Roach sets sights on London

LAS VEGAS – With the US unable to make an impact in Olympic boxing for decades, renowned trainer Freddie Roach has agreed to join the coaching staff that will prepare American fighters in their quest for gold at the 2012 London Olympics.

Roach said he will turn the medal hopefuls into “Manny Pacquiaos” and try to bring back Olympic glory to the Motherland.

“I’m an American,” said Roach proudly in the dressing room after Pacquiao trounced Sugar Shane Mosley on points to retain his WBO welterweight title at the MGM Grand Garden Arena here Saturday night. “I’ll make our guys fight like Manny.”

Roach appeared in a press conference the morning of the Pacquiao-Mosley bout to announce his acceptance of the invitation to work with US Olympic boxing coach Joe Zanders. He wore a white Nike shirt with the words “Freddie Knows 2012” in the front. Roach’s business associates, including best friend Billy Keane, book author Peter Nelson and publicity agent Fred Sternburg wore the same shirt at the press conference.

Roach credited Sternburg for thinking of the “Freddie Knows 2012” slogan. Nelson wrote Roach’s soon-to-be-released book “The Wild Card – Hard-Fought Lessons from a Life in the Ring.”

Roach plans to be in London when the Olympics reel off next year. He was recently in Manchester to work WBA lightwelterweight champion Amir Khan’s corner in his title defense against Paul McCloskey. Roach is widely known in England for taking over Khan’s boxing career after he was knocked out by Breidis Prescott in 2008. Khan was a silver medalist at the 2004 Athens Olympics.

Asked if the commitment to the US Olympic boxing program will mean a major adjustment in his work schedule with professional fighters, Roach said it’s all about time management. “We’ll work something out,” said Roach. “I won’t turn my back on my country.” It is expected that the medal hopefuls will train at the Wild Card Gym in Los Angeles.

In the press conference, Roach said, “I think it’s embarrassing that America’s not winning more gold medals...I want to help the Olympic team get back in form, I know the game well and I think I have a lot to offer these kids.”

Roach admitted that he was previously asked by Pacquiao himself and Filipino friends to assist in training Filipino Olympic fighters. “But I’m an American,” he said. “I need to help my country.” Roach, however, tries to accommodate Filipino hopefuls in his gym whenever possible. Fil-Am amateur middleweight Julian Santos Chua, for instance, is a regular at the Wild Card Gym.

Late this month, Roach will join the US coaching staff at a High Performance retreat in Colorado Springs. In July, he will attend the US Olympic boxing trials. Roach will be involved in training the men and women hoping to make it to London.

“USA Boxing has identified the lack of integration of its athletes’ personal coaches into past training plans as a key weakness in the organization’s major event preparation,” noted a press release from the US Olympic Committee (USOC) communications division. “The inclusion of the US medal hopefuls’ own coaches in Freddie Roach’s training sessions will be a critical component. These unique training opportunities will provide USA Boxing’s grassroots coaches with innovative training plans and tips they can take to their local gyms and share with additional athletes and fellow local coaches.”

Roach, 51, learned the basics of training fighters from the legendary Eddie Futch. He has trained nearly 20 world champions and is a five-time Trainer of the Year awardee by the Boxing Writers Association of America.

“An Olympic medal is one of the greatest accomplishments in all of sport and I promise to do all I can to ensure that these young men and women are fully prepared to go to London to proudly represent our country,” said Roach. “A special thanks to USA Boxing and the USOC for supporting this initiative and Casey Wasserman and Nick Khan for helping to put this together. This partnership is an exciting new chapter in my career and I can’t wait to get started.”

USOC chief executive officer Scott Blackmun said, “I’d like to thank Freddie and his team for their willingness to help our boxers achieve their highest potential...I’m thrilled that we were able to make this happen and can’t wait to see the results.”

USA Boxing executive director Anthony Bartkowski said Roach’s “extensive experience will augment our high performance and training plans and we look forward to working with him to build international success in London and beyond.”

Up to 10 men and women are tipped to represent the US in Olympic boxing. Roach’s participation was described as “an add-on to the 2011-12 approved High Performance plan with the intent of providing a unique and valuable resource for the designated athletes as a supplement to the existing coaching structure.”