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LOS ANGELES – A visit to Freddie Roach's Wild Card Boxing Club in Hollywood meant that a major fight was threatening.
Manny Pacquiao coached for 16 years while Roach was named coach of the year seven times by heading him to a boxing record with eight divisional belts and the richest fight of the year. Story three years ago against Floyd Mayweather Jr.
Roach's mother, Barbara, was a constant at the Wild Card reception, with Irish replicas to keep everyone, especially
Spot a Celebrity Inside the gym, from Bob Dylan to Mark Wahlberg to Mickey Rourke, was common, while finding an empty parking spot near the popular destination was like winning the lottery
. But all – Pacquiao, Mrs. Roach, the stars, even the parking attendant – are missing now that Roach, 58, is peeking around the empty gym that he's built for the champions and ponders .
still wh I like to do. I want to be here at 7 pm to work with young pro children. Then, at night, I help the amateurs, "said Roach, who fought Parkinson's disease throughout his career.
" I guess one day it'll end (but) I think that retirement could be a death sentence. When people retire, they get bored … so get up at 6 in the morning and have something to do, it's worth it. If I can help someone, I will do the best job possible. "
A year ago, the Roach empire began to crumble.
He cornered Pacquiao in Australia for a defense of his welterweight title. Jeff Horn
Pacquiao, then 38, showed more vulnerability than usual by absorbing some of Horn's punches. And Horn used brutal tactics by catching Pacquiao in the rudders and hitting him in the holds as Aussie emerged with a controversial decision.
"Manny was angry after the fight that Freddie kept getting upset after the fight against Horn using illegal tactics." "Not during the fight against a referee who could have stopped him," said the promoter. long time of Pacquiao, Bob Arum. "You know how Manny is – he's not going to say all that, but he felt that Freddie was not the Freddie from the front who tended to all those details."
Earlier this year, Pacquiao chose to break with Roach, opening training to regain a 14th welterweight junior belt in Malaysia against champion Lucas Matthysse by relying on a team coached by his close friend and former assistant coach, "Buboy" Fernandez.
Pacquiao's manager said that Fernandez was going to help him recruit more fighters than the popularity of boxing. The Philippines
Reached there, Pacquiao told The Times, "I'm not saying I will not be coming back to Freddie … just for this fight, I'm resting. We will be able to work again in the future if it can still train.
"I'm not angry, that's why you have not heard my comment about Freddie I'll try to visit him after the fight if I have a chance "
Roach never heard that he was fired from Pacquiao. He only read that the others had assembled without him, the lack of explanation increasing the sadness.
"Being left to do, is to be part of the sport.Usually, when a fighter loses a big fight, someone is blamed and usually it's the coach," he said. said Roach. "But Manny never blamed anyone other than himself in his 16 years with me. Nobody has ever been fired. We had victories and defeats and he accepted it, even when he was eliminated. "
After the pair roared at the prominence of Marco Antonio Barrera's agitated Pacquiao Rovers, Oscar De La Hoya, Ricky Hatton and Miguel Cotto, Roach coach Pacquiao returned from a defeat to rival Juan Manuel Marquez in the 2014 solitary sessions in the Philippines that resulted in Chris Algieri's six assists in Macau and the buzz needed to finally force Mayweather into the ring with Pacquiao
"The secret is when we get to our training, I'm not the boss, "Pacquiao told the Times before shredding Algieri. "You have to accept that this is part of boxing … to stay here (as a champion) for a long time, to improve even more, the coach is the boss." I believe in Freddie I trusted him from the beginning. "
But something has changed this afternoon in Australia. Roach could see it in Pacquiao's eyes in the after-fight locker room, while Pacquiao called his "master" to discuss a heavy workload as a senator in the Philippines with a preparation for the title .
"You know, Manny, being a senator and being a world champion boxer is very difficult … I know you've always been multi-tasking, but you might want to think about doing one before the # 39; other, "said Roach to Pacquiao. The silence that ensued struck Roach
"Manny, are you angry with me?" Roach asked, "He just smiled me … it was that, and I have not talked to Manny Pacquiao ever since."
Roach sacrificed to train Pacquiao in the Philippines. ;last year. Before the trainer left, he left his mother after a third cancer diagnosis – this time in her pancreas after conquering the breast and cancer of the uterus.
"It was bad. My mother was so sick, she chose not to fight cancer this time and I said OK, but after 14 days of seeing her getting sicker, I would have liked not to have said OK, "said Roach." I should have said, "No, Ma, beat me once again for me …" But I could not bring myself to do it, knowing how hard it was and thinking how bad it had been that she 'd been doing it. Upon his return from Horn's loss, Roach maintained an evening ritual to return to his dying mother's home, comforting it in a way that brought tears to his close friend and his assistant. , Marie Spivey
Roach simmered the applesauce in her mother's mouth every night, left her sip gently with a bottle of water and comforted her in conversation, even if the delirium was pushing her to escape and call his son. 19659002] "She was her conscience," says Spivey of Roach's mother. "He was there every day, telling his mother that he loved him."
Two days before Christmas, Barbara Roach passed away.
The fight this fall was marked by the farewell loss of Roach Miguel Cotto's four-division champion and an inspired night as a boxing coach for the legendary return of the legend. UFC Georges St-Pierre, who pitched a left hook taught by Roach to the evil eye of middleweight champion Michael Bisping, and then finished it to retrieve the belt at Madison Square Garden. Staying true to himself and keeping his legendary work ethic in the face of his mother's death "was difficult," said Roach
"But when I get here, I'm in a best place. I've had a bad back injury in recent months, I can barely tie up my shoes and put on my socks, I can not pick things up. And there are days when I have to bend over, I can not. But when I arrive in the car and that I arrive here, the back heats up and I can hit the mittens with my prospect from the Mexican Olympic team … so that's all what I need. "
This fighter, Raul Curiel, is also Roach just a prospect.The only active champion that Roach has at camp is Alberto Machado, a little-known featherweight
" A little disappointing, of course, " Roach said about life outside the brightest lights of his sport
Last Sunday, I went out in my mailbox with a cup of coffee and a guy got up and mourned. said: "You can not hide behind this cup." But recently, Roach's best prospect, Eimantas Stanionis, of Lithuania, left him citing inattention and moved into a camp. Houston training.
And after an impressive win in March among junior-welter Jose Ramirez, the new champion took his belt and defected to Riverside to train under Robert Garcia for his first defense of title.
"When the fights become more difficult, you need n of a team that trusts you. you and is motivated about you … Freddie has had so many champions in the past. I do not know if I gave him the same excitement, "said Ramirez.
Roach was taken by surprise.
" Challenging kid who was better, but … I lost him " , said Roach. "Robert Garcia did not steal it."
Roach says he's not poaching anyone either.
Last year he was in England to watch heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua beat champion Wladimir Klitschko.
"Joshua was thrilled to meet me and I was delighted to meet him," said Roach. "The kid is a gentleman. He wrote me a letter afterwards and said, "Could I be good with Freddie Roach in my corner?"
"I thought to myself:" Wow, that's it. is rather pretty. & # 39; I would like to tell him: "You're going to to be better than ever. I would love to train you someday, but I can not answer this letter now because I do not know if it is a free agent. "
Roach does not bind his fighters to contracts." He had a combat-by-fight agreement with Pacquiao, taking all the payments they deemed fair.
So Roach focuses on fighting dates at coming who are far from being paid a la carte.
cameras that followed his every move for the candid documentary series by Hollywood director Peter Berg. "Freddie Roach" explored the grinding work of the company. Coach While He Fights Parkinson's Disease
A week after Pacquiao's fights, Machado (19-0, 16 KOs), 27, defends his belt on July 21 against Rafael Mensah in Ghana. Hotel in Las Vegas.
"It looks like Freddie has time now," said Arum. "He's a great coach, and if we have a fighter, we would definitely send him back to Freddie."
The Conversation the most important that Roach seeks is that with Pacquiao [19659002] "The marriages did not last that long," Roach said. "If Manny asked me to get on a jet and train him for free, I would be first in the plane.We have a lot of history.Manyny is my friend.The money … j & Have enough. "
Pacquiao said that if he beats Matthysse, he would like to return to fight in the United States against lightweight champion Vasiliy Lomachenko
" Have you talked to Freddie? Asked Pacquiao. "When you talk to him again, can you please say hello? And please say thank you."
Roach carries a gift for Pacquiao. During a recent flight, an elite pro player recognized the coach and handed him a custom dart board.
"I do not play, but I'm going to give them to Manny because he's doing it. And I can not wait to see his face when I do it because he'll know how much that means, "said Roach.
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