It was trainer Freddie Roach calling long distance yesterday morning from Los Angeles and he excitedly broke the news of his deal with Oscar de la Hoya.
“I’ve agreed to train de la Hoya for his fight against (Floyd) Mayweather,” said Roach. “Oscar himself asked me. We’ve been in negotiations for a while. I talked to Manny (Pacquiao) about it. Manny’s like a son to me. I’ll never turn my back on him. I told Manny there won’t be a conflict.”
Roach pointed out his agreement with de la Hoya is only for one fight, possibly Golden Boy’s last in a storybook career that has been blessed with world titles in six weight divisions.
De la Hoya stakes his World Boxing Council superwelterweight title against Mayweather, the WBC welterweight champion, on May 5 in Las Vegas. Pacquiao is tentatively booked to face In Jin Chi in Macau on April 28 (possibly, April 29 morning in Macau to air prime time Saturday evening on US pay-per-view).
“I want Manny to start training as soon as possible,” said Roach. “I start training Oscar in Puerto Rico in March.”
Roach’s plan is for Pacquiao to open camp at the Wild Card Gym in Los Angeles then join de la Hoya in Puerto Rico. He said Pacquiao should fly to Macau two weeks before the fight and he’ll plane in with five days to go.
Roach said Pacquiao’s decision to sign a promotional contract with Top Rank last November won’t mean he’s not welcome at de la Hoya’s camp.
“Golden Boy’s offer to Manny was the better deal at the time,” said Roach, referring to the contract Pacquiao inked with de la Hoya in Los Angeles last September. “The case is in the courts right now. We’ll just wait for what the courts decide on which contract is valid.”
As for Pacquiao’s next opponent, Roach said he’s not sure whom Top Rank chairman Bob Arum will eventually choose.
“I was told In Jin Chi’s people are a little difficult to talk to,” said Roach. “I’ve read in the internet that Macau doesn’t have a large enough venue to host a big boxing event. Because Oscar’s got the guys we want Manny to fight, Bob doesn’t have too many fighters to choose from. But I’m sure things will work out. I expect Bob to make an announcement soon.”
De la Hoya picked Roach over Teddy Atlas and Jack Mosley.
“Freddie is a great trainer,” said de la Hoya, quoted by Rick Reeno in Boxingscene.com. “He does have the tools necessary to show me how to beat Mayweather. When you have a trainer like Freddie who is a master of dissecting opponents and figuring out their styles, you have no worries. I need that strategy, that sense of being secure. Freddie is a secure trainer in the corner. I need that positive energy. I will step in the ring as the world champion and leave the ring as the world champion.”
For his part, Roach said:
“I talked to Manny, he said congratulations, take the job. If he fights in that time frame, he will have no problem with my assistant Justin Fortune training him. He’s happy for me. He knows this is a huge opportunity for me.
