IF WE are to believe the bespectacled and ever-prescient Freddie Roach, the Baguio training camp for his talented ward was the ?best ever.?
But doesn?t he always say that?
However, he then apparently contradicted himself by stating that Manny needs to get back on track after a long layoff.
Now, he?s talking.
INACTIVITY. In today?s boxing scene, it?s not uncommon for boxers to fight sparingly.
Lulls of inactivity of three to four months between fights are not uncommon especially among elite fighters, since other factors come into play in the matchmaking process.
When Oscar de la Hoya was the sport?s cash cow, he adopted quite a parsimonious schedule.
After losing to Bernard Hopkins in 2004, he fought once in 2006, once in 2007 and twice in 2008, the last fight of course being the Pacquiao loss.
In Manny?s case, after blitzing through de la Hoya, David Diaz and Juan Manuel Marquez in 2008, he has consistently adhered to a twice-a-year schedule since then.
So when he trades mitts with Shane Mosley next month, he will have been six months off his last fight.
Nothing new, really. But Roach seems overly concerned.
E-MAILS. Space constraints limited the full length of the anonymous sender?s feedback during my last column, but the last paragraph of his thought-provoking essay reads as follows:
?I hope you can scrutinize the records of these foreign fighters, how they performed in their last three or four fights because if we allow ALA Stable to continue promoting very lopsided fights, this doesn?t bode well for the future of boxing in our country.?
Thank you for your insights, sir. I?m sure this will merit a response from ALA Promotions who I?m sure is presently caught up in the midst of presenting Pinoy Pride 5 in Bacolod City next week as Donnie ?Ahas? Nietes defends against Mexican Armando Vasquez.
However, the subject of Canadian boxers caught the eye of another Last Rounder, John Pope, a Canadian national.
John points out that there were a lot of notable Canadian boxing fighters aside from Danny Lalonde and that ?Canada is only one-tenth the size of the United States. So if the U.S. has a population of 400 million, then Canada has 40 million, making it much smaller than the Philippines.?
Thanks also John for your insightful and instructive comments. Indeed, while not too many Canadian fighters have found success in the lower weight classes, some worthy of mention are ?Cowboy? Dale Brown who fought for the cruiserweight championship, and of course, Jean Pascal who currently holds the WBC/IBO light heavyweight diadems.
Pascal knocked down Bernard Hopkins twice in their last fight and is keen on improving his performance for their rematch this coming May.
Otis Grant also merits mention. He was a former middleweight champion who once fought and lost to Roy Jones Jr.
On the heavy side, we have Trevor Berbick who once held the WBC title and infamously lost it to Mike Tyson in two rounds and also, contender Kirk Johnson.
HE SAID IT. ?He?s way ahead of schedule, although his timing and distance are not yet there but it?s natural, knowing Manny has been off boxing for six months,?–Freddie Roach (www.sunstar.com.ph)
LAST ROUNDS. Are on me if you catch me tomorrow as my two daughters Julia Emmanuelle and Jenya Mary Louise make the honor rolls for their respective grades at Blessed Trinity Achievers Academy. Cheers!
