By Keith Idec, photo by Stephanie Trapp
Freddie Roach playfully posed with Robert Garcia for promotional photos Wednesday in Los Angeles.
That didn’t stop the Hall-of-Fame trainer from taking a not-so-subtle shot at his rival when discussing the Jesus Cuellar-Abner Mares fight. Roach now trains Argentina’s Cuellar (28-1, 21 KOs), who’ll defend his WBA world featherweight title against Mares (29-2-1, 15 KOs), of Downey, California, on Saturday night at USC’s Galen Center in Los Angeles (Showtime; 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT).
Garcia, who became Mares’ trainer after his last fight, trained Cuellar for five of his fights in recent years. Roach doesn’t expect Garcia’s intimate knowledge of Cuellar and his habits to be an insurmountable advantage in their 12-round fight.
“He does know my fighter well,” Roach told reporters Wednesday. “I’ve tried to improve my fighter a lot, and he said he never learned anything over there [at Garcia’s gym in Oxnard, California]. But every day he learns in my gym [Wild Card Boxing Club in Hollywood]. I just don’t think he’s the same guy that Robert is used to seeing, and I think he’s improved a lot, in a lot of different areas. And I think he’ll show it in the fight.”
Roach explained that he has taught Cuellar, a powerful southpaw, to throw punches from different angles. He also has helped tighten the delivery of many of Cuellar’s punches, which Roach considered too wide when they began working together.
Garcia, meanwhile, acknowledged that some of what he knows could help Mares’ cause Saturday night.
“I don’t have the secret recipe,” Garcia said. “It’s just that I know Abner is in great shape and we’ve had a year to prepare for this fight. And I know Cuellar very well. I know how he thinks, and that could be a plus. I think facing a guy I used to train can be an advantage for us.
“I know Jesus and how he is in the locker room, and I can use that against him. Even though he’s with a great trainer in Freddie Roach, he has never walked out to the arena with him. I did if for five fights and for two years. But I don’t think I need those advantages. If Abner does everything that he needs to do, there’s no doubt he will walk out of there a world champion. But this is my first fight with him, so I don’t know if during the fight he will forget all I told him, and do what he is used to doing. He’s picked up a lot of good things from me, so I think he’ll stick to the game plan.”
The twice-postponed Cuellar-Mares match will headline a “Showtime Championship Boxing” tripleheader.
The telecast is set to start with a replay of the scheduled 12-round fight that’ll send IBF heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua (17-0, 17 KOs) against Eric Molina (25-3, 19 KOs), which will be taped earlier Saturday in Manchester, England (live on Showtime at 5:30 p.m. ET/2:30 p.m. PT). The co-feature before Cuellar and Mares meet is an intriguing IBF junior middleweight title bout between Houston’s Jermall Charlo (24-0, 18 KOs), the defending champion, and Philadelphia’s Julian Williams (22-0-1, 14 KOs, 1 NC), Charlo’s mandatory challenger.
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.
