With Freddie Roach on his way to Puerto Rico (March 1st) to train Oscar de la Hoya for his mega fight against Floyd Mayweather Jr., Justin Fortune is the man Roach has selected to take over for him at the Wild Card gym while he’s gone. Known mainly for whipping Manny Pacquiao into supreme physical condition for the past 5 years, the 41-year-old Fortune will also assume the training duties for the super featherweight slugger for his up coming fight in April.
Fortune is a former heavyweight fighter (15-8-2; 9 KO’s) who migrated from his native Australia in 1992 to work with Roach in Los Angeles. Having fought Lennox Lewis (TKO 4) in 1995, Fortune eventually hung up the gloves after his fight with Kali Meehan (TKO 3) in 2001. Following in the same ?fighter-to-trainer’ path that Roach did with (his coach) Eddie Futch, Fortune became a conditioner, trainer and right hand man to Roach after his fighting career ended.
Fightnews spoke to Fortune to get a glimpse of the trainer who fight fans will be seeing a lot more of in the coming months.
So what’s the game plan for Manny? Who would you like to see him fight next? As far as who I’d like to see him fight next, Golden Boy has all the good opponents in their stable. So I’m not sure who Arum has got lined up for him this time. But it shouldn’t matter. When Manny is on his game, there’s no one who can beat him at 130. As far as game plan, right now it’s just to get him back in shape and continue working on the things that Freddie’s been working on. Once we find out who Manny will fight, that’s when we’ll build a fight strategy.
What type of conditioning regimen will you have for Manny when he gets to camp? It depends on where he is when he gets to camp – how fat he is and all that. When he gets here, I basically put him through 2 weeks of long boring shit. I have a big base to work off so that when fight time comes, he’ll be at his peak. Because he’s so fast, I’ll start him off with upper and lower body plyometrics, where we work on his fast twitch muscle fiber and we go from there. Weight training and running is also relevant to what we do, but nothing too excessive. I can’t muscle him up because he’s small and has to make weight.
How do you approach Manny’s diet and food intake? As far as nutrition, I’m a chef by trade – trained in classical French since I was 15. But Manny’s got a super fast metabolism, so there’s no problem there. Except for bread. Manny loves bread.
What’s the average training routine for Manny? He wakes up and runs. Then he eats. Manny can run like the freakin’ wind! He can do a mile in about 6 minutes. And, half of that course is hills! But on sparring days, the course is flat. In the afternoon he goes to the gym and spars and does gym work (hits the heavy bag, double end bag, mitts, ab work, etc). Then, I’ll toss it up and mix it around to shock his body, so that his body won’t get used to the same thing. One day, he’ll do plyometrics. One day, weights and one day cardio. Things like that. In all, I’d say that he trains about 3 ? hours a day. Any more than that would be a waste of time. We train Manny to be explosive.
Initially, Bob Arum stated that Edwin Valero (21-0; 21 KO’s) could be Manny’s next opponent in Macau. Since that’s changed, what’s your opinion of Valero and a match up between he and Manny in the future? I see Valero as trouble. But definitely not unbeatable. Obviously the son of a bitch can punch, that’s for sure. It’ll be a hell of a fight. But a good Manny will beat a good Valero.
“Justin is one of my best assistants. I’ve trained him for a long time, so he knows my style and what I expect from him. There’s no miscommunication and we understand each other perfectly. Justin is very capable and my fighters love him. He knows conditioning, nutrition and is an all around good guy. I think he has a bright future as a trainer on his own.” – Freddie Roach Fight fans were looking forward to a rematch between Manny and Marco Antonio Barrera. Being that Manny dominated him so well in the first fight, how do you think their rematch would go? I’m sure Barrera will be a lot more prepared the next time. Their first fight happened about 3 years ago. Since then, Manny has improved so much since then. So I still think Manny will beat the crap outta him again. Probably in the later rounds. But I think (Juan Manuel) Marqeuz will give Barrera a better run for his money. Marquez is tricky and his trainer is Nacho Beristain, who is a great trainer and a great tactician.
With Manny’s recent interest in running for political office in the Phillippines, and the mess between GBP and Top Rank – that seems like a lot of weight for a fighter to carry around mentally. Your thoughts? I think that Manny likes organized chaos. With all the things that’s been going on, it doesn’t seem to bother him. It might make US all crazy, but it doesn’t bother him in the least. I think he lets everyone else get bothered by it, and he just sorta hangs out, does his work and that’s the end of it. I think Manny thrives on chaos. Ever since I’ve known him, there’s always something going on – some sort of chaos. But nothing bothers him. He just keeps on fighting and bashing his opponents.
Some of boxing’s most dynamic fighters (like Tyson, Duran, Chavez and Pacquiao, etc.) have a penchant for partying hard. It seems their fighting volatility carries over to their down time. Why is that? Those guys are unique individuals and athletes, and that’s why they’re world champions. Guys like them come along every now and then. They give it all they got in the ring and they give it all they got outside the ring. That’s why they are who they are. They have 100% dedication. And, when you’re at that level of training intensity, they do need to release in a big way. Of course, in Manny’s off season, he parties a little harder than we’d like (Laughs). Kostya Tszyu is another mate of mine. When his fight was over, he wouldn’t come any where near a gym. He’d enjoy his family and friends, and then come back 100% recharged.
What do you think the outcome will be between Oscar and Floyd Jr.? I don’t know. Of course, Floyd will run and Oscar will have to hunt him down. Since Oscar has been out for a while, he’ll have to get some quality sparring. But he’s bigger and stronger, and a hell of a lot more accurate. Then Mayweather’s got those bad hands. So, it’s pretty hard for me to say because they’re both great challengers. Either way, it’s going to be a great fight.
During your fighting career, Johnny Lewis was your trainer – a legend in Australia who also trained Jeff Fenech and Kostya Tszyu (among others). What was it like being under his tutelage? Johnny is a great motivator and a great conditioner. He’d get you 100% fit and then get inside your head. He made it so that you wanted to bust your ass for him. Like you said, Johnny is a legend.
Jeff Fenech. What was it like training alongside him? Great! He’s a good guy and a great inspiration too. Jeff really, really loved to train and he was always 120% fit. When I was fighting in the amateurs, Jeff was a world champion. Yet he would make time to come to the amateurs with us and cheer us on. And for the level that Jeff was at? Regular champions don’t do that! Jeff just liked hanging out. He loved boxing and being around his mates. He’s quite a practical joker too. Him and Johnny Lewis? (Laughs) It was a laugh a minute with those two! They’re classic! If you weren’t paying attention when they were lacing up your gloves – one would distract you while the other would tie your laces up to the f–kin’ ropes. But they’re good friends and good trainers. If you had a fight coming up, those jokes would definitely help take the edge off.
What are your thoughts on the current heavyweight division, and especially Nikolai Valuev? The current heavyweight division is one of the saddest in boxing history. And honestly, I stopped paying attention to it. The fighters aren’t exciting! They come in fat and outta shape, and they just lumber along. I fought as a heavyweight in the 90’s – when every single freakin’ heavyweight was a f–kin’ killer! Now I’m thinking: ?Jesus! I picked the wrong time to fight as a heavyweight!’ (Laughs) Valuev? He’s a side show. But I think Sam Peter can beat the shit outta him. Wladimir Klitschko is one of the hardest punching heavyweights out there. He cracks like Tyson cracks. But it took him 12 rounds to wobble Sam. So if Sam can hang in there with Wladimir, he can definitely beat Valuev.
James Toney. Fight fans greatly admire his talent and really want him to succeed in the heavyweight division. Yet seeing him come into a title fight flabby and out of breath by the 4th round, is very disheartening. What is it with James Toney? James is one talented son of a bitch! But I stopped working with him on his conditioning after his fight with John Ruiz. He doesn’t want to train! He’s one of the most skillful fighters of this era. His skill level is unbelievable! But he relies too much on his talent and not his fitness. And when you move from middleweight into heavy, you have to have fitness. Even if you can box and you’ve got a good chin, you can’t go toe to toe with heavyweights because those guys can really crack! My belief is this: If boxing is your profession, then do your freakin’ job! You should always be 110% fit, and you should always make weight, and you should fight your ass off because that’s what your f–kin’ paid to do!
MMA. What do you think of that sport? They’re murdering boxing. They have the heavyweights and they’re giving people what they want to see – which is blood and knockouts. And basically, that is what a fight fan is there for. People can say: ?No, I’m here for the science of boxing and the pugilistic value of the sport.’ That’s bullshit! People want to see knockouts, and our current heavyweights just aren’t doing it. We need another Tyson, Foreman, Frazier or an Ali right about now. We need guys who aren’t afraid to get hit. We need guys that have some heart behind their jab – a jab that’s there only to protect their chin.
Vitali Klitschko has announced his return to the ring and looks to fight Oleg Maskaev for his title. What’s your view on that whole situation? I’m sure Vitali is coming back because he looked at the heavyweight division and said: ?Jesus! Look at this f–kin’ mess! I can make some money and win a heavyweight title!’ Apparently, there was something in his contract that said if he retires and decides to come back, he can come back and fight for a title. That was smart. Whoever wrote up that contract for him was very smart. All I can say is good luck to him.
In 1995, you fought Lennox Lewis – who had a 6 inch height advantage. Describe your bout with him. My whole thing was to get inside and work him and work him. And that’s what we did. I would have won that fight and it definitely would have gone the distance – but the referee f**ked us big time. I was still slugging away. So… whatever. But I was 12-0 going into that fight – fighting a guy who was 26-1. While today’s fighters are 20-0 and they haven’t fought anybody. Anyway, I get in the ring and I realized how big the pr–k was! I thought: ?Jesus! I might have made a f–kin’ mistake!’ (Laughs) But I was able to buy my house after that fight. So… what do you want? I was happy.
How did you get started in boxing? I used to power lift. But I always enjoyed fighting and boxing, so I just switched over. I loved watching Jeff, Ali and Frazier. And of course… Tyson. But in Australia, our exposure to American fighters was very limited. Anyway I started late, when I was 21. But in terms of heavyweight, it wasn’t that late. The longevity of a heavyweight is a lot longer than the guys in the other divisions. I started out with Bernie Hall as my trainer for 14-15 amateur fights, then I went over to Johnny. My height, size and style was much like Tyson’s.
How did you meet Freddie? Virgil Hill was out sparring in Australia. I was sparring and working with him and he made the connection between me and Freddie. Two weeks later, I landed in America and haven’t looked back since. Freddie started training me in 1992 and my first fight with him was against Sammy Speech (D4). I’ve known Freddie for 14 years and he’s become a real good friend. He’s so knowledgeable about the game, and has total control in a corner. And, he has a great ability to dissect a fighter. He’s a good man.
How would you best describe the training you do with fighters? My style is to punish the hell outta them. The more pain they’re in, the happier I am. So when they eventually get into the ring, their instinct is to beat the hell outta their opponents and show no mercy. And, I make sure my fighter’s are fit when they get into the ring – not like today’s heavyweights. That’s why our fighters win and do well in the later rounds. Our fighter’s always make weight. So, that’s the work Freddie and I do. We make sure the fighter is fit and that he bashes the f**k outta his opponent. Just like we’ll train Manny to do for his fight in April.
