, they?re about who they are and there?s a narrative framework around the concept as opposed to anecdotal story-telling.?
Roach said negotiations are going on to determine how many episodes to air in the series.
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As for his Parkinson?s, Roach said his medical records were recently evaluated by a team of about 20 neurologists during a UCLA convention and the doctors were surprised that he has been afflicted for over 20 years. After reviewing his records, the doctors thought Roach was only lately afflicted, meaning there is significant progress in his treatment.
When Roach puts on the mitts for his fighters to target, it?s like he?s back in the ring. There are no signs of Parkinson?s when he?s at work. Now that he wears a much smaller Japanese-made Winning pair, Roach said he doesn?t get hurt as much because he is able to more easily lessen the impact of the punches by moving back with lighter mitts.
A master of hand-wraps, Roach said Pacquiao bandages his own hands in the gym. He used to wrap up Pacquiao before a fight but now, another cornerman Miguel Diaz of Argentina does it. That?s because Pacquiao wants Roach to inspect how his opponent?s hands are being wrapped in the other dressing room at the same time.
