Beyond the beautiful mind Freddie Roach brings to his corner as a seven-time trainer of the year, his wit and mind games truly shine when he’s given time to thoughtfully devise comments and gags to get under the skin of his fighters’ opponents.
Roach, closing preparations with his Irish fighter Callum Walsh (9-0, 7 KOs) for today’s main-event bout versus Dauren Yeleussinov (11-3-1, 10 KOs) at Madison Square Garden’s Theater, has unleashed his latest salvo to let the world know his guy is poised for victory.
Roach artfully chose to connect his fighter’s bloodlines with the Sunday arrival of St. Patrick’s Day.
“Callum will be bringing his lucky charms – his left and right fists – when he faces Dauren Yeleussinov tomorrow night in the ring at Madison Square Garden,” Roach, an International Boxing Hall of Fame member, said in a statement released Friday.
“St. Patrick’s Day weekend celebrants packing The Garden are going to see boxing’s version of ‘The Green Monster,’ and his name is Callum Walsh, and that’s no blarney.”
The “Green Monster” crack is a reference to the time Walsh fought in Boston and was taken to Fenway Park, where he was told the left-field wall is nicknamed the “Green Monster,” and quickly replied, “I’m the green monster!”
Roach’s expected success this weekend will be followed by his Tuesday appearance in Beverly Hills as the trainer for unbeaten former 154-pound champion Jaime Munguia, who meets boxing’s most popular fighter and undisputed super-middleweight champion, Canelo Alvarez, May 4 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Roach has pulled off an upset like this before, when he coached Manny Pacquiao to the triumph that led Oscar De La Hoya to retire.
Back then, Roach was watching HBO’s “24/7” and saw De La Hoya weigh over 150 pounds after reporting he showed up to training camp “on weight,” at the welterweight limit of 147.
So Roach mailed De La Hoya a 12-pound cheesecake from New York’s famed Carnegie Deli with a note reading, “We’re so worried you’re underweight. Please accept this cheesecake and see us on fight night, where you’ll get your just desserts.”
De La Hoya at first acted like he appreciated the humor, but then, in footage that was edited out of “24/7” but then showed up on YouTube, he turned angry and carried the cake outside to his Big Bear Lake, Calif., driveway, where he chucked it skyward and smashing down upon the asphalt.
“There’s your cake … ,” De La Hoya scowled at the HBO camera.
Pacquiao proceeded to dominate the bout, forcing De La Hoya to quit on his stool.
Funny how boxing works. De La Hoya, who was briefly trained by Roach, now promotes Munguia and would certainly like nothing more than for Roach to infiltrate the mind of Alvarez.
Another of the world-class undressings by Roach was his “Tale of the Tape” battering of then-opposing trainer Teddy Atlas before Pacquiao’s rematch against Timothy Bradley.
Among the categories was Boxing Writers Assn. of America “Trainer of the Year” awards: Roach 7, Atlas 1; world titles won by fighters they’d trained: Roach 36, Atlas 1; Hall of Fame membership: Roach in, Atlas out; and professional fights: Roach 54, Atlas 0.
Tallying up the divide, Roach told the Los Angeles Times, “I destroy him. Sorry, Teddy.”
Roach has on occasion leaned on the musings of his publicist Fred Sternburg, who is headed to the International Boxing Hall of Fame this summer.
“I don’t know how I’ve been lucky enough to find the guy,” Sternburg told Boxing Scene Thursday. “He’s been a goldmine for me.”
For all of us … .
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