Roach doesn’t want Pacquiao to share his fate

Four-time Trainer of the Year Freddie Roach made it clear that he does not want Manny Pacquiao to end up just like him after retirement. That is why he wants the 7-division boxing champion to leave the sport while he is still on top of his game.

Roach, a former boxer himself, said he has taken on the responsibility to make sure that Pacquiao leaves boxing in good shape.

“I'm the one who has to make sure he gets out of it okay,” the American trainer told Michael Leahy of The Washington Post.

“With everything else Manny has earned, that should be enough for him… I want him healthy, wealthy and happy. I don't ever want him having to take all the medication I have to take. I might retire, too. I've been doing this a long time” added Roach, who suffers from Parkinson’s disease.

Roach, 50, spoke from experience. He was penniless when he retired as a professional fighter with 39 wins (with 15 knockouts), 13 losses and 1 no contest.

He bused tables at a hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada. He drank daily for 6 months, causing him to bloat to 177 lbs. from 130 lbs. and get into street fights every so often.

His trainer, Eddie Futch, wanted to get Roach back on track, saying that another retired boxer was shot dead.

“He said: ‘Freddie, you're on that path right now. I don't want that to happen to you,’” he recounted.

Roach became Futch’s assistant trainer before he came into his own and turned out to be the world-famous trainer he is today.

Father-son relationship

Roach is best known as the trainer of World Boxing Organization (WBO) welterweight champion Pacquiao, the today's best pound-for-pound fighter.

He also trains World Boxing Association (WBA) junior welterweight champion Amir Khan of Britain and Filipino veteran Gerry Peñalosa.

He stressed that he and Pacquiao are not friends because they do not even hang out.

“I'm not his friend in that usual way of being a friend… I'm his trainer. I am like his Dad. I have to be the one person who cares more about protecting him than complimenting him or being liked by him,” he said.

“And so I'm probably going to have to be the person someday who tells him it is time to retire… He's worked too hard in his career not to leave healthy. He brought himself up from almost nothing. I know what that's like,” said the former No. 8 super bantamweight in the world.

He added that he wants Pacquiao to retire by early next year. After the Clottey bout, he said his ward will most likely take on Floyd Mayweather, Jr., whom he was supposed to fight on Saturday (Sunday in Manila).

Pacquiao, for his part, said: “We studied and worked very hard… Freddie is like a father, like a brother -- I trust to do what he says.”

Pacquiao will defend his WBO welterweight belt against Ghanaian Joshua Clottey on Saturday at the Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

Source: Author Unknown  | abs-cbnnew.com