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HOLLYWOOD, Calif. -- One thing boxing writers love about Freddie Roach is that he’s a straight shooter, even at the expense of his own fighters.
Hall of Famer Sugar Ray Leonard said recently that he would’ve beaten the current king of boxing, Manny Pacquiao, who is Roach’s prize pupil. Roach agrees with Leonard even if he was somewhat critical of him.
“It’s hard for me to pick my own guy,” he said standing next to the ring in his gym as Pacquiao loosened before a workout for the media on Wednesday. “Sometimes when people ask me who was the greatest fighter ever, I say Sugar Ray Leonard. He could’ve been. But he stayed around too long. You gotta count that as part of his career. He got beat by some ordinary guys at the end.”
But if they fought when both were at their best?
“I pick Leonard,” Roach said. “They’re equal in the speed factor. Leonard was maybe a little better counter puncher, though. That’s the key, because Manny would have to attack him. Manny couldn’t lay back and counter him. I think (Leonard) was a little more intelligent in that factor.”
And the difference in size?
“That’s a big factor, too,” Roach said. “Ray is, what, 5-10?”
Bob Arum, Pacquiao’s promoter, walked up at that moment and Roach asked him the same question: “Who would win, Leonard or Manny?”
Arum: “Manny. Why I know that pretty much for a fact is that I was around Ray. The one guy he and his people wouldn’t want to fight was who?”
Roach: “Aaron Pryor.”
Arum: “And who does Manny most resemble?”
Roach: “Aaron Pryor.”
Arum: “I rest my case.”
Arum also thinks that Leonard would’ve beaten Floyd Mayweather Jr.
“I don’t think he lets Mayweather bulls—t him,” he said. “Ray was an extremely smart fighter. And he had the firepower and speed to handle Mayweather. I don’t even make it a contest. … Floyd would have nothing to hurt Ray with. Ray was smart, he knew how to move.
“Ray would’ve destroyed Mayweather.”
Pacquiao is scheduled to fight Joshua Clottey on March 13 at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, on pay per view.
Hall of Famer Sugar Ray Leonard said recently that he would’ve beaten the current king of boxing, Manny Pacquiao, who is Roach’s prize pupil. Roach agrees with Leonard even if he was somewhat critical of him.
“It’s hard for me to pick my own guy,” he said standing next to the ring in his gym as Pacquiao loosened before a workout for the media on Wednesday. “Sometimes when people ask me who was the greatest fighter ever, I say Sugar Ray Leonard. He could’ve been. But he stayed around too long. You gotta count that as part of his career. He got beat by some ordinary guys at the end.”
But if they fought when both were at their best?
“I pick Leonard,” Roach said. “They’re equal in the speed factor. Leonard was maybe a little better counter puncher, though. That’s the key, because Manny would have to attack him. Manny couldn’t lay back and counter him. I think (Leonard) was a little more intelligent in that factor.”
And the difference in size?
“That’s a big factor, too,” Roach said. “Ray is, what, 5-10?”
Bob Arum, Pacquiao’s promoter, walked up at that moment and Roach asked him the same question: “Who would win, Leonard or Manny?”
Arum: “Manny. Why I know that pretty much for a fact is that I was around Ray. The one guy he and his people wouldn’t want to fight was who?”
Roach: “Aaron Pryor.”
Arum: “And who does Manny most resemble?”
Roach: “Aaron Pryor.”
Arum: “I rest my case.”
Arum also thinks that Leonard would’ve beaten Floyd Mayweather Jr.
“I don’t think he lets Mayweather bulls—t him,” he said. “Ray was an extremely smart fighter. And he had the firepower and speed to handle Mayweather. I don’t even make it a contest. … Floyd would have nothing to hurt Ray with. Ray was smart, he knew how to move.
“Ray would’ve destroyed Mayweather.”
Pacquiao is scheduled to fight Joshua Clottey on March 13 at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, on pay per view.
LMAO, ignore Arum's scum ass coming into the conversation. When he promoted Mayweather he used to talk like he was the second coming of Ali.
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