By Chris Robinson
This Friday night marks the debut of HBO Sports’ latest mini-series, On Freddie Roach. The six-part show is expected to be giving viewers an intimate look at the esteemed trainer as he battles Parkinson’s disease and trains his stable of world-class prizefighters, including the likes of Manny Pacquiao, Amir Khan, and Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.
Part of Roach’s notoriety has come from his ten-plus years training Pacquiao, an international superstar widely-regarded as one of the sport’s two best fighters. For a few years now the Filipino idol has been linked to a fight with undefeated Floyd Mayweather Jr. but the latest developments have produced no evidence suggesting that they will be facing one another anytime soon.
Floyd Jr.’s outspoken Uncle and trainer Roger Mayweather was spotted at the Mayweather Boxing Club on Wednesday afternoon, as his nephew held a press conference for the media, and showed not real interest in Roach’s upcoming reality series.
“I don’t watch no bull**** like that,” Roger said without hesitation. “I know who the fu**ing best is. I don’t watch no sh!t like that, period.”
Asked if he had any respect whatsoever for Roach’s abilities as a trainer, Roger turned his attention back to a time when the two men were still aspiring pugilists.
“I used to whoop his a** every day,” Roger continued. “I used to whoop his a** at the Golden Gloves Gym in Las Vegas. That mother***** couldn’t fight. Freddie Roach was here before me. I boxed him and I whooped his a** every day. He wasn’t nothing but a punching bag for me. I used to play with his a**.”
Asked if Roach’s limitations as a fighter were part of the reason why Roger feels he isn’t a competent coach, he denied as much.
“You don’t got to be a good fighter, because most trainers can’t fight,” stated Roger. “You don’t see Ali training nobody do you? You don’t see Ray Robinson training nobody. Most fighters can’t train, period. Boxing is something you have to learn when you’re young. Training fighters aint nothing to me because I used to train fighters when I was a little kid.”
And what exactly does Roger feel he has that makes him stand out amongst today’s current crop of trainers?
“The only thing that separates me from other trainers, I’m the best, period. What makes me the best? Number one, I got the best fighter,” Roger quipped.
There are those who felt that Roger should have received an award for Trainer of the Year sometime along the line, especially in 2007 when Floyd received Fighter of the Year for his victories over Oscar De La Hoya and Ricky Hatton.
But the snubs seem to have no real effect on the elder Mayweather.
“I don’t really trip about that,” Roger claimed. “I knew I was a good trainer anyways. But I don’t trip about being Trainer of the year. That’s something to some people. They ask me all the time, it’s all bullsh!t anyways. I’ve seen people get trainer of the year and can’t train a lick.”
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