Last night, the sixth and final episode of HBO?s On Freddie Roach premiered.
The mini-series has given viewers an intimate look into the life of the world-renown trainer, both in and outside of the ropes. In the final segment, we were taken back to November of last year, the twelfth of the month to be exact, on the day of Manny Pacquiao?s trilogy bout with Juan Manuel Marquez at the MGM Grand.
The cameras followed Team Pacquiao hours before the fight and zoomed in on Roach and strength and conditioning coach Alex Ariza in between rounds during the frantic match.
Marquez was a heavy underdog heading into the fight yet he boxed beautifully, just as in their first two matches, and appeared to be piling up the points early in the contest.
?He?s following this guy,? Roach would say of Pacquiao’s tactics in the early rounds. ?He?s following. He?s got to draw him away.?
In between rounds Roach would tell Pacquiao that he was walking into Marquez?s right hands and stressed how important it was that the Filipino bomber moved to his right.
?Alright, we?re losing control,? Roach would implore as the fight wore on. ?Manny, you gotta stop chasing this guy. Let?s go to work.?
Roach later stated that he believed Pacquiao was falling behind in the contest and after the tenth round he again got on his fighter.
?Manny, that?s what we have to do,? stressed Freddie. ?We have to knock this guy out. Let?s go after him. We have two rounds to knock this guy out.?
The fight closed and Pacquiao would end up pulling out a majority-decision that some felt should have went the other way. Giving his take on his fighter?s performance, Roach seemed to feel that Pacquiao just wasn?t focused.
?We always have distractions,? said Roach. ?Usually the distractions don?t get to Manny but something got to him. Just the look on his face, even, as he?s sitting in between rounds. He was somewhere else. He wasn?t in the fight at all.?
In the dressing room Pacquiao would tell Roach that leg cramps, just as in his May 2011 decision victory over Shane Mosley, again surfaced and caused his problems.
Roach noted that they needed to get that issue taken care of but offered up some solace to his fighter.
?You landed the bigger shots. More combinations. You won the fight. It was close, but you won,? Roach would claim.
The six-part On Freddie Roach series was a definite contrast to the 24/7 showcases that are featured in the weeks leading up to some of HBO?s biggest events. It was a pretty good ride and we were able to take away much from Roach?s life as one of the world?s best trainers as well as the rigors that he goes through in his daily life.
