Roach busy in Puerto Rico

SAN ANTONIO – Celebrated trainer Freddie Roach took the day off from training Oscar de la Hoya in Puerto Rico for his coming fight against Floyd Mayweather and worked Manny Pacquiao’s corner at the Alamodome here Saturday night.

Top Rank chairman Bob Arum did not expect Roach to turn up and jokingly quoted 3-to-1 odds he wouldn’t appear because "De la Hoya can be nasty."

Arum and De la Hoya are in court suing each other for various boxing-related charges. De la Hoya tried desperately to stop Pacquiao from facing Jorge Solis and was thwarted twice by the courts in a bid to cancel the fight.

But Roach made good on his promise to be at Pacquiao’s side for his first outing since blasting Erik Morales into submission in the third round in Las Vegas last November. He arrived here on a plane at 2 p.m. and immediately checked out Pacquiao in his Room 525 suite at the Radisson Hotel on Durango. The morning after the bout, Roach was back in Puerto Rico.

Looking like a Marine drillmaster with a new closely-cropped crew cut, Roach said talk of a rift within Pacquiao’s training staff is hogwash. A rumor had floated that Roach and chief assistant Justin Fortune, who has taken over Pacquiao’s training in his absence, were not seeing eye to eye.

"Justin and Buboy (Fernandez) call me often, something like every other day, to report on Manny’s progress in the gym so I’m well informed of how things are coming along," said Roach.

"I’m very busy in Puerto Rico, training Oscar and also attending to Boom Boom (Bautista) and A. J. (Banal) who are in the camp from Cebu," said Roach. "It’s hectic but the work is exciting."

Roach said a typical work day begins early in the morning but he takes a break from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. before returning to the gym for more close supervision in training De la Hoya and the Filipino Golden Boys.

As for Pacquiao’s eighth round stoppage of Solis, Roach said the outcome was inevitable.

"Manny knew what kind of fighter he was up against," said Roach. "He didn’t do a lot of the things he did against Morales because Solis isn’t in Morales’ caliber. Manny’s just in a higher level. He was fooling around, trying out different things. When he got cut, Manny decided it was time to finish the guy off. And that was it."

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Lito Mondejar, co-owner of Sampaloc’s fabled L&M gym that was recently sold to Pacquiao,  said Solis reminded him of Nedal Hussein who fought the Filipino icon in Antipolo in 2000.

"The betting was Hussein wouldn’t last beyond five rounds," recalled Mondejar. "Manny took him lightly but Hussein proved tough to beat. He was awkward with long arms just like Solis. We all got nervous when Manny tried to knock out Solis early and couldn’t find his distance. Solis’ reach and style bothered Manny who got overeager. When Manny got cut, he settled down and started picking his punches. Once Solis felt Manny’s power, that was it."

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 Asked to comment on Marco Antonio Barrera not showing up at ringside after Arum said he would, Roach said he wasn’t surprised.

"That’s Bob for you, always promising," he said. "I heard they’re claiming Barrera is leaving Golden Boy. I don’t know that for a fact. But I was told Bob is arranging for Manny to fight (Juan Manuel) Marquez next for the WBC title until I heard he’s now talking of a fight against Joan Guzman."

As for the Alamodome show, Arum said it was a huge success.

"That’s how you do a boxing show for pay-per-view – four action-packed fights one after another," said Arum. "And you top it off with Manny."

The attendance was 14,793 – not a bad mark for a city that’s not known as a boxing hub. It was estimated that for the show to break even at the turnstiles, the crowd had to be at least 12,000. Arum said the show was the city’s biggest since the blockbuster bout between Julio Cesar Chavez and Pernell Whitaker in 1993. Attendance surpassed the gates for the De la Hoya-David Kamau fight in 1997 and the Pacquiao-Barrera brawl in 2003.