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Skip to around 8:55 for the Khan bit. First he says Pacquiao "knocked out" Khan, then he says he dropped him 4 times...
O Rly, Freddie?
Hall of Fame trainer Freddie Roach has revealed sensational details of the sparring sessions that took place between his star fighter - 8 division world champion Manny Pacquiao - and his former pupil - former unified junior welterweight world champion Amir Khan, at the Wildcard Gym in Hollywood, California, USA.
Roach has trained Pacquiao (55-5-2, 38KOs) for many years, overseeing his sensational world title triumphs in 8 weight classes - a record in boxing. Roach also started training Khan (28-3, 19KOs) in 2009 - when Khan was a Olympic Silver Medallist at the age of just 17, and was just coming off his first loss. Roach masterminded Khan's rise to the top of the junior welterweight division and becoming a 3 time world champion - winning the WBA 'Super', WBA and IBF junior welterweight titles - and overseeing great victories over the likes of Marco Antonio Barrera, Paulie Malignaggi, Zab Judah and Marcos Maidana.
Khan has since left Roach to join up with Virgil Hunter - lifelong trainer of Andre Ward - but British superstar Khan and Filipino superstar Pacquiao struck up a great friendship in the years they spent training together. They spent many days sparring together, and, ahead of Khan's expected May 3 date with pound for pound king Floyd Mayweather (45-0, 26KOs), Roach has revealed sensational details of their sparring sessions.
''Manny and Amir sparred many rounds together at the gym. It was great sparring, great to watch. They both have incredible footwork and handspeed. Amir was only young, but he was still in the process of winning world titles and unifying his division, Manny had the upper hand in experience and ring know how.'' Roach recalls.
''They both went all out, in sparring in my gym we never hold back or go easy. We spar hard. Even though Manny fought at 147lbs and Amir was fighting at 140lbs, usually in the gym Amir was weighing 145-150lbs. He was naturally the bigger guy. At that sort of weight, Amir has never been down before. He never got dropped once in sparring when he was with me. He did great against Manny. At first I was wary of letting him spar Manny, but he begged me to let him and I put him in there, and he did great.''
''When Amir was sparring at 145-150lbs, he was strong, big, powerful, but still had all his speed, and his punch resistance was good. It was when he had to go down to 140lbs and weight drain himself that sometimes his punch resistance was lesser. But he still took shots from people like Maidana and Judah!''
''Manny is a legend in boxing and has had an incredible career, but Amir imposed himself more and more as time went on. Some days Manny got the better of Amir, some days Amir got the better of Manny. But Manny never dropped Amir. Amir dropped Manny 3 times in total, in all the spars we had between them in the gym.''
''I always said there is only 2 guys who have the right style and skills to beat Mayweather - and they are Manny Pacquiao and Amir Khan. It will be a great fight.'' he said.
O Rly, Freddie?
Hall of Fame trainer Freddie Roach has revealed sensational details of the sparring sessions that took place between his star fighter - 8 division world champion Manny Pacquiao - and his former pupil - former unified junior welterweight world champion Amir Khan, at the Wildcard Gym in Hollywood, California, USA.
Roach has trained Pacquiao (55-5-2, 38KOs) for many years, overseeing his sensational world title triumphs in 8 weight classes - a record in boxing. Roach also started training Khan (28-3, 19KOs) in 2009 - when Khan was a Olympic Silver Medallist at the age of just 17, and was just coming off his first loss. Roach masterminded Khan's rise to the top of the junior welterweight division and becoming a 3 time world champion - winning the WBA 'Super', WBA and IBF junior welterweight titles - and overseeing great victories over the likes of Marco Antonio Barrera, Paulie Malignaggi, Zab Judah and Marcos Maidana.
Khan has since left Roach to join up with Virgil Hunter - lifelong trainer of Andre Ward - but British superstar Khan and Filipino superstar Pacquiao struck up a great friendship in the years they spent training together. They spent many days sparring together, and, ahead of Khan's expected May 3 date with pound for pound king Floyd Mayweather (45-0, 26KOs), Roach has revealed sensational details of their sparring sessions.
''Manny and Amir sparred many rounds together at the gym. It was great sparring, great to watch. They both have incredible footwork and handspeed. Amir was only young, but he was still in the process of winning world titles and unifying his division, Manny had the upper hand in experience and ring know how.'' Roach recalls.
''They both went all out, in sparring in my gym we never hold back or go easy. We spar hard. Even though Manny fought at 147lbs and Amir was fighting at 140lbs, usually in the gym Amir was weighing 145-150lbs. He was naturally the bigger guy. At that sort of weight, Amir has never been down before. He never got dropped once in sparring when he was with me. He did great against Manny. At first I was wary of letting him spar Manny, but he begged me to let him and I put him in there, and he did great.''
''When Amir was sparring at 145-150lbs, he was strong, big, powerful, but still had all his speed, and his punch resistance was good. It was when he had to go down to 140lbs and weight drain himself that sometimes his punch resistance was lesser. But he still took shots from people like Maidana and Judah!''
''Manny is a legend in boxing and has had an incredible career, but Amir imposed himself more and more as time went on. Some days Manny got the better of Amir, some days Amir got the better of Manny. But Manny never dropped Amir. Amir dropped Manny 3 times in total, in all the spars we had between them in the gym.''
''I always said there is only 2 guys who have the right style and skills to beat Mayweather - and they are Manny Pacquiao and Amir Khan. It will be a great fight.'' he said.
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