Roach Prepares for March 13th

Noted trainer Freddie Roach was back grinding at the Wild Card Boxing Club in Hollywood, California, this week after returning from England, where his charge, Amir Khan successfully defended his WBA jr. welterweight title on December the 5th versus the over-matched Dmitiry Salita, who was blown out in 76 seconds. He took off to the United Kingdom less than a week after his most noted client, Manny Pacquiao, defeated Miguel Cotto on November the 14th.

Now, the focus shifts to the sports most anticipated fight in years, a showdown between Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather, which is scheduled for March 13th.

In the immediate aftermath of the Cotto victory, Roach stated his strong preference for that fight to take place in May, citing the physical nature of that contest, that saw ’the Pac Man’ suffer a punctured right ear-drum and was noticeably bruised up.

"Y’know, Bob (Arum) told me he had a deal in place, him and Richard Schaefer negotiated it. I was surprised it happened that quickly, I was surprised that the terms were all OK. Eight-ounce gloves, he wants a big ring, I want a small ring. We’ll meet in the middle. Bob told me it went very well and the guarantees are great. I’m just happy the fight is happening," said Roach on Thursday morning at his gym.

There was also the pesky little issue of Pacquiao’s political aspirations that basically ruled out any May appointment versus Mayweather. So will the Filipino icon be good to go for March 13Th?

"Activity is great for fighters, down time is bad. I’d rather this than a long layoff and get back into it," Roach, reasoned."He’ll get right back into it and think it’s good timing for us." The trainer admitted that if a deal with Mayweather was not reached, they would have faced WBA jr. middleweight belt-holder, Yuri Foreman, on that same date." Yes, I accepted that fight."

So after a relatively short respite, Roach gets back to the task of managing Pac-land.

"We haven’t officially set everything, yet, but after the press conference in New York( in January) we’re going to camp in Baguio for the first month and then the second month we’ll be here in Los Angeles," explained Roach, who has already compiled a mental list of potential sparring partners."I’m going to bring in Amir Khan for his speed and I’m trying to get Andre Berto to be our sparring partner."

Problem with Berto is that he happens to share the same adviser as Mayweather in Al Heymon and Berto- who faces Shane Mosley on January 30Th- isn’t exactly hurting for money, either, having long become an HBO staple."I don’t care," said Roach, who is looking to bring in the highest caliber of sparring partners he can."Timothy Bradley possibly. Y’know, I’m not going to hire the same Mayweather sparring partners that have been unsuccessful so far. They have the same guys every time. I want real fighters that are going to get my guy ready for the fight."

It’s doubtful that Bradley- who faces Lamont Peterson in defense of his WBO jr. welterweight strap this weekend- would accept the invitation, given that he’s begun to make pretty good money the past year or so. But hey, it doesn’t hurt to ask, right?

"Well, Amir Khan’s a world champion and he wants to help Manny out," Roach, points out."The thing is, he’s not really a sparring partner, he’s just helping us get ready for the fight. Maybe he doesn’t like Floyd."

Then there was this familiar subject which was broached by the opposition.

"We had an issue yesterday about the Olympic-style drug testing because the Mayweather experts on steroids want us to be tested that way and we said fine," said Roach, who had one caveat to their request." We have no problems with it as long as they do it, too."

Not sure what ’Olympic-style’ testing consists of, but I’m assuming it’s more stringent and wide-ranging than the testing procedures of the local commissions.

Source: maxboxing.com