EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: FREDDIE ROACH
By John McCormick
JM: Amir Khan will be fighting Lamont Peterson this Saturday [and you are his trainer]. How has the training camp been heading into this fight? Has it been any different from past training camps?
Freddie Roach: "Yeah, it’s been a little bit different because Lamont is a big, strong guy. We’ve been using sparring partners that are a lot bigger than normal. We’ve been having really good sparring for this fight. I think it may be Amir’s toughest fight yet, so I’m glad we’ve had our toughest training camp so far."
JM: What do you think of Peterson as a fighter?
Freddie Roach: Lamont is strong inside the pocket; he’s a boxer/puncher. He’ll box until he gets hit and then ill exchange with you. He’s a tough guy. We’ve focused on boxing, using speed and distance, and not getting caught on the ropes, or caught on the pocket. We are not going to fight his fight.
JM: Freddie, you are always very vocal about predictions for a fight so what’s your prediction for Saturday night?
Freddie Roach: I have a lot of respect for Lamont. I have the better fighter though. I believe Amir will stop him in the later rounds.
JM: Everyone wants to see Amir get in the ring with Timothy Bradley. How do you think that fight would play out?
Freddie Roach: I was talking about that last night with the UK press. I told them we want Amir at 147, but Timothy Bradley is standing in our way. He talks the talk, and I would love to shut him up. He’s been outspoken about the fight, but wouldn’t sign the contract. I do think Bradley would be a very competitive fight for Amir, but Amir is a much better fighter than Bradley. I think Amir would destroy him, and then we can move up to 147.
JM: Amir Khan has that one blemish on his record, a KO loss to Bredis Prescott. Since then, he’s showed tremendous improvement. Do you think that when Amir moves up to 147, his chin will be stronger or at even more of a risk then now?
Freddie Roach: It was my decision to move him up from 135 to 140. The dehydration and the way he was killing himself to make 135 was weakening him. He’s developed into a more resilient fighter, when he fought Prescott; Amir was walking straight into his shots, and made a lot of fundamental mistakes. He doesn’t make those mistakes anymore. He listens to me very well, he’s a good student, and he works his ass off. I think Amir moving up to 147 will only make him stronger.
JM: I know you were in New York City this past Saturday for the Cotto-Margarito rematch. On the undercard, Brandon Rios fought John Murray. Rios may now be moving up to 140 pounds. Besides Bradley, would you like Amir to stay at 140 to possibly fight Rios?
Freddie Roach: Amir Khan will expose Brandon Rios at 140. I definitely want to see that fight. I want Amir to stay at 140 and beat Rios just for me. Brandon Rios made fun of me before with my Parkinson’s, and even though it was funny, I feel I was disrespected. Brandon is an exchange fighter. He doesn’t even know how to throw a feint, he has no game plan and you can tell. The fight the other night was just two guys in a ring swinging at each other. It was a good fight to watch. There was a lot of action with no skill. It seems as if his coach isn’t teaching him any skill. The same thing goes for Margarito; he follows Cotto all around the ring without cutting the ring off. I mean that is a fundamental skill in boxing. Amir Khan would destroy Brandon Rios. We’ll take that fight!
JM: Freddie, what were your thoughts on Manny’s performance against Marquez a few weeks ago?
Freddie Roach: It was a tough fight, and I thought Manny didn’t have a great night. These things do happen in boxing. Manny was looking sharp as usual, and I definitely thought we won the fight convincingly. I thought we won this one easier than the first two, to be honest. Marquez is a warrior, and I think if we fight him 20 times we will have the exact same outcome.
JM: After the Marquez fight, a lot of people have started to say that Pacquiao would be easy work for Floyd Mayweather, based on his performance against Marquez. What are your thoughts on that?
Freddie Roach: Styles make fights. Those three fighters?styles aren’t the same. Floyd is a counter puncher, but a much different counter puncher than Marquez. I think Marquez takes many more chances than Floyd. I think Manny just had a bad night, but it may have helped us since I hear Floyd and Manny talks have started up again. So it’s a good thing. Floyd is a tough opponent, but I wouldn’t compare him to Marquez because he fights nothing like Marquez.
JM: If a Pacquiao-Mayweather fight finally materializes this time, how would the preparation for Mayweather differ from the rest of Manny’s training camps?
Freddie Roach: We have a pretty good game plan already. We were working on this game plan before because we thought the fight was going to happen a lot sooner than it has. I will bring in a whole new crew of sparring partners, guys that can imitate Floyd well. There isn’t a lot of guys in the world that are like Floyd, so it would be tough to find them. We would prepare for his counter punching ability, and his speed, which is maybe equal to Manny’s if not better. We will be motivated for this fight, that’s for sure. Who knows? Maybe we can have a trilogy.
JM: What do you see in Floyd that Manny might be able to exploit?
Freddie Roach: Well?I see that Floyd does have some bad habits that he does over, and over again. I think we can take advantage of those habits, but I probably can’t tell you about them right now. He does have some bad habits that can be exposed. He doesn’t fight southpaws that well, and he does have trouble with speed. We’ll have to be on top of our game to win this one, but that’s what this fight is about anyway.
JM: Freddie, you said earlier that you have heard that negotiations for a Mayweather-Pacquiao fight have started once again. Any inside information that you can share with us?
Freddie Roach: Nope, no inside information. I will say that the sooner is better for me though. I am a fight fan just like everyone else in the world. I like challenges, and this would be the biggest challenge I’ve faced as a trainer. I will come up with a game plan to beat this guy. I hope this fight happens soon.
Boxing Talk .com
By John McCormick
JM: Amir Khan will be fighting Lamont Peterson this Saturday [and you are his trainer]. How has the training camp been heading into this fight? Has it been any different from past training camps?
Freddie Roach: "Yeah, it’s been a little bit different because Lamont is a big, strong guy. We’ve been using sparring partners that are a lot bigger than normal. We’ve been having really good sparring for this fight. I think it may be Amir’s toughest fight yet, so I’m glad we’ve had our toughest training camp so far."
JM: What do you think of Peterson as a fighter?
Freddie Roach: Lamont is strong inside the pocket; he’s a boxer/puncher. He’ll box until he gets hit and then ill exchange with you. He’s a tough guy. We’ve focused on boxing, using speed and distance, and not getting caught on the ropes, or caught on the pocket. We are not going to fight his fight.
JM: Freddie, you are always very vocal about predictions for a fight so what’s your prediction for Saturday night?
Freddie Roach: I have a lot of respect for Lamont. I have the better fighter though. I believe Amir will stop him in the later rounds.
JM: Everyone wants to see Amir get in the ring with Timothy Bradley. How do you think that fight would play out?
Freddie Roach: I was talking about that last night with the UK press. I told them we want Amir at 147, but Timothy Bradley is standing in our way. He talks the talk, and I would love to shut him up. He’s been outspoken about the fight, but wouldn’t sign the contract. I do think Bradley would be a very competitive fight for Amir, but Amir is a much better fighter than Bradley. I think Amir would destroy him, and then we can move up to 147.
JM: Amir Khan has that one blemish on his record, a KO loss to Bredis Prescott. Since then, he’s showed tremendous improvement. Do you think that when Amir moves up to 147, his chin will be stronger or at even more of a risk then now?
Freddie Roach: It was my decision to move him up from 135 to 140. The dehydration and the way he was killing himself to make 135 was weakening him. He’s developed into a more resilient fighter, when he fought Prescott; Amir was walking straight into his shots, and made a lot of fundamental mistakes. He doesn’t make those mistakes anymore. He listens to me very well, he’s a good student, and he works his ass off. I think Amir moving up to 147 will only make him stronger.
JM: I know you were in New York City this past Saturday for the Cotto-Margarito rematch. On the undercard, Brandon Rios fought John Murray. Rios may now be moving up to 140 pounds. Besides Bradley, would you like Amir to stay at 140 to possibly fight Rios?
Freddie Roach: Amir Khan will expose Brandon Rios at 140. I definitely want to see that fight. I want Amir to stay at 140 and beat Rios just for me. Brandon Rios made fun of me before with my Parkinson’s, and even though it was funny, I feel I was disrespected. Brandon is an exchange fighter. He doesn’t even know how to throw a feint, he has no game plan and you can tell. The fight the other night was just two guys in a ring swinging at each other. It was a good fight to watch. There was a lot of action with no skill. It seems as if his coach isn’t teaching him any skill. The same thing goes for Margarito; he follows Cotto all around the ring without cutting the ring off. I mean that is a fundamental skill in boxing. Amir Khan would destroy Brandon Rios. We’ll take that fight!
JM: Freddie, what were your thoughts on Manny’s performance against Marquez a few weeks ago?
Freddie Roach: It was a tough fight, and I thought Manny didn’t have a great night. These things do happen in boxing. Manny was looking sharp as usual, and I definitely thought we won the fight convincingly. I thought we won this one easier than the first two, to be honest. Marquez is a warrior, and I think if we fight him 20 times we will have the exact same outcome.
JM: After the Marquez fight, a lot of people have started to say that Pacquiao would be easy work for Floyd Mayweather, based on his performance against Marquez. What are your thoughts on that?
Freddie Roach: Styles make fights. Those three fighters?styles aren’t the same. Floyd is a counter puncher, but a much different counter puncher than Marquez. I think Marquez takes many more chances than Floyd. I think Manny just had a bad night, but it may have helped us since I hear Floyd and Manny talks have started up again. So it’s a good thing. Floyd is a tough opponent, but I wouldn’t compare him to Marquez because he fights nothing like Marquez.
JM: If a Pacquiao-Mayweather fight finally materializes this time, how would the preparation for Mayweather differ from the rest of Manny’s training camps?
Freddie Roach: We have a pretty good game plan already. We were working on this game plan before because we thought the fight was going to happen a lot sooner than it has. I will bring in a whole new crew of sparring partners, guys that can imitate Floyd well. There isn’t a lot of guys in the world that are like Floyd, so it would be tough to find them. We would prepare for his counter punching ability, and his speed, which is maybe equal to Manny’s if not better. We will be motivated for this fight, that’s for sure. Who knows? Maybe we can have a trilogy.
JM: What do you see in Floyd that Manny might be able to exploit?
Freddie Roach: Well?I see that Floyd does have some bad habits that he does over, and over again. I think we can take advantage of those habits, but I probably can’t tell you about them right now. He does have some bad habits that can be exposed. He doesn’t fight southpaws that well, and he does have trouble with speed. We’ll have to be on top of our game to win this one, but that’s what this fight is about anyway.
JM: Freddie, you said earlier that you have heard that negotiations for a Mayweather-Pacquiao fight have started once again. Any inside information that you can share with us?
Freddie Roach: Nope, no inside information. I will say that the sooner is better for me though. I am a fight fan just like everyone else in the world. I like challenges, and this would be the biggest challenge I’ve faced as a trainer. I will come up with a game plan to beat this guy. I hope this fight happens soon.
Boxing Talk .com
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