Roach, Medina and Tapia Join Manny Pacquiao in Camp
by Ronnie Nathanielsz
Trainer Freddie Roach arrived at 3:45 a.m. Sunday along with two big sparring partners, light middleweight Michael “ Murder Man” Medina ( 24-2-2, 19 KO’s) and undefeated welterweight Glen Tapia (7-0, 5 KO’s)and said “we have a big fight ahead of us, we have some great sparring partners and we are ready to go to work.”
In an interview with the Inquirer and ABS-CBN's Dyan Castillejo at the airport, Roach said he would meet pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao later in the day after Pacquiao planes in from his hometown of General Santos City and “work everything out.” While his plan is to move the training camp to Baguio City “after a couple of days” Roach stated emphatically “we will start training tomorrow (Monday)” at the Johnny Elorde Gym in Quezon City where Pacquiao trained for two days last week.
Asked whether he had enough time to get Pacquiao in shape to battle the bigger and much taller Antonio Margarito (5 inches taller with a 6 inch reach advantage) for the vacant WBC super welterweight title at the Dallas Cowboys Stadium on November 13 Roach replied “without a doubt. No problem at all. We have seven good weeks and we’ll make the most of it.”
The celebrated trainer who has presided over Pacquiao’s amazing run of seven world titles in seven different weight divisions said Pacquiao wanted to train in the Philippines because “we had good luck here last time” referring to the successful title victory against WBO welterweight champion Miguel Cotto last November and the one-sided decision over Joshua Clottey in March.
Roach said he could train Pacquiao “any place I have a ring I’ll have no problem with. Give me a ring and I’ll get him ready.”
Roach emphasized that Pacquiao “has to be fit for Margarito or for any fight because the way Pacquiao fights his condition is the key. His style is nonstop and that’s why he is the best in the world today. We have to be in one hundred percent shape.”
A smiling Roach pointed at his two tall sparring partners Medina and Tapia and said they will be joined in the next couple of weeks by undefeated Vanes “Nightmare”Martirosyan and Julio Cesar Chavez Jr who are also both six feet tall. He said “these guys will get him (Pacquiao) ready for the height and reach advantage so we can take that away from these guys as well as Margarito. The ‘tornado’ is going to be downsized to a tropical storm I promise you.”
Roach maintained that he doesn’t “just have sparring partners here. We have world class fighters. These are the best and what we need and they are going to be champions in the future.” He said he would add welterweight Rashad Holloway (11-1-2, 5 KO’s) to the roster when they move to the Wild Card Gym, referring to Holloway as a fighter who is a boxer and not a heavy puncher. He explained the move by saying “when Margarito feels Manny’s power and starts to box a little bit and starts to move that’s why Vanes is also coming because he is also more of a mover. But these two, Medina and Tapia are in your face.”
Roach described Medina as “very aggressive and comes forward while Tapia is a very young fighter with a couple of hundred amateur fights and has a great right hand like Margarito.”
Tapia told us “its great to be in Pacquiao’s training camp. I want to get him 100 percent ready to beat Margarito. I’ve heard this is a beautiful country and I want to experience it myself but we are here for business so we got to get Pacquiao a hundred percent ready for Margarito. That’s what we are here for.”
Tapia believes it will be a great fight but added “you know how Pacquiao works. He goes in there and gives us a show. So we are going to get him ready. He’s going to go in there and do the best.”
According to Pacquiao’s conditioning expert Alex Ariza, Medina is “a strong kid who comes forward and throws a lot of punches” and did a great job getrtung Chavez Jr inio shape for his last fight against John Duddy. Medina said sparring with Pacquiao will be “a totally different experience but I have come here with the intention of giving him the best work for this fight.”
