By Francisco Salazar
Freddie Roach is ready to ace the test tonight.
It is not multiple choice, but it is something many before him have mostly failed to do: be the first to draw up a plan to defeat Floyd Mayweather.
His most famous pupil, Manny Pacquiao, will earn all the credit if he does outbox before a sellout crowd inside the MGM Grand in Las Vegas and a worldwide audience watching on pay-per-view.
It would be hard to overlook the fact that Roach came up with the game plan to defeat Mayweather, if Pacquiao is victorious.
Roach and Pacquiao have worked together since 2001, when a scrawny Pacquiao first stepped foot inside the famed Wild Card Gym in Hollywood, Calif. This scrawny fighter was fast and had explosive power, making a believer out of Roach immediately.
Pacquiao was a replacement for Enrique Sanchez when he stepped inside the ring to fight Lehlohonolo Ledwaba in June of 2001. While some wondered who this Filipino fighter was, very few gave him a chance to beat the more experienced and polished Ledwaba.
“I knew he was special,” Roach told Boxingscene.com in an interview at the Wild Card Gym a few weeks ago. People didn't believe me, including Top Rank guys. People thought Ledwaba was going to beat Manny down. I told them, 'Watch the fight. This guy is special.' I knew he was special, but eight titles? I didn't think that would happen.”
A lot has happened over the last 14 years. Pacquiao’s popularity and success have reached astronomical heights, along with the world title belts and accolades to go with it. Now he is one fight away from becoming a great living-legend, the man who beat the man.
Roach has been along for the ride. Mostly his trainer, but a pseudo-father figure, Roach knows Pacquiao just as well as Pacquiao’s mother and wife.
So it should come as no surprise Roach is confident his fighter will have his hand raised in victory tonight, even though Mayweather is the house fighter and the better favorite.
“He's right where we want him to be,” said Roach, himself a former fighter who had a modest boxing career. “We worked on perfecting the game plan and making adjustments to Mayweather's style because he's very difficult. He's doing quite well. His conditioning is great. That's never been a problem. I've had a couple of sparring partners that (emulate) Mayweather very well. They're very long, use good jabs, and throw straight right hands. Manny doesn't slip well, but he's very fast.”
“Overall I'm really happy where he's at. Right now, he's in great shape. I love his intensity. I believe he doesn't like his opponent for the first time ever, which helps a little bit. We're having hard workouts. I've been rough on him a little bit. I do it because I want more.”
While some point to Pacquiao being too nice or taking his foot off the pedal, so to speak, in fights where he dominates his opponents, Roach believes Pacquiao will hurt and could possibly end matters early due to the intensity of sparring sessions.
“He's kicked my ass. I told a friend the other day that this (training camp with Pacquiao) is the hardest punches I've felt in my life. He's hit me in the chest so hard I never felt that before. His punching power is good. He's punching really hard. We lost a little bit of the killer instinct (in some fights). But that's part of life. I think if he hurts Mayweather, he will finish him. We saw flashes of it in the Algieri fight.”
“But I’m confident we can get a fair decision in (Las) Vegas. The game-plan is to score more points during these exchanges. The thing is Mayweather doesn't throw a lot of punches. Manny needs to throw a lot of punches and that's basically what he does. It's really in our favor.”
Should Pacquiao come out victorious tonight, it would be difficult for Roach to top that win. Roach would advise Pacquiao to retire from the sport should the Filipino come out victorious.
At the same time, would Roach continue to train fighters or throw in the towel as well?
“After we win this fight, I can retire happily. I'm thinking about it, but I probably won't because I don't know what else to do. This is all I really know. There are a lot of people that work here (the Wild Card Gym in Hollywood) and we provide a lot of jobs for fighters. I could retire after this because we've done everything possible and beating Mayweather is definitely the feather in the cap.”
Pacquiao and Roach has been a winning tandem for years. They understand the stakes for tonight and know it will not be an easy task. Pacquiao has done well for himself in his last three fights since the brutal knockout loss at the hands of Juan Manuel Marquez.
“It's a big challenge. We worked really hard and got better every day. He began making moves during training camp that I wanted him to make. Once he got those moves down consistently, that's all that matters. He's going to surprise a lot of people, including Mayweather.”
Francisco A. Salazar has written for Boxingscene.com since September of 2012 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (CA) Star newspaper, RingTV, and Knockout Nation. He can be reached by email at santio89@yahoo.com or on Twitter at FSalazarBoxing
