Comments Thread For: Freddie Roach reflects ahead of Manny Pacquiao's last dance

[BoxingUpdates]

Thirty years after opening the Wild Card Boxing Club, Freddie Roach is preparing for one last ride with the fighter with whom he will always be indelibly associated.
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[lilacp]

Great interview, it's always a pleasure to read or hear Roach, he's such a circumspect guy, one would wish other big name trainers had that quality. What he has to say about Eddie Futch id priceless.

The title is a bit of a misnomer tho, I expected to read more about how Roach sees Pacquiao winning.

[steeve steel]

Legendary story of how Wild Card gym came to be. And great article!

[Liondw]

I didn't know that deeper history of him and Mickey Rourke, so cool.

[MulaKO]

Roach just got a bunch of awards for his wild card gym’s 30th anniversary

https://fightsatw.com/hall-of-fame-t...f-los-angeles/

[SouthpawRight]

I didn't know that deeper history of him and Mickey Rourke, so cool.

“I wasn't training properly,” Rourke told me back in 2010. “Freddie just packed his bags and went back to Vegas. He says, ‘I'll see you in a month if you ever train the right way. I don't give a **** who you are. I don't train people to lose.’ I was in tears, literally. I said, ‘Freddie, please,’ and he said, ‘No, man, I'm not going to work with you with what you're giving me. If you want to train like that and be knocked on your ass, I'm not going to be in your corner.’”

“He tried to be the best he could, but it just wasn't enough,” recalled Roach. “He was a good fighter, but he's really a great actor.

“But one thing he did do, he did spend his money, and he built a great gym with wood floors like a basketball court. I slept in an apartment above the floor, and I could look over and see who's there, see who's not there. That was a nice place he built me.”

And when Rourke was done with his attempt at being a pro boxer, he left it all to Roach, who used the money to open the space on the corner of Santa Monica and Vine that would become the Wild Card Boxing Club.

And the most unusual thing that happened that day was that his wife said she wants to see him in one more fight. I’ve never seen that. I’ve never heard that or seen that from her in any aspect. You know, she was always ‘Retire. Retire. Retire.’ But we’re sitting at ringside and she says, ‘I think he’s ready for that last fight.’

[SouthpawRight]

“I wasn't training properly,” Rourke told me back in 2010. “Freddie just packed his bags and went back to Vegas. He says, ‘I'll see you in a month if you ever train the right way. I don't give a **** who you are. I don't train people to lose.’ I was in tears, literally. I said, ‘Freddie, please,’ and he said, ‘No, man, I'm not going to work with you with what you're giving me. If you want to train like that and be knocked on your ass, I'm not going to be in your corner.’”

“He tried to be the best he could, but it just wasn't enough,” recalled Roach. “He was a good fighter, but he's really a great actor.

“But one thing he did do, he did spend his money, and he built a great gym with wood floors like a basketball court. I slept in an apartment above the floor, and I could look over and see who's there, see who's not there. That was a nice place he built me.”

And when Rourke was done with his attempt at being a pro boxer, he left it all to Roach, who used the money to open the space on the corner of Santa Monica and Vine that would become the Wild Card Boxing Club.

And the most unusual thing that happened that day was that his wife said she wants to see him in one more fight. I’ve never seen that. I’ve never heard that or seen that from her in any aspect. You know, she was always ‘Retire. Retire. Retire.’ But we’re sitting at ringside and she says, ‘I think he’s ready for that last fight.’

so manny is returning because he wants to retire off of a victory rather than a loss

[SteveM]

Good article

But how is it that article can be laden with F words and they don't get censored but you can't write -st-u-p-i-d, err-at-tic or cons-picuous in the comments or even f-uk

[JonDP]

A lot of trainers, if not most of them, —Robert Garcia comes to mind—, are just lucky about the people that walk through their doors, rather than the other way around.

[Bennyleonard99]

A joy to read this Keiran . These two icons need a film made about their historic iconic amazing careers. And Yes Pacquiao deserves a farewell fight like Mike Tyson just got and I hope he earns $25m too. Pac saved boxing from the boring Mayweather Haymon WWF run. Manny Pacquiao IS boxing. And Roach was the key to making it happen.