FREDDIE ROACH vividly remembers the first time Manny Pacquiao showed up at the Wild Card Boxing Club in Hollywood in mid-2001. It was ?love? at first sight. Well, that would have been the case had both been of different sexes and the encounter was Hollywood-style boy meets girl.
But what happened was what Roach described as “perfect timing.” Roach was looking for a raw gem to polish, Pacquiao was in search of a good gemologist. The rest is history.
One day after Pacquiao electrified the country with a unanimous victory over Oscar Larios, Roach recalled his first meeting with the Filipino icon who he said dropped in at his Hollywood sweatshop unannounced and said he was looking for a good trainer.
“I never knew who Manny Pacquiao was until I met him,” said Roach, 46, the former world contender who has been calling the shots on Pacquiao?s corner since that fateful day.
The two have become inseparable over five years and unless Roach commits something which Pacquiao will find disagreeable, the partnership is likely to last till the Filipino retires.
Pacquiao, after all, has a reputation to cut his ties with his closest friends and confidants if he is convinced they had committed acts inimical to his interest. One can go back to a short list of former promoters and business associates as well as friends who are now on the outside looking in.
But Roach, it seems, is something special, in the same manner that the American perhaps found something special with Pacquiao when he knocked on the door of the Wild Card gym.
The relationship was cemented in a jiffy, right after Roach asked Pacquiao to do a simple punch mitt routine.
Roach?s hands flew, his body shuddered, his mind raced through at the greatness standing before him who hardly spoke English but was letting his hands do the talking.
“The thing is, we did not miss a beat as if we have been doing this forever. You have to know each other (to establish a relationship), but not with Pacquiao.”
Pacquiao?s power was incredible, remembers Roach, who first worked Pacquiao?s corner when the Filipino fought for the International Boxing Federation super-bantam title of South African champion Lehlo Ledwaba on June 23, 2001 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Pacquiao, a last-minute replacement, stopped the African in six rounds.
“Wow,” Roach said. “That?s what I told myself after Manny threw a few punches on the mitts. That?s exactly what I said. Wow. The first day on the mitts, I said ?Gee, can this guy punch.? Unbelievable power.”
Before stumbling into the Wild Card gym, Pacquiao?s then business manager Rod Nazario had been busy shopping for someone to handle Pacquiao in the US.
Said Roach: “I knew a lot of people who turned him down. I know a lot of people who regretted that they turned Manny down like (West Coast promoter) Don Chargin because they turned him down without even seeing him but I was just fortunate to be in the ring with him and I can gauge pretty well on the mitts.”
After one round with the mitts, Manny walked back to Nazario and said ?we have a new trainer.”?
Roach doesn?t believe he is the man behind Pacquiao?s meteoric rise.
“Don?t get me wrong. Manny could fight very well even before I met him. That?s true. I am not saying I made a miracle. He was already an excellent fighter when I met him and I was just fortunate enough to meet him at the right time.”
“Somebody must have taught him good skills although Manny had natural talent,” said Roach.
Before Roach, Pacquiao was trained by Peewee Vasquez, Baby Tinagsa, 1964 Tokyo Olympian Arnulfo Torrevillas, Pampanga-based US serviceman Rick Staheli, Leonardo Pablo and one-time world title challenger Emil Romano, according to boxing man Moy Lainez.
But it was Roach who raised his skill to a new level.
Although Pacquiao does not hold a world title, many consider him the uncrowned champion.
Fighters like Marco Antonio Barrera, the World Boxing Council super-featherweight champion, may be the official titleholder, but he knows that crown will only be validated with a win over Pacquiao.
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NOTES
Ring announcer Michael Buffer left for Los Angeles on Sunday night, several hours after electrifying the Big Dome crowd by belting out his trademark “Let?s Get Ready To Rumble” for the first time on Philippine soil. The ,000 talent fee was awesome since he only did the main event although he appeared on a show of ABS-CBN and also did some work during the official weigh-in. Buffer arrived in Manila on Friday morning. Buffer will have fond memories of the country and gun enthusiast Cris Aquino, the official flagcarrier of Pacquiao, even gifted him with a Pacquiao jacket when they bumped into each other at the Discovery Suites after the fight… After a hard day?s work, it was turn for key members of Team Pacquiao to take it nice and easy. Trainer Freddie Roach was out for lunch yesterday, while Pacquiao was busy being paraded down the streets of Manila…Oscar Larios and his team left for Mexico yesterday morning.
