By Chris Robinson
This Friday night, HBO will debut their latest mini-series On Freddie Roach, giving viewers an intimate look into the life the esteemed trainer.
Known for his work with prizefighters Manny Pacquiao, Amir Khan, and Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., amongst others, Roach has received the Boxing Writers Association of America award for Trainer of the Year four times and is under the spotlight more than some of today’s top fighters are.
On Freddie Roach figures to be an intriguing study on Roach’s life in and out boxing, as the 51-year old will also be shown going through the rigors that come with his ongoing battle with Parkinson's disease. And while Roach has certainly put in his share of work to get to the lofty position he now holds in the sport, not everyone is a diehard believer.
Former U.S. Olympic Boxing Coach Kenny Adams has seen a lot in the sport and once trained former two-division champion Edwin Valero for a memorable span. Valero, the wild Venezuelan who passed away in April of 2010 after an apparent suicide by hanging, had often been linked to Pacquiao in the past and to this day Adams insists his former pupil would have been victorious had the two crossed paths.
“I’m the better trainer and he was the better fighter, without a doubt,” Adams would tell me back in October when fantasizing about the matchup.
With Roach’s new series set to debut in a few days’ time, I felt the need to get in touch with Adams again to get to the bottom of that specific comment and get his true feelings towards Roach’s abilities.
In his own words this is what the affable Adams had to say about Roach’s bad stretch over the past few months that saw some of his athletes struggle, his curiosity as to why other trainers never received the same kind of accolades as Roach, who he thinks Pacquiao should face next, and how exactly to beat Manny..
Freddie Roach’s tough stretch in late 2011 that saw Jorge Linares lose to Antonio DeMarco, Pacquiao struggle with Juan Manuel Marquez, and Amir Khan lose to Anthony Peterson…
“Well, boxing is up and down. On any given night a guy can lose a fight and whether he’s supposed to lose it or not. And you know what? You, as a trainer, the only thing you can do is put your effort forward and try to prepare your fighter in such a way. But it just happens that way. I had the same thing with [James] Kirkland, but under different circumstances. Unfortunately he lost to a guy he never should have lost to but that was because, a lot of times, fighters do things that don’t make sense.”
Opinion on Freddie Roach’s ability as a trainer…
“He’s deserving of what he’s got. I don’t take nothing away from him. And everybody has their drawback and everything. I think he’s an outstanding trainer, without a doubt, but I’m a better one. I’m the best that I know. And I’m not going to be a bragger about it but there’s only two trainers that I would put a step above me and one of them being a dead guy named Eddie Futch and the other one being Emanuel Steward. I don’t fall behind anybody else, period.”
Wondering why some coaches missed out on a Trainer of the Year award…
“I respect Eddie Mustafa [Muhammad], he’s one I respect highly. John Russell is another guy I respect highly. [Alton] Merkerson, Roger Mayweather, Floyd, those guys do great jobs. My thing is, let me say one thing if I can. I don’t want to be derogatory when I say this; Alton Merkerson had Roy Jones for ten years or ever since he came out the Olympics. He was a world champion, won every title you could win, yet still, Merkerson could not become trainer of the year. And I wonder, I miss something sometimes. Why guys like that don’t become trainer of the year. Roger Mayweather had Floyd and he’s been winning all the time. Why hasn’t he got trainer of the year? What does it take sometimes? And that’s my only point. And if somebody else gets it, so be it. I have no problem with it, but how about the other people that are deserving?”
Whether Roach’s accolades have come from his connection to Manny Pacquiao and other stars…
“Amen, all day long. But you have to look at the era, once again, when they start feeling this way. And people might want to sue you or do whatever they can, and I’m not going to say anything that’s going to get me in trouble. Because I’m not going to say anything where somebody can sue me, but there is a reason why Pacquiao has been as strong as he was. We look at his last fight, we saw a difference in it. Also, there was a problem, he stated having some cramps. I wonder why? You tell me.”
Thoughts on Pacquiao’s majority-decision over Juan Manuel Marquez on November 12th…
“Truthfully, it was really a close fight. From a judge’s standpoint, if a guy is a champion, you have to kind of beat him pretty good. I thought Pacquiao might have edged it out. A lot of people thought Marquez might have won, but I don’t understand what his corner was talking about for two rounds he told him he was in the lead and therefore and he thought he could just float through there and get by. It didn’t work like that.”
Who he would like to see Pacquiao face next if the list is narrowed down to Timothy Bradley, Lamont Peterson, Miguel Cotto, and Marquez…
“Bradley. I like somebody who’s going to put pressure on him, who’s going to give him some angles yet still put that pressure on him and keep the pressure on him. That makes the difference. As long as you can put the pressure and not allow him to exploit his punches, that makes it a little better.”
The way to beat Pacquiao...
“This is always why I said that Edwin Valero could beat him. Valero was left-handed also and in doing this, the way to beat Pacquiao is to go to his right, his hook hand. That’s the way to beat him. Go to his hook hand and make him reach with it. Once he does that, you counter him with your left hand and come back with your hook. There are ways to beat him and that’s one of the ways. I can’t just say it like that, it doesn’t mean someone can take it and run with it anyways, there are certain things you have to do.”
Why Valero was one of the best…
“As a matter of fact, when we were preparing, I always prepared Edwin to fight Pacquiao. I did do that and I always thought he could beat him. A lot of people said ‘You’re crazy’ and I know all the Filipinos thought I was losing my mind I guess. Aint no doubt in my mind that Edwin was one of the best fighters and one of the hardest working guys I’ve known all in my history of boxing. Here was a guy that just worked hard and had everything going for him. Unfortunately he was a little koo-koo at times but otherwise, he was one of the best fighters around, period.”
