Freddie Roach sure has lived some life, and he’s overcome some tremendous odds in doing so. Known today of course as one of the great boxing trainers, Roach, who has worked with around 40 world champions, was a genuinely tough ring warrior himself. In fact, Freddie was too tough and gutsy for his own good. Towards the end of his largely blood and guts fighting career, Roach was strongly advised by his trainer Eddie Futch – arguably THE greatest boxing trainer of them all – to retire.
Freddie, who was as we now know already showing the early signs of Parkinson’s disease, fought on, with his dad training him. The toll the compiling of his 40-13(15) pro record took on Freddie was high, and for years now the fighter turned trainer has been battling this horrific disease with all his might. In his ring career, Freddie, as game as they come, went in with some big names, such as Bobby Chacon, Greg Haugen, Hector Camacho, and Darryl Tyson. But Roach was to find real, life-changing success on the safe side of the ropes.
Initially working for Futch for no fee, Freddie impressed Futch with his ability at working with fighters, to the extent that he became Eddie’s full-time assistant. Freddie was on his way, and soon he would become known the world over as a trainer of champions. Later opening the celebrated Wild Card Gym in Los Angeles, Freddie would of course become most famous for guiding all-time great of the sport Manny Pacquiao over the course of many years and through numerous huge fights.
Some of the other greats Freddie trained include:
James Toney
Virgil Hill
Michael Moorer
Mike Tyson
Marlon Starling
Amir Khan
Oscar De La Hoya
Andy Ruiz Jr
Miguel Cotto.
Today, Freddie celebrates his 65th birthday. Having been fighting the ravages of Parkinson’s for so many years, Freddie has displayed the heart and desire he showed in the ring. Liked and respected by all, Freddie is a man who has loved boxing all his life, with him adding so much to the sport.
You would be hard-pressed to find a single person who has a bad word to say about Freddie Roach. He is genuinely one of a kind.
It’s probable most fans would answer Manny Pacquiao if they were asked to name the greatest fighter Freddie ever worked with, but Roach added plenty to some other superb fighters and their success levels over the years, in fact over the decades. In an interview he gave to The L.A Daily News back in 2011, Roach spoke about the best fighters he has worked with.
“Manny’s the most disciplined fighter I’ve ever had,” Roach said of Pacquiao. “He trains like mad and pushes himself to the limit. He’s just amazing. [James] Toney is the most natural fighter I’ve ever seen. When he says ‘all you motherf*****s have to train but I was born to fight,’ he means it!The way he moved, the vision he had, to see everything coming at him, he was just so gifted. [But] he had no discipline. If he had discipline he could have been heavyweight champion of the world and dominated the division. It just didn’t turn out that way.”
Here’s hoping Freddie has a great 65th!
