Freddie Roach: I Want Mayweather

Interview with Freddie Roach from On The Rope Radio (extract).

Roach talks about Rios, Cotto and Mayweather v Canelo.


Will Floyd and Manny ever get it on?


JENNA: Alright well you mentioned Pacquiao and the fight he has coming up. Freddie, do you have any fear as his trainer that he’s gonna have such a long period of inactivity before the Rios fight that could effect him going into the ring?

ROACH: I think the long period of inactivity is my fault, I chose that because after getting knocked out like that, we’ve seen all the damage that concussions does to athletes in football, hockey, any sport, boxing’s the same, and really let the fighter rest, I think it’s the best thing in the world for him to rest. He wanted to fight in April and I said “No, it’s too soon, lets wait a little more then we’ll go into training camp.”

JENNA: I know it's early, but has Pacquiao started training for his next fight?

ROACH: He’s running already, getting in shape, getting ready for me. I think rest is the best thing he can do. It’s like Bradley who is in a similar boat with Manny, he fought my guy Ruslan and I think he’s coming back too soon. I know boxing, I know the sport very well and I know how to take care of my fighters and I think this is the best way.

JENNA J: Freddie, there were other opponents being talked about before Brandon Rios was picked, as Juan Manuel Marquez and Timothy Bradley were both approached for the fight. Were you disappointed that you didn’t get either of those options for Pacquiao’s next bout?

FREDDIE ROACH: Well I’m real disappointed because the only fighter we wanted to fight was Marquez, we wanted the rematch. Manny was looking forward to it, I was looking forward to it, and then he went in a different direction. Hopefully he will fight us back someday, but you know, he chose not to fight us so we had to go with the second choice. We’re in a tough fight with a tough young guy coming up, it should be exciting though.

JENNA: Yeah, now you mentioned Brandon Rios should be exciting, he’s known for his wars in the ring. Are you at all worried that Pacquiao might get drawn in to that type of fight?

ROACH: That’s fine with me, I know I have the better puncher and I know what type of fight we’re gonna fight in that fight. We’re gonna have a great game plan, we’ll fight to our advantage, believe me, I guarantee that 100%.


JENNA: You mentioned before that you thought the rest would be good for Pacquiao, to have him out of the ring longer. Do you think he’ll have any ill effects at all from that knock out to Marquez?

ROACH: Well you know, everyone reacts differently. Manny’s a pretty bright guy, he knows there’s a winner and a loser, he knows we made a mistake in the fight and you know before I took Manny Pacquiao over, he was knocked out twice before and he didn’t have any effects from those knock outs. I think he’s a realist, he understands the sport, he got caught and he knows that’s possible in this game. But the thing is, Bob Arum and I gave him a long rest, Bob took him to a neurologist to make sure everything’s ok, we got 100% ok stamp and he’ll be fine.

JENNA: Alright Freddie I want to turn things now to a fight that’s going be taking place onSeptember 14th, Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Canelo Alvarez, they’ll be meeting at a catch weight of 152 lbs. I’m curious what are your thoughts on this fight and do you think it is as big as people think it’s going to be?

ROACH: Well don’t call it a fight cause it won’t be a fight , it’ll be a boxing match, ok. It’s definitely not a fight, it will be a very good boxing match and I feel Floyd is too slick for Canelo and I think he’ll win a decision. But the thing is, when Floyd boxes well, like he did in his last fight, it’s a little bit boring at times. It’s good for the eye of a big boxing fan and so forth, he’s very skillful but it’s a little bit boring. Don’t expect a big fight, I think people are expecting a war but Mayweather does not fight like that, he will box all night long.

JENNA: Alright now Freddie, what other fighters are you working with currently that you want to let the fans know about?

ROACH: Well I'm talking with Miguel Cotto right now, and we’re working things out and I'm excited about working with him. George St-Pierre has been coming up, he's getting ready for his next fight, I went up to Montreal for 10 days to work with him and then he came back here, so he's getting ready for his fight, and I got Ruslan Provodnikov who's getting radio for a fight, our opponent has not signed the contract yet so we don't have one currently, but we do have a date in October 19th, and Ray Beltran, he's one of my fighters and he's getting ready to fight for a world title over in Scotland, so we’re quite busy, we got a lot of things happening.

JENNA: Ok well Freddie, I have one final question for you. With all the fighters that you are working with, if you could have one fight for any of your fighters in the future, what would that fight be?

ROACH: Well I still want the biggest fight in the world, I want Mayweather to step up and fight Manny Pacquiao, he said Pacquiao is washed up, get in the ring and we will see!

Hahahaha! He wants Mayweather to "step up" and fight pacquiao.

It would be a step down. Coming to fight a fighter who has lost two on the bounce, one via a crushing knockout.

Freddie.........Frak off.

Then Floyd shouldn't be afraid to take the fight this time.

There's a big gulf just now if fighting rios for the first time at WW and winning after coming of 2 loses deserves a shot at mayweather then I would have to say mayweather is cherry picking pacman for a big payday

I think by step up, he means step up to the plate... Not about 'up' or 'down'. Floyd generally likes his opponents on the slide, so why not manny now.

Given that most of the world thought he beat bradley, and he looked alright against the 'rejuvenated' jmm, until getting starched, in all likelihood manny would offer more of a threat than most out there.

About 4 years too late, if it happened, but hey.

Floyd likes his opponents on the slide Milky? Not sure id agree mate.

Saul Alvarez (undefeated), Robert Guerrero (beat everyone to get there) , Ricky Hatton (Unfefeated) Juan Marquez (again had a great run of wins), Mosley (after he demolished Margarito)......

Pacquiao on the other hand.....

De La Hoya, Mosley (after Mayweather), Margarito (after Mosley destroyed his face and he had been out for 18 months), Hatton (after mayweather), Rios (face forward fighter battered by alvarado)........

mobilemaster8 wrote:Floyd likes his opponents on the slide Milky? Not sure id agree mate.

Saul Alvarez (undefeated), Robert Guerrero (beat everyone to get there) , Ricky Hatton (Unfefeated) Juan Marquez (again had a great run of wins), Mosley (after he demolished Margarito)......

Pacquiao on the other hand.....

De La Hoya, Mosley (after Mayweather), Margarito (after Mosley destroyed his face and he had been out for 18 months), Hatton (after mayweather), Rios (face forward fighter battered by alvarado)........

Alvarez will be Floyds best opponent in 5 years. Every other fight you mentioned Mayweather was short odds favourite when he could have been facing Pacquiao.

Floyd doesn't risk his '0'. My guess is Showtime would not let him get away with taking easy win after easy given they paid him so much money up front. The public wouldn't pay for another non-contest Floyd fight against an over matched opponent like Guerrero. That's why we have a decent opponent in Canelo this time.

Floyds wins a WW are better than pacquiaos! Yet floyd is cherry picking

Diamond in the rough wrote:Floyds wins a WW are better than pacquiaos! Yet floyd is cherry picking

Manny's career wins are better than Floyd's. I think it's you who are cherry picking.



Being serious though I reckon their WW records are not too dissimilar. They certainly were the best two welterweights for quite a while.

Well manny has clottey, dela, Mosley, cotto (catch weight) and Marquez 3 aint to great but simalar to mayweathers altho his is slightly better!Although his wins over Barrera 1 his best,and cotto I thought was a great win catch weight or not and if he just got beat by marg and sd against clottey i thought was still a great win,As for mayweather corrales his best, undefeated huge puncher p4p top 10 is probs the 2nd best win between them IMO but you have to take mannys lose to morales and Marquez it about evens out IMO

Just because Floyd was favourite does not make it an easy fight it just shows how highly people and experts regard his boxing ability and talent. Guerrero fought his way to the top through tough and good fighters and if in not mistaken quite a few people gave him a shot in that fight. Ortiz, Mosley, Alvarez, Cotto, De La Hoya (at 154) and Hatton are not easy fights for anyone. Especially when Floyd fought them as opposed to Manny.

Floyd doesn't need to step up his already at the summit, if anything Pacquiao is the man who would be stepping up to face the PFP No 1.

A few misguided fools gave Guerrero a chance mm8! Think that was based on floyd looking more vulnerable than expected against cotto. Not me, I thought he'd done nothing to get a shot bar berto and that he'd lose every minute of every round.

I was fishing a bit with my opponents on the slide comment... But floyd likes an advantage. Certainly the big names at higher weights have been past their best, Mosley, Oscar, cotto. Hatton was unbeaten but floyd was smart enough to know that was a gimme too. As was marquez who just doesnt have a threat to floyds style.

Personally, given their sizes, who they fought and when, I think PAC had taken more risks in his career. It's to floyd's credit that he's taking a paper risk with Alvarez, but I think he's just shrewd enough to know what represents a risk to him and what doesn't.

Mayweather is a fantastic fighter, and I picked him to beat PAC when it should have happened, infact I've never picked against him. I do think he's been careful, but that doesn't mean he hasn't fought very good fighters and dealt with them all pretty comfortably.

Hindsight plays a huge part when talking about Mayweathers wins. Because he beats most of them with relative ease they become over-matched after the fight, Guerrero was a good opponent, certainly better than Rios and Clottey in my opinion. 

This fight is too far gone now in my opinion, Manny would eat the lead right hand all night long.

Still more of a threat than anyone else below 154.

Guerrero was an easy night for Floyd. It was his second fight at 147, and in his first, he had Berto on the ropes for 12 rounds and only landed 35%. Against Berto!! There was no way he was going to beat a moving Floyd.

Also, while his record read 31-1-1, his one NC came as a result of his opponent testing Positive for a PED after a defeat (fair enough, but he still lost) and the other came from a suspiciously intentional-looking headbutt in a fight he was losing.

Duran should have been an easy night for Hagler....Floyd makes it look easy..

Never forget that...

Bit of a d4 article this one...from the 606 equivalent...

He wrote on another thread that Oscar was the only great Floyd faced.....Like Marquez isn't going to be an alltimer and Cotto...........

Coming soon an article by Strongy.....On why Haye is a coward....by Peter Fury..

After the next Boxnation is brilliant thread...becuase Frampton is on there...

Very predictable..

mobilemaster8 wrote:Floyd likes his opponents on the slide Milky? Not sure id agree mate.

Saul Alvarez (undefeated), Robert Guerrero (beat everyone to get there) , Ricky Hatton (Unfefeated)  Juan Marquez (again had a great run of wins), Mosley (after he demolished Margarito)......

Saul - why the 152 catchweight when Floyd fought at 154 in his last fight but one (Cotto) and already several years ago (ODLH).
Guerrero - respectable opponent but hardly 'beat everyone', only fought 1 name at 140/147.
Hatton - fought him at a weight he'd never been comfortable at and had always struggled.
JMM - blew a a LW and then ignored the weight stips, nil points!
Mosley - good fight, but let's not pretend that was 'peak' Mosley.

Doesn't need to fight Alvarez at all.........

Hatton was a great win..., half the board picked Hatton...........No one says Mosley was at his peak (who cares)...Guerrero was a three weight champ....Marquez was OUTBOXED...Weight counted for zilcho..WATCH THE FIGHT....

Don't like the conditions..don't sign up....Alvarez hasn't got a problem...You shouldn't have either..

Mayweather makes it look easy and people don't like it..

Best fighter I've seen in my lifetime..

Exactly.

You can spin things any which way you want, depending what argument you want to make....

Anybody would think weight stipulations haven't been used for a 100 years....

Leonard-Lalonde.........Norris - Taylor..........

TopHat24/7 wrote:Exactly.

You can spin things any which way you want, depending what argument you want to make....

I'm not spinning..I'm pointing out this is a once in a lifetime fighter who's been a champion for 15 years and your constant maligning of him is cheap and very silly..

Anyone would think someone should have told Floyd and his fanboys (incl you) that when they were slating Manny for employing them for some of his fights.....

TRUSSMAN66 wrote:

TopHat24/7 wrote:Exactly.

You can spin things any which way you want, depending what argument you want to make....

I'm not spinning..I'm pointing out this is a once in a lifetime fighter who's been a champion for 15 years and your constant maligning of him is cheap and very silly..

It is spin.

You can either bill Guerrero as an almost unbeaten fighter who was considered a hot talent in the division having been a multi-weight world champ or you can bill him as someone who never did anything to suggest he had a chance and had fought nobody of note at anything close to the weight he was being required to fight Floyd at.

Hatton - unbeaten p4per or guy who was next to useless at 147 and had no place fighting the world's best there.

Spin spin spin........

Who was it that said he'd only rate Mayweather when he fought Alvarez......? You ?

Now like an opposition politician you're staining the fight....

If Alvarez doesn't win it won't be because he's draining....It will be because he can't lay a glove on the guy..

Who do you rate higher than Floyd over the last twenty years ??

As for the weight stipulations it's not new and I don't like it.......However he's top 10 alltime for me without Saul and I'm loving watching a true master of his craft performing while I still can...

An American ringmaster..which is your real problem

Taking your questions in turn, maybe spelling it out simply will help you avoid this constant simpleton confusin:

1. Not me. I said he was already top 15, and that Alvarez @ 154 would nail him top 10, probably 8. @ 152 the win is tainted slightly but would still get me to 10.

2. Nobody, and have never said otherwise. Though Manny's CV was running him close at one point and has the biggest/best wins, but cannot match for talent.

His nationality is your problem and yours alone.

So why trash him all the time ??....

As for the last point well your constant maligning of all things American on the current affairs thread...

okay..

Didn't constantly malign, just objectively criticised where I thought there was a case to do so.

Also, I don't trash him all the time, some balance is required to your salad-tossing that's all.

I'm bored ..........Stick around Az will be on here soon no doubt...He's more to your taste..

One thing for certain, if Floyd does get in this mythical top 10, he will probably have the worst record of anyone in there. Some of it not his fault, but he is missing the big wins that all the others have.

No massive stand out big wins, but consistently pretty high level fights. Not much 'filler' on his ledger, IMO.

"No defining fight"......where have i heard that before.

TRUSSMAN66 wrote:Who was it that said he'd only rate Mayweather when he fought Alvarez......?  You ?

Now like an opposition politician you're staining the fight....

If Alvarez doesn't win it won't be because he's draining....It will be because he can't lay a glove on the guy..

Who do you rate higher than Floyd over the last twenty years ??

As for the weight stipulations it's not new and I don't like it.......However he's top 10 alltime for me without Saul and I'm loving watching a true master of his craft performing while I still can...

An American ringmaster..which is your real problem

I have Roy jones ahead of Flyod in terms of pure talent- faster, stronger, equally elusive when at his best , and much more entertaining with it.
In ATG terms there's a case to be made that RJJ and Pernell Whitaker are both up with him too.

 

Both talent wise come close........Whittaker lost too many big fights..

Lacked the desire to mix it............Why he didn't catch on..

Mayweather is above both however and will surely be top 10..

Chris will be here soon.

JabMachineMK2 wrote:Chris will be here soon.

Chris is in the minority on this one..

You rang, Jabby and Truss?

Anyway, the back and forth between me and Truss over Floyd and Pernell was really much ado about nothing, as I said that they're pretty much interchangeable to me and that I had no issue with anyone placing Floyd marginally ahead, just that I've tended to (ever so slightly) favour Whitaker as his taking on and beating (in nigh-on everyone's eyes) Chavez, in a fight which was the Mayweather-Pacquiao of the nineties, adds extra brownie points to his CV, and also because he was a genuine 'take on all comers' champion in two of the original weight classes, with no retirements thrown in.

On the other hand, I happily acknowledged that Floyd outstrips Pernell in longevity (Pea let himself down a little in terms of letting his, shall we say, extra curricular activities curtail his career), that Mayweather is just as special a talent as Whitaker albeit in different ways, and that who beat the better opposition is open to debate and that you can make a case for either man. To me, I'd say that Whitaker's very, very best wins / performances read slightly better than Mayweathers, but that underneath that, Mayweather has more 'good' wins and performances than Pea.

I don't have any real objections to anyone having Mayweather higher, and I'll have even less if / when he beats Alvarez. To be honest, I'll probably edge him in front myself if that turns out to be the case, which I think it will.

Anyway, as has been touched on already, Floyd, Pea and Roy are the standouts of the past three decades for me.

Yes let's not go there..

Your weekend was everything you billed it to be then truss? Back in truculent mood.

The 'negative' comments on here are objective criticisms of a truly great fighter. In the same way that there are objective criticisms that can be made of Robinson and Ali. How else do you try to differentiate between the true greats?

Personally, I'd like to see floyd fight guys that might have answered a few unanswered questions...

Guys like Guerrero  can be very good fighters but offer no threat at all to someone like mayweather. Hardly floyd's fault. It's just i'm only interested in guys who have a weapon or present a unique problem to floyd. Guerrero's one fight at welter and educated pressure style never gave him a prayer against floyd, neither did marquez.

Manny brings speed  and punch output and a decent dig, Williams would have brought height/reach output, even khan brings speed and combinations that might give a problem to solve, matthysse brings ko power, if floyd got careless. These are/were fights where a challenge or threat of some description would be faced.

Guerrero and jmm might be better fighters than some of those I've mentioned but they offer nothing that isn't meat and drink to floyd. It's plain old styles making fights.

I think he would/would have beaten all the guys i mentioned. Also it's not his job to build a resume to satisfy the questions some guys in Internet forums might have. He takes the fights that are best for his professional career... not the ones that mike life easier for people like us to debate his legacy. In reality the only 'stain' is his share of blame for the pac fight not happening.

Also it's not his job to build a resume to satisfy the questions some guys in Internet forums might have.

Well perhaps he wants to have word with himself. It's our God-Given right to be hyper critical/defensive/obsessive about people we don't/barely know in order to somehow make it through another turgid day at work.

The sooner Floyd (and others like him) realise this, the better place this world will be

True Dave, they're all just a bunch of selfish fockers... Don't give our hardships a seconds thought