I have said this before and I'll repeat it again. There is something special about Freddie Roach. If you love boxing, he's a great guy to sit and talk with. Great philosophy on the sport, passed down to him in the line of accession from his late, great mentor Eddie Futch.
Freddie's latest offering: he believes the Ricky Hatton-Manny Pacquiao match-up is the best kind of fight ever to be made. Here's why...(I let his discourse roll...
"To stand in front of Ricky, that's not our plan. The best way to fight Manny is the way [Juan Manuel] Marquez fought him. I expect Ricky to be better than Oscar was at this point. He is younger, fresher."
"We'll make the weight a lot easier. Then again Ricky will be the bigger guy. But bigger and stronger does not win fights."
"Manny's abilities to bounce laterally are key. Yes, he feared Oscar for three rounds. The bigger, stronger guy. If you stand in front of Ricky Hatton, he'll have success."
"We can't use the exact same strategy as we did against Oscar. Hatton is more adaptable. And maybe he won't be so aggressive against Manny. Maybe he will have been instilled with things from Floyd Mayweather."
"I know how to fight Manny Pacquiao, and what styles trouble him. Boxers don't give him trouble. Marquez, yes, but he's just smart.
He goes with the flow. Thinks his way through."
"Manny's not like that. Ricky's not like that. Ricky gets hit - he wants to fight. Manny gets hit - he wants to fight. They revert back to what the do best. If you hit Manny, he claps his hands together and away he goes."
"Ricky - I respect him. His Dad - I respect him. They are great people. I have nothing against Floyd, but he likes to make poems up about me.
"I made one for him this time, of course.
'I think it's a shame,
Floyd Mayweather Snr,
Is not in the Hall of Fame.'
I'm in the Hall of Fame. He's not. I have 23 world champions, he has one. All his were champions when he took them over. He has never trained his son. Roger did. The genes alone are good enough in his family. His son is a great natural fighter."
"In young Floyd, you have a villain when you build a fight. The thing is, in this fight, you have two good, respectful guys who won't trash talk each other. You were always going to have more trash talk between me and Mayweather."
"This is my job, I love it, but I knew Floyd would get to me in the end, and I have a tendency to lash back. Manny never talks badly about people; nor does Ricky."
"And you know what ? That's the best type of fight in the world, because they do their talking with their fists."
In those words are the essence of Freddie Roach. And between the lines, lie the keys to victory in this fight.
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