photo credits: Top Rank/Chris Farina
Showing posts with label Freddie Roach. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Freddie Roach. Show all posts
Thursday, April 23, 2015
Friday, December 7, 2012
LA Times: Juan Manuel Marquez out to rewrite legacy in fourth Pacquiao fight
In three fights against Manny Pacquiao, Marquez has lost two close
decisions and fought to a draw with the Filipino boxer. He has worked
hard and bulked up for their fourth bout Saturday in Las Vegas.
LAS VEGAS -- Manny Pacquiao will smile his way to the ring Saturday night. His opponent, Juan Manuel Marquez, will glare.
Pacquiao will try to beat his Mexican rival for the third time in four fights by again throwing caution to the wind with flurries of punches.
Marquez will again be more calculating. Convinced he's the smarter of the two in the ring, he has strengthened his body as never before at age 39, hell-bent to impose his will and finally have his hand raised in victory against Pacquiao after suffering two agonizingly close decision losses and a draw.
"This fight is more important than the last three," Marquez said of Saturday's non-title welterweight bout at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. "Because it's for my legacy. The honor. The pride.
"For everything," Marquez said.
In this rivalry, those words are as fiercely serious as the hard stare Marquez delivers.
Remember, in 2004, Marquez was knocked down by Pacquiao three times in the first round, scraped himself up each time and rallied to win nearly every other round to gain a draw.
Their 2008 battle was incredibly narrow, Pacquiao winning a split decision because of an early knockdown. And their November 2011 classic was met by a roar of boos when Pacquiao was declared the winner by majority decision.
Marquez insisted this week that his career will not be defined by the Pacquiao fights.
Who's he kidding?
Sports history is loaded with greats best remembered for losing to their foil, or falling short of clutching the brass ring.
Joe Frazier lost two of his three fights with Muhammad Ali. The Lakers' Jerry West was a tragic hero when his team lost six NBA Finals to the Boston Celtics' dynasty in the 1960s. Charles Barkley, Dan Marino and Barry Bonds are others who come to mind.
Is the die cast for Marquez? Or can he alter the story?
Marquez undoubtedly has turned over every stone to search for the way to finally defeat Pacquiao, which explains his controversial union with strength and conditioning coach Angel "Memo" Heredia.
Earlier in his career, Heredia was a steroid supplier to track stars Marion Jones, Justin Gatlin and Tim Montgomery, then became a government informant in the prosecution's case against track coach Trevor Graham.
Marquez and Heredia say that the boxer's new muscular build came about naturally in training. Heredia called Marquez "Hulk" at Wednesday's news conference.
"Anyone who wants to test me, I invite him to have spent the last four months with me, to have got up at 4 a.m. with me every day, do the eight hours of work, and then tell me whether I'm doing this naturally or not," Marquez said.
Marquez's weightlifting regimen in Mexico City and his conditioning in the mountains, at 14,000 feet above sea level, have brought him to peak shape before his fourth bout against Pacquiao, said Marquez's veteran trainer, Ignacio "Nacho" Beristain.
Marquez can't wait to unload his mighty left uppercut on Pacquiao, Heredia said.
"Pacquiao is a guy who's as difficult to knock down as a tree trunk," Heredia said. "Last fight, Juan hit him so hard he fell back a meter. We want to hit him again like that and see what happens.
"And Pacquiao hits hard, with those snappy and strong punches. There's solid strength and speed strength, and we have both now."
Beristain added, "My fighter's a lot smarter than Pacquiao, and a superior technical fighter."
The betting public anticipates another close brawl. Last year, Pacquiao was an 8-to-1 favorite at Las Vegas sports books. On Thursday, MGM Resorts listed Pacquiao at less than a 3-to-1 favorite.
Pacquiao's trainer, Freddie Roach, doesn't expect Marquez to change, not after 61 pro fights: "He's a counterpuncher through and through. I wish he'd be more aggressive like he's saying. I don't think it'll happen," Roach said.
"We'll remain the aggressor, and aggressors, as we've shown, win close rounds. I want Manny fighting all three minutes of every round. With more action, there'll be no question who the better man is."
Fueled by disappointment that has amplified with each Pacquiao fight — Marquez believes he won all three — the Mexican fighter said he converted his rage into his preparations for this fight.
"My highest motivation is wanting to have my hand raised," Marquez said. "I don't want to live with people telling me, 'We thought you won.' I want to really know I won."
Pacquiao said a major reason he wanted a fourth Marquez fight is to quiet his adversary, once and for all, to settle how each fighter will be remembered.
"He doesn't respect the decisions of the judges, so he needs to prove something Saturday," Pacquiao said. "But we expect to be more aggressive than ever, and I'm better prepared for the battle when it happens. I'm faster than him.
"It's not about the size. It's about the speed."
Right now, that's the epitaph. Marquez has one last chance to pound in new words.
LAS VEGAS -- Manny Pacquiao will smile his way to the ring Saturday night. His opponent, Juan Manuel Marquez, will glare.
Pacquiao will try to beat his Mexican rival for the third time in four fights by again throwing caution to the wind with flurries of punches.
Marquez will again be more calculating. Convinced he's the smarter of the two in the ring, he has strengthened his body as never before at age 39, hell-bent to impose his will and finally have his hand raised in victory against Pacquiao after suffering two agonizingly close decision losses and a draw.
"This fight is more important than the last three," Marquez said of Saturday's non-title welterweight bout at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. "Because it's for my legacy. The honor. The pride.
"For everything," Marquez said.
In this rivalry, those words are as fiercely serious as the hard stare Marquez delivers.
Remember, in 2004, Marquez was knocked down by Pacquiao three times in the first round, scraped himself up each time and rallied to win nearly every other round to gain a draw.
Their 2008 battle was incredibly narrow, Pacquiao winning a split decision because of an early knockdown. And their November 2011 classic was met by a roar of boos when Pacquiao was declared the winner by majority decision.
Marquez insisted this week that his career will not be defined by the Pacquiao fights.
Who's he kidding?
Sports history is loaded with greats best remembered for losing to their foil, or falling short of clutching the brass ring.
Joe Frazier lost two of his three fights with Muhammad Ali. The Lakers' Jerry West was a tragic hero when his team lost six NBA Finals to the Boston Celtics' dynasty in the 1960s. Charles Barkley, Dan Marino and Barry Bonds are others who come to mind.
Is the die cast for Marquez? Or can he alter the story?
Marquez undoubtedly has turned over every stone to search for the way to finally defeat Pacquiao, which explains his controversial union with strength and conditioning coach Angel "Memo" Heredia.
Earlier in his career, Heredia was a steroid supplier to track stars Marion Jones, Justin Gatlin and Tim Montgomery, then became a government informant in the prosecution's case against track coach Trevor Graham.
Marquez and Heredia say that the boxer's new muscular build came about naturally in training. Heredia called Marquez "Hulk" at Wednesday's news conference.
"Anyone who wants to test me, I invite him to have spent the last four months with me, to have got up at 4 a.m. with me every day, do the eight hours of work, and then tell me whether I'm doing this naturally or not," Marquez said.
Marquez's weightlifting regimen in Mexico City and his conditioning in the mountains, at 14,000 feet above sea level, have brought him to peak shape before his fourth bout against Pacquiao, said Marquez's veteran trainer, Ignacio "Nacho" Beristain.
Marquez can't wait to unload his mighty left uppercut on Pacquiao, Heredia said.
"Pacquiao is a guy who's as difficult to knock down as a tree trunk," Heredia said. "Last fight, Juan hit him so hard he fell back a meter. We want to hit him again like that and see what happens.
"And Pacquiao hits hard, with those snappy and strong punches. There's solid strength and speed strength, and we have both now."
Beristain added, "My fighter's a lot smarter than Pacquiao, and a superior technical fighter."
The betting public anticipates another close brawl. Last year, Pacquiao was an 8-to-1 favorite at Las Vegas sports books. On Thursday, MGM Resorts listed Pacquiao at less than a 3-to-1 favorite.
Pacquiao's trainer, Freddie Roach, doesn't expect Marquez to change, not after 61 pro fights: "He's a counterpuncher through and through. I wish he'd be more aggressive like he's saying. I don't think it'll happen," Roach said.
"We'll remain the aggressor, and aggressors, as we've shown, win close rounds. I want Manny fighting all three minutes of every round. With more action, there'll be no question who the better man is."
Fueled by disappointment that has amplified with each Pacquiao fight — Marquez believes he won all three — the Mexican fighter said he converted his rage into his preparations for this fight.
"My highest motivation is wanting to have my hand raised," Marquez said. "I don't want to live with people telling me, 'We thought you won.' I want to really know I won."
Pacquiao said a major reason he wanted a fourth Marquez fight is to quiet his adversary, once and for all, to settle how each fighter will be remembered.
"He doesn't respect the decisions of the judges, so he needs to prove something Saturday," Pacquiao said. "But we expect to be more aggressive than ever, and I'm better prepared for the battle when it happens. I'm faster than him.
"It's not about the size. It's about the speed."
Right now, that's the epitaph. Marquez has one last chance to pound in new words.
Sports on Earth: WE MEET AGAIN
By Chuck Culpepper
LAS VEGAS -- One afternoon in the northern Philippines in March 2011, in the Baguio hotel that contains a boxing ring -- talk about amenities! -- Manny Pacquiao didn't come downstairs to train. Nobody fretted. Nobody blustered. Trainer Freddie Roach waited on a bench by a wall with a pulse rate that did not even hint at quickening. For one thing, he knew that Pacquiao's age begins with a "3" and mandates the occasional unexpected rest. For another, those training weeks qualified as excellent all told, and Pacquiao looked dazzling, far better than needed to dispatch the feckless Shane Mosley.
For another, you just can't expect kings to focus relentlessly, Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant being exceptional.
And so a hushed afternoon brought a sportswriter's dream, a chance to bring along two ears and hear Freddie Roach. It gets no better.
Amid this anecdote nirvana, Roach enthused about his "best vacation ever," two weeks off to appear as a witness in a civil case involving Pacquiao and a former promoter. (Roach adored the whole process, the verbal sparring with lawyers.) He told of traveling the world to train the actor Mickey Rourke, and of the lunch the day after the 2009 Academy Awards of Rourke's nomination for "The Wrestler" and Sean Penn's win for "Milk." (Some of Rourke's friends teased him that he could have won if only he had played a gay wrestler.)
He told of following Pacquiao to a cathedral in either London or Paris -- it's hilarious that he couldn't remember which -- and how, while Pacquiao prayed, some Filipino fans spotted Roach off to the side, whereupon they came over to pose for photos, whereupon a priest approached Roach and told him to put away his camera, whereupon Roach replied with a profane adjective that he had not brought any camera, whereupon the priest threw Roach out of the cathedral. (Among the amusements of this motley trans-Pacific arrangement is the combo of a non-religious trainer with a boxer who has the practice gym hush for a minute before training so he can pray.)
You hear so much caution in sports-speak that boxing's bracing breeze of candor can exhilarate.
So Roach told of how Pacquiao once didn't speak to him for two days because Roach wouldn't divulge the snitch when the trainer learned Pacquiao had been out late, how nobody likes to wake Pacquiao from naps for the grumpiness, how Roach does not condone Pacquiao's daily pickup basketball but Pacquiao defiantly plays on until near-midnight of the last possible day, and how he considered the eight-division champion a man of such unusual kindness and generosity that Roach's worries include that eventually Pacquiao will give away everything.
So when you get to Pacquiao's fourth bout with Juan Manuel Marquez on Saturday night, after three previous cliffhangers from which the judges gave two wins and one draw to Pacquiao, and when you see that Pacquiao's age is about hit 34, and you know that he's in the Philippine Congress, and you wonder about his last two blasé bouts (including the questionable win over Marquez 13 months ago and the very questionable loss to Timothy Bradley in June), and you vaguely mourn at the slow ebb of one of the most remarkable sports stories ever, Roach reassures.
When Roach reassures, you do listen.
"He's on fire," he said.
"The best Manny Pacquiao I've seen in a long time," he said.
"I think you're going to see the best Manny Pacquiao yet," he said.
"His focus is a lot better," he said.
There have been "four knockdowns in this training camp," a record, he said.
If you ask Roach where we stand on the long Pacquiao story arc, you get this: "This one arc goes way up now, and I think the last couple of fights, he was just going through the motions. This one brought back the fire in Manny Pacquiao. I know he needs that to win this fight and he's given me everything that I've asked for."
Pacquiao: "My focus is to fight hard."
Promoter Bob Arum, turning a sterling 81 on Saturday: "Really tremendously focused, the whole training session."
At the press conference, there's much talk about not going 12 rounds, about neither man leaving it to the judges, whom Marquez thinks have slighted him against Pacquiao and Pacquiao thinks slighted him against Bradley.
Thereby does a match that had the potential for dreariness -- Really? A fourth time? -- amass intrigue by the bucketful.
The poverty in the Philippines can burn its way into memory in a single Saturday stroll. People lie conked-out on Manila sidewalks. Children with grimy shins sell food on boulevard dividers. To think that one of those children grew up in the extreme south on dirt floors under holy roofs … then stowed away on a boat to Manila at 15 … then trained and hung out behind kitchen doors awaiting leftover food from restaurant managers … and went to cinemas with a friend just to look at the movie posters outside while trying to picture the images moving ... and sold food just like these kids now … then showed up at 22 as an Asia flyweight champion with a promoter in Roach's Los Angeles gym one day in June 2001, speaking no English … then had Roach "catch" him to reveal a phenomenal snap on the punches that the trainer found almost bewilderingly peerless … then became Manny Pacquiao, well …
I do get all biased.
I do want that story to keep going.
LAS VEGAS -- One afternoon in the northern Philippines in March 2011, in the Baguio hotel that contains a boxing ring -- talk about amenities! -- Manny Pacquiao didn't come downstairs to train. Nobody fretted. Nobody blustered. Trainer Freddie Roach waited on a bench by a wall with a pulse rate that did not even hint at quickening. For one thing, he knew that Pacquiao's age begins with a "3" and mandates the occasional unexpected rest. For another, those training weeks qualified as excellent all told, and Pacquiao looked dazzling, far better than needed to dispatch the feckless Shane Mosley.
And so a hushed afternoon brought a sportswriter's dream, a chance to bring along two ears and hear Freddie Roach. It gets no better.
Amid this anecdote nirvana, Roach enthused about his "best vacation ever," two weeks off to appear as a witness in a civil case involving Pacquiao and a former promoter. (Roach adored the whole process, the verbal sparring with lawyers.) He told of traveling the world to train the actor Mickey Rourke, and of the lunch the day after the 2009 Academy Awards of Rourke's nomination for "The Wrestler" and Sean Penn's win for "Milk." (Some of Rourke's friends teased him that he could have won if only he had played a gay wrestler.)
He told of following Pacquiao to a cathedral in either London or Paris -- it's hilarious that he couldn't remember which -- and how, while Pacquiao prayed, some Filipino fans spotted Roach off to the side, whereupon they came over to pose for photos, whereupon a priest approached Roach and told him to put away his camera, whereupon Roach replied with a profane adjective that he had not brought any camera, whereupon the priest threw Roach out of the cathedral. (Among the amusements of this motley trans-Pacific arrangement is the combo of a non-religious trainer with a boxer who has the practice gym hush for a minute before training so he can pray.)
You hear so much caution in sports-speak that boxing's bracing breeze of candor can exhilarate.
So Roach told of how Pacquiao once didn't speak to him for two days because Roach wouldn't divulge the snitch when the trainer learned Pacquiao had been out late, how nobody likes to wake Pacquiao from naps for the grumpiness, how Roach does not condone Pacquiao's daily pickup basketball but Pacquiao defiantly plays on until near-midnight of the last possible day, and how he considered the eight-division champion a man of such unusual kindness and generosity that Roach's worries include that eventually Pacquiao will give away everything.
So when you get to Pacquiao's fourth bout with Juan Manuel Marquez on Saturday night, after three previous cliffhangers from which the judges gave two wins and one draw to Pacquiao, and when you see that Pacquiao's age is about hit 34, and you know that he's in the Philippine Congress, and you wonder about his last two blasé bouts (including the questionable win over Marquez 13 months ago and the very questionable loss to Timothy Bradley in June), and you vaguely mourn at the slow ebb of one of the most remarkable sports stories ever, Roach reassures.
When Roach reassures, you do listen.
"He's on fire," he said.
"The best Manny Pacquiao I've seen in a long time," he said.
"I think you're going to see the best Manny Pacquiao yet," he said.
"His focus is a lot better," he said.
There have been "four knockdowns in this training camp," a record, he said.
If you ask Roach where we stand on the long Pacquiao story arc, you get this: "This one arc goes way up now, and I think the last couple of fights, he was just going through the motions. This one brought back the fire in Manny Pacquiao. I know he needs that to win this fight and he's given me everything that I've asked for."
Pacquiao: "My focus is to fight hard."
Promoter Bob Arum, turning a sterling 81 on Saturday: "Really tremendously focused, the whole training session."
At the press conference, there's much talk about not going 12 rounds, about neither man leaving it to the judges, whom Marquez thinks have slighted him against Pacquiao and Pacquiao thinks slighted him against Bradley.
Thereby does a match that had the potential for dreariness -- Really? A fourth time? -- amass intrigue by the bucketful.
The poverty in the Philippines can burn its way into memory in a single Saturday stroll. People lie conked-out on Manila sidewalks. Children with grimy shins sell food on boulevard dividers. To think that one of those children grew up in the extreme south on dirt floors under holy roofs … then stowed away on a boat to Manila at 15 … then trained and hung out behind kitchen doors awaiting leftover food from restaurant managers … and went to cinemas with a friend just to look at the movie posters outside while trying to picture the images moving ... and sold food just like these kids now … then showed up at 22 as an Asia flyweight champion with a promoter in Roach's Los Angeles gym one day in June 2001, speaking no English … then had Roach "catch" him to reveal a phenomenal snap on the punches that the trainer found almost bewilderingly peerless … then became Manny Pacquiao, well …
I do get all biased.
I do want that story to keep going.
Wednesday, December 5, 2012
Yahoo Sports: Manny Pacquiao's rise to stardom made possible by longtime trainer, confidant Freddie Roach
By Kevin Iole
LAS VEGAS – Manny Pacquiao was hardly a helpless waif in 2005, but neither was he the superstar boxer, influential politician and global icon that he would become.
It'd take a special relationship with a special trainer for Pacquiao to ascend to the level he's at today.
He fights Juan Manuel Marquez on Saturday in a pay-per-view bout at the MGM Grand Garden that, once again, is expected to sell in excess of a million units and should ultimately earn him more than $25 million.
Pacquiao's status now is unquestioned, but in 2005, he was just an above average boxer coming off a loss to Erik Morales. And losing was the least of his worries.
He owed millions to the Internal Revenue Service – the result, he said, of an illegal scheme between his managers at the time and his promoter. The fact is, he was earning far less than he was worth under an oppressive promotional agreement that made it unlikely he ever would become a major attraction.
At the urging of his managers, Shelly Finkel, Nick Khan and Keith Davidson, Pacquiao filed a lawsuit against his promoter, Murad Muhammad, and Muhammad's company, M&M Sports, alleging significant violations in the Muhammad Ali Act.
His career literally hinged on the outcome of the case. If he got free of Muhammad, he would be able to sign with a promoter who could help him generate the kind of money he'd need, not only to pay his massive tax debt but also to set his family up financially for life.
Pacquiao's trial attorney, Judd Burstein, told him he had a very strong case but that there are no sure things.
"Going through a trial is a very intense experience," Burstein said. "It's warfare. It really is."
Pacquiao had to be prepared to go to war in a country that was not his own and in a language in which he was not fluent. He had been betrayed by people he had trusted and didn't know whom he could believe or count upon.
One of the perks for a main event fighter in a Las Vegas match is a large suite. Pacquiao, though, didn't benefit from that. Muhammad took the massive multi-room suite for himself without telling Pacquiao it was his. He put Pacquiao into a small hotel room that was quickly overrun with dozens of friends, family and acquaintances who stayed with him.
Pacquiao's future in the spring of 2005 depended largely on his trainer, Freddie Roach. It was Roach who recognized Pacquiao's brilliance on a January day in 2001 that Pacquiao, on a lark, walked into Roach's Wild Card Gym while on vacation in Hollywood, Calif., in search of a workout.
Roach's wizardry helped turn Pacquiao from a physically talented but flawed boxer into a ferocious fighting machine, though he was far from a finished product after the loss to Morales.
Pacquiao and Roach were friendly at the time, but truth be told, Pacquiao wasn't sure who his friends were.
"Manny had been burned so badly by so many people," said Khan, who served briefly as Pacquiao's co-manager and is now Roach's agent. "He didn't understand the business and he didn't speak much English. He'd developed a relationship with Freddie and he started to feel like Freddie was the one guy he could trust."
Burstein said as he was preparing for trial, he "had a sense that Manny felt naked in America. I didn't know them before that point, but I got the sense at that point that here at least, Freddie was the center of Manny's universe."
Roach saw what he felt were abuses happening. He knew that television networks were paying Muhammad large sums of money to secure Pacquiao's services, but that Muhammad was paying Pacquiao only a small amount of it. The Ali Act requires promoters to disclose all revenue streams to the fighter, but Pacquiao wasn't getting it.
Roach brought it to the attention of Khan.
"At the time, I was concerned for Manny personally, not as a fighter, and so I decided to tell Nick Khan, even though some people thought I overstepped my bounds by doing that," Roach said. "My job was to train him to fight and not be involved in his business. But I just couldn't stand by and not say anything when I knew something bad was happening."
After Pacquiao's one-sided upset victory over Marco Antonio Barrera on Nov. 15, 2003, he asked Roach for advice. He had been in the U.S. for just shy of three years, but was beginning to get the sense that things weren't right in his dealings with Muhammad and business manager Rod Nazario so he decided to take them to court.
Much of Pacquiao's success at trial would depend upon Roach. He was the boxing expert who would have to convince the jury that Muhammad's treatment of Pacquiao was not typical.
Roach hit a home run with his testimony. The jury fell in love with him and the only question after Roach got off the stand seemed to be how much Pacquiao would win.
Marianna Morano-Amato was Juror No. 4. She has since become friends with Roach and Pacquiao and has flown to several of Pacquiao's fights as the fighter's guest. At the time, she knew nothing of boxing, but was taken by Roach and the special relationship she sensed between Roach and Pacquiao.
"Manny was sitting there at the table and he was just this very humble, very quiet, very sweet guy," she said. "Watching the trial unfold, this guy Murad Muhammad was really a creep. As the days went on and the trial progressed, there was no doubt in anybody's mind, especially mine, that Manny was being taken advantage of.
"As Freddie Roach got on the stand and I began to learn about him, the first thing that was obvious was the tremendous loyalty he felt toward Manny. It was so clear how much he cared about Manny and he wanted to guide him. It was obvious that he wanted what was best for Manny, whereas Murad Muhammad was this creep and a liar who took advantage of him."
Muhammad settled the case with Pacquiao as the jury was deliberating and has not been involved in boxing since. He was unable to be reached for comment.
In a strange way, though, Muhammad's actions helped Pacquiao in that they tightened the bond between Pacquiao and Roach. That led to Pacquiao signing with Top Rank and embarking on a career that would earn him well more than $100 million.
Roach was the unquestioned boss in those early years. He guided Pacquiao to a 7-1-2 record in the 10 fights from the time they began working together until the Morales fight just before the trial.
It was obvious Pacquiao was going to be a star if he was promoted the right way, which is why Golden Boy and Top Rank got into a heated battle for his services that led to them suing each other.
Not so obvious, though, was how good Pacquiao would actually become. Pacquiao and Roach worked together feverishly to improve, with no detail too minute to fix. By early 2008, Roach was convinced Pacquiao was as good as any fighter in the world.
"He worked so hard and he wanted so badly to be good," Roach said. "He was a great, great student. As a coach, you dream of getting guys with his talent who are willing to do whatever it takes to win."
Prior to Roach, Pacquiao was extraordinarily fast and had a deadly left hand, but he had poor balance, no right hand and was vulnerable to good boxers.
As Roach remade him, those flaws went away. All the time they spent together working on his boxing game and fighting for Pacquiao's promotional freedom brought them extraordinarily close.
At one time, the relationship was more like a father and son. Now, Pacquiao says it's evolved to more like they're brothers.
"Freddie had absolute power in those early days together with Manny," Top Rank chairman Bob Arum said. "As the years wore on, it became more of a two-way street. Manny matured as a person and became more worldly and he wasn't afraid to share his own ideas."
During the trial, the tension was overwhelming. Looking for something to do to relax, Pacquiao, Roach and Khan came up with a scheme. They decided to see who could have the smallest hotel bill.
To win, that meant no charging food or drinks to the room and no raiding of the in-room refrigerator.
"I said, 'Well, that's easy, I'll win hands down, because I don't drink,' " Roach said. "And I didn't charge anything, so I knew I had won."
But when he checked out, his bill was far higher than he expected. Not only did Roach not have the smallest bill, he had the largest.
It turns out, Pacquiao had charged things to Roach's room: Dinners, drinks, services.
"They all thought it was so funny that they got me," Roach said.
Their relationship will go down as one of the best trainer-fighter combinations in the sport's history. Arum compared it to the bond between Angelo Dundee and Muhammad Ali, as well as between the Petronelli brothers and Marvelous Marvin Hagler.
Morano-Amato said she's seen the humility of both men up close and thinks that ultimately, it's the reason why they are so close and have been so successful.
"After his last Morales fight, it was a very rough fight you might remember, and Manny asked for me to come to his suite," she said. "He wanted to thank my husband [Gerald] and I for coming to the fight and being supportive. What boxer does that? My first impression of him was of a sweet, humble guy, but the funny thing is, that's the guy he is in real life.
"And that's exactly how Freddie is, too. Neither of them wants anything from the other, but they care for each other so much. I'm not surprised they do well together because it's like they're on the same track all the time."
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