Freddie Roach
Freddie Roach
Frederick Steven "Freddie" Roachis an American boxing trainer and former boxer. He is the enduring boxing coach of the eight-division world champion Manny Pacquiao, five-time and four-division World Champion Miguel Cotto, former WBC Middleweight Champion Julio César Chávez, Jr., former UFC Welterweight Champion Georges St-Pierre, as well as top prospects Jose Benavidez, Peter Quillin, and Vanes Martirosyan. Roach was the trainer of former two-time world champion and notable women's champion Lucia Rijker. He has also trained former junior welterweight champion...
ProfessionBoxer
Date of Birth5 March 1960
CityDedham, MA
We had too many distractions going into the Morales fight. Now a lot of the bad people are away from the scene and we have a good team, now.
Gabi is in great shape for the fight. He trained really hard. We had great sparring and we got some big punchers because we know Vic is a very big puncher and a very good champion, and a big favorite going into the fight.
One of (Juan's) friends told me that he thought he made a mistake and wanted to come back. I told him all he had to do was pick up the phone and ask me, and that's all it took. I don't hold grudges at all. It's a good working relationship, which is what you need to have success.
It's good because it gets him back in the gym, back into the mode of training for a big fight. ... Get him out of the pool hall a little bit.
We know Morales can take a punch, because Manny is a puncher and Morales took a lot of Manny's good stuff.
Z has the potential to be a world champion. He's a very good prospect. He's a solid boxer, but he's not a huge puncher. He's probably a better boxer than Manny and he has good fundamentals, but Manny just has such power and speed. But Z is quick and technically very sound.
The one fight (in between) is good for us. Right after this fight, we'll take a week off and then go into Morales mode.
He (Williams) does have pretty good power, ... I expect Williams to be at his best because this is the biggest fight in the world for him.
We chose this opponent because he has a style similar to Morales', ... I think this fight will definitely help prepare him for the next fight.
Erik has a propensity to hold his hands way up. That leaves his body wide open. We saw that, and we broke him down.
The tide turned in the sixth round. I could see Morales was fading from the body punches. Manny's right hook was beautiful. We still have to work on Manny's defense a bit.
We're working on boxing and we're going to be smart about it. A basic 1-2 is not going to work. Manny knows that now.
(Marco Antonio) Barrera had beaten Morales, and Manny had beaten Barrera, and I just think Manny took him lightly, believing he was on the downside. But we miscalculated. We won't do that this time. Morales will still have the reach and height advantage, but Manny will have speed going for him. And he knows he has to win this fight.
You can celebrate birthday every year and fights like this (with Morales) comes once in a lifetime,