ROACH PROMISES A GREAT FIGHT AGAINST DE LA HOYA
By Ronnie Nathanielsz
PhilBoxing.com
Thu, 28 Aug 2008
Celebrated trainer Freddie Roach this morning promised ?a great fight? when Filipino ring idol Manny Pacquiao battles ?The Golden Boy? Oscar De La Hoya at the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas on December 6.
In an overseas telephone conversation with www.insidesports.ph he said Pacquiao had called him last night and they had ?talked for a little while.? Roach said Pacquiao told him he?s ?ready and anxious to do the fight.?
The official announcement is expected to be made tomorrow.
Roach said ?it?s a great fight. A no-brainer anyway. There is no better fight out there.? Roach said he would have to ?make some adjustments, get some good sparring partners but nothing out of the ordinary.?
There were indicartions from Pacquiao himself that they would have a longer training camp than the usual 7-8 weeks.
Roach noted that Pacquiao was ?coming off a good win? against WBC lightweight champion David Diaz and his ?confidence is at a high.?
Roach said Pacquiao has several pluses on his side - ?speed, youth, power. We are stronger, faster. The only advantage the guy (Oscar) has is he?s going to be ten pounds heavier than us? when they enter the ring but we have all the other advantages.?
The two-time ?Trainer of the Year? pointed out that De La Hoya ?doesn?t fight shorter guys well.? He said all Pacquiao has to do is to get close and the reach advantage ?goes away quickly.?
The biggest thing for Pacquiao, according to Roach, is ?getting past his jab? and that he would perfect a counter by the end of training camp.
Roach conceded that in some small way he contributed to getting the fight done because he needled De La Hoya ?just a little bit? by his public pronouncements in an interview this reporter and Dennis Principe conducted on the dzSR Sports Radio show ?Sports Chat? some time ago. Roach told us then that De La Hoya was slow, couldn?t pull the trigger and that Pacquiao would knock him out.
Roach said ?Oscar is a nice guy but Manny is my guy.?
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