By Rick Reeno
One of hottest trainers in the business, Freddie Roach, is currently preparing Filipino idol, Manny Pacquiao, for a tough battle against Oscar Larios on July 2. The bout takes place before Pacquiao’s home crowd in the Araneta Coliseum, in Manila, Philippines. Roach took a few moments to speak with BoxingScene about James Toney, Manny Pacquiao, Bobby Pacquiao, and a variety of other topics.
BoxingScene.com: What's the latest with James Toney? There are rumblings of a possible fight with Samuel Peter.
Freddie Roach: I didn't hear anything about that. Klitschko's name has been brought up. I spoke to James two days ago and he didn't tell me anything about Samuel Peter.
BoxingScene.com: How is the training going with Manny Pacquiao?
Freddie Roach: Manny’s training is going great. Manny is working real hard in the gym, getting himself prepared. The camp has been great and we are heading out to Manila soon to finish things up.
BoxingScene.com: You must have heard about the recent lawsuit by Diego Corrales against Jose Luis Castillo, for not making weight.
Freddie Roach: Yeah, I heard about it.
BoxingScene.com: For reasons unknown, Erik Morales was mentioned in terms of investigating his weight making practices for fights. He may kill himself to make weight, but he always seems to make weight.
Freddie Roach: I don't know why he is being mentioned. He always makes weight. he made weight for us twice. They need to leave that guy alone. We have a fight with him in November, on the 18th. There are stipulations in the contract for penalties if he doesn't make the contract weight.
BoxingScene.com: You have been in the boxing business for a long time. Have you ever seen an incident with a fighter not being able to make weight in a major event like Castillo-Corrales 3?
Freddie Roach: I remember a long time some fighter couldn't make weight for a fight, I can't remember the names. I forget if it was at cruiserweight or light heavyweight. The fighter could not make weight and the fight was canceled. This fight (Castillo-Corrales) was a lot bigger and it was unfortunate that it was canceled.
BoxingScene.com: Do you think Jose Luis Castillo is taking too much of the blame? It appears everyone is only pointing the finger at him.
Freddie Roach: Yeah, I don't think he should take all of the blame. He has a team, he has a whole team behind him. I know that if one of my fighters is having problems making weight for a fight and I see that he is five pounds overweight a week before the fight, I'm going to tell someone. He had a team making sure he made weight, there were people regularly checking his weight. He shouldn't be taking all the blame.
BoxingScene.com: What did you think about Marco Antonio Barrera's performance against Rocky Juarez? One of our correspondents was sitting next to Manny Pacquiao at the fight, and Manny said Barrera looked old.
Freddie Roach: I don't know. He had a tough guy in front of him. Juarez is a good boxer, he could fight and he is strong. It was a tough fight for Barrera.
BoxingScene.com: It appeared that Barrera was fading in the late rounds, as if he didn't have the stamina to go the full twelve.
Freddie Roach: Yeah, he did fade in the late rounds. I don't know what happened there. I like rematches and I just hope the rematch with Manny happens (laughing).
BoxingScene.com: How is Bobby Pacquiao doing? He appears to be a good run and several fighters with name recognition have mentioned him as a possible opponent.
Freddie Roach: Bobby has always been under his brother's shadow and he is finally stepping out of the shadow to show that he can fight. He had good wins in his last couple of fights and his confidence level is up. Bobby is finally getting away from his brother's shadow and making a name for himself.
BoxingScene.com: As you know, we have a large Filipino audience on our site. Given your popularity level in the Philppines, they want to know when you are planning to run for the Presidency of their country?
Freddie Roach: (laughing) No, not me. Manny can be president, I’ll be vice-president.
BoxingScene.com: Freddie, thank you for taking some time to talk to us.
Freddie Roach: Any time Rick.
