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Freddie Roach is a busy guy these days. The legendary trainer is most known around the sport of boxing as the trainer for Manny Pacquiao but his responsibilities certainly don’t end there. Boxing is Roach’s passion but he has helped UFC fighters in the past and he will be doing that again with Georges St. Pierre following this weekend. Right now Roach’s focus is all on the middleweight super-fight between his guy, Julio Cesar Chavez Jr, and Sergio Martinez. The fight is one of the biggest this year and Roach is hoping it has a different outcome than prized fighter Manny Pacquiao’s last time in the ring when he lost to Timothy Bradley. Freddie Roach joined 750 the Game in Portland with the Bald Faced Truth to talk about how his fighters have handled him having so many different responsibilities, what is next for Manny Pacquiao, if judging, like what happened in Pacquiao’s last fight, hurts the sport of boxing, on his relationship with Georges St. Pierre and other MMA fighters and whether Pacquiao’s recent loss has motivated him to get better.
How his fighters have handled him having so many different personalities:
“I work long hours in the gym and for this particular fight, we went to training camp and my guys are home alone, but they know the work schedule and they know I have good people that help me out in the gym. Just focus on I think the biggest fight of the year is very important with Chavez and we’ve been in training camp for eight weeks.”
What is next for Manny Pacquiao:
“Manny Pacquiao, everyone in the world knows we won that fight and so it looks like we’re going to go ahead with the Marquez fight, that’s going to be first and then if (Timothy) Bradley is still around we will go after him next.”
Whether judging, like the kind in the Pacquiao fight, hurts the sport of boxing:
“Yeah, it really hurts the sport and it drives some fans away. The judges system, they need to improve that a little bit and sometimes these judges are 75 and so forth and I thought retirement was 65 but maybe I should be careful what I say because I might be 75 doing this still.”
On his relationship with Georges St. Pierre and other fighters in MMA:
“I’m working with Georges St. Pierre right now and I might go to Montreal next week and help him get ready for (Carlos) Condit, his next fight. He’s a great student and I’ve gotten to work with the best in the UFC and a good fight is a good fight as long as its action-packed. These guys are great athletes. I’m not a big fan of the ground game but the stand-up is what I teach them and try to get them to be the best they can be.”
If he makes a better living as a trainer than he did as a fighter:
“Much better. My biggest pay day as a fighter was 7500 dollars so I do a little bit better than that now.”
If he plans on staying with training for a while:
“I think this is it. I don’t plan on going anywhere else and I’ve found my calling. I love what I do and if the fighters keep coming I will keep working.”
Whether Manny Pacquiao is more motivated after losing to Bradley:
“Manny, he’s a really nice guy and so forth. Winning and losing is a part of life. It didn’t bother him that much but he did tell me ‘I will knock him out next time’ and that’s the first time I’ve ever heard him predict something like that and when he says something it usually comes true.”
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