Never A Joke Coach Roach has won so many Trainer Of The Whatever awards now that it is not even funny.
Yet I am compelled to name him my Trainer of the Decade. If Manny Pacquiao is the Fighter of the Decade and he is surely that, then it follows as night follows day that Roach is the decade’s most outstanding trainer.
Sure, Roach has done some excellent work with other fighters but, let’s face it, Manny Pacquiao is his masterpiece, his ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.
I like to say that when I saw Manny up close and personal against Jorge Solis in San Antonio he hopped around like a crack-addled kangaroo. Now his footwork is second only to his blazing hands.
A few weeks before he demolished Miguel Cotto, I mentioned Pacman’s neat footwork to him at Roach’s Wild Card Gym.
“Did I see a bit of the Ali Shuffle?” I said. “Or is it the Pacquiao Shuffle?”
Pacman just bearmed that kid who found the shiny, red bicycle he dreamed of under the Christmas tree smile, the one that could light up all of Metro Manila.
But let me get back to Professor Roach.
I don’t think this Ring Rembrandt is done and we may see a new flourish or two when Megamanny fights his toughest foe, Floyd Mayweather, at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas on March 13.
This Pacman training camp will be the most fascinating ever as beating Mayweather, truth be told, may prove more difficult than beating de la Hoya, Hatton and Cotto combined.
You may not concede it but Mayweather is that good.
AP Photo
My Trainer of the Year did something great not only for his fighter but also for the integrity of the entire sport.
His name is Brother Nazim Richardson and, while I can’t say I know him well, let’s not forget how tall he stood in exposing the cheating hearts (and hands) of Antonio Margarito and trainer Javier Capetillo.
Bob Arum defends Margarito, says the Tijuana Tornado, never knew his handwraps were being illegally loaded up before his loss to Mosley in Los Angeles in January.
Golden Boy/Hogan Photos
Sure, Bob, we believe you. And Steve Wynn doesn’t know there is gambling going in those casinos he owns either.
If I was you, Bob, I’d stop kicking Panama Lewis in the backside while you defend Margarito and put all the blame on Capetillo.
And let’s not forget that the brainiacs at the California commission, all those self important dressing room inspectors and their supervisors, were none the wiser until Richardson blew the whistle on Team Margarito.
Ronnie Shields (HoustonBoxingScene.Com)
The same crime, and it was that although not completed, could have happened in Nevada but I doubt it. Nevada has inspectors who actually do their jobs.
Things just get worse in Cali and the genius running the show in the Golden State was recently quoted as saying no boxing expertise was required there. He said the person running the athletic commission needed only to know how to run a state agency.
Oh yeah, a bureaucrat, that will keep boxing and MMA cheaters honest.
Boxing guys like to say there are really no topflight trainers left. With the continued presence of Roach, Richardson, Ronnie Shields and a few others, that is hardly true.
We don’t have many really good trainers but these guys are the cream of the crop.
Shields, like any trainer, has had big winners and big losers.
Sometimes, you can see a trainer’s talent more visibly when his guy is losing. That’s the case with Juan Diaz, supposed superstar whose limitations have been painfully exposed in recent bouts.
Shields has carried Diaz a long, long way despite the fighter’s inherent weaknesses.
You can have Tinkers to Evers to Chance.
My top three trainers for 2009 are Roach to Richardson to Shields.
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