A brief chat with Freddie Roach

A brief chat with Freddie Roach

Quinito Henson tapped me on the shoulder inside the press room and he whispered in my ear, “Freddie Roach is coming to watch the game.” I asked the Dean’s help in securing an interview with him – even if only briefly because I know he went to the Big Dome to watch a fight and not do anything else. And Quinito said, he’d have someone bring him over at the half. This was our quick quick chat after he posed for a gazillion photos. Hopefully, we can have a longer interview after this.

Rick: Hey, coach. How’s it going?

Freddie: It’s all good. Could be better but it’s all good.

Rick: Thanks for coming over to catch the game (Game 6 between B-Meg and Talk ‘N Text for the Commissioner’s Cup title).

Freddie: I love basketball and I wanted to see this game. People said both teams are evenly matched. But we got stuck in traffic. Horrible horrible traffic. And I thought LA was bad. But we listened to the game on the radio. Someone was translating for me. It sounded vey exciting and you could here the crowd. I can’t wait go see it for myself.

Rick: It’s been 11 years training with Manny does it get any easier to do that?

Freddie: There are days when it’s easy and there are days when it’s hard. There are a lot of demands that Manny faces because of who he is. A lot of guys want to knock his head off and it means we really have to prepare, train for a lot of things such as complacency. It’s tough but that’s the job. I love it. And Manny makes me look good.

Rick: How is Marvin Somodio doing (working with Manny Pacquiao with Alex Ariza unavailable for the Philippine training camp)?

Freddie: He’s (Marvin) good. He has a rapport with Manny. We work well together and Marvin knows what it is all about since he used to box as well. Trust is crucial in a relationship between boxer and trainer. I am lucky that we’ve kept this partnership going on for a long time. Marvin adds to the mix.

Rick: I won’t trouble you any longer because the third quarter just started.

Freddie: Oh, it’s no problem. Maybe we can talk again later. Thanks.

Rick: Thanks too. And thanks for training Manny.

Freddie: Aww. That’s fun and like I say, he makes me look good.