FREDDIE ROACH is now so engrossed with the training of Oscar De La Hoya these days that the ace trainer might not only be able to do the cornerwork for Rey ‘Boom Boom’ Bautista and Z Gorres next week in Cebu.
He may not also be able to have a heart-to-heart talk with his main boxer Manny Pacquiao.
Roach had earlier expressed his desire to talk with Pacquiao during his brief stay in the Philippines so they could iron out the kinks concerning delicate matters such as his fight with Jorge Solis of Mexico and probably even his political plans.
Cebu promoter Sammy “Penrex King” Gello-ani said yesterday that Dela Hoya wants Roach to join him in a hectic seven-day, 11-city nationwide tour promoting his May 5 megabuck match with Floyd Mayweather at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
Bautista and Gorres, who fight under Dela Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions (GBP), face Colombian Feider Viloria and Mexican Fernando Montiel at the Cebu City Sports Complex on Feb. 24 and Gello-ani bared that Roach remains in doubt as to his trip to the Philippines.
“Oscar wants Freddie to be with him in the entire tour and it would certainly be great if Freddie arrives in Cebu,” said Gello-ani. “But if his schedule wouldn’t allow him to go, Edito Villamor will take care of the boys.”
Villamor helped out in the training of Bautista and Gorres under Roach recently.
Dela Hoya will formally announce the fight at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York on Feb. 20 and Gelloani said that Dela Hoya wants Roach to be with him until Feb. 28.
After the Big Apple, the promotional caravan travels to Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. on Feb. 21, Chicago and Detroit on Feb. 22, andMiami on Feb. 23.
There’s going to be a two-day break and the tour resumes on Feb. 26 in Houston and Dallas, San Francisco and Las Vegas on Feb. 27 and Los Angeles on Feb. 28.
After the tour, Dela Hoya will proceed to San Juan, Puerto Rico, to begin training camp and it could not be determined if Pacquiao will have an opportunity to meet Roach since the Filipino southpaw has said that he is flying to Los Angeles late this month to start training for an April 14 fight in San Antonio, Texas.
In the absence of Roach, Pacquiao will be left to Australian conditioning coach Justin Fortune, who has been briefed by Roach to take care of Pacquiao the moment he reports for training at the Wild Card Boxing Club in Hollywood.
