GAME of the GENERALS: Roach vs. Beristain and Dundee
By Rene Bonsubre, Jr.
PhilBoxing.com
Mon, 10 Nov 2008
Freddie Roach and Ignacio ?Nacho? Beristain will be facing each other for the third time in a high profile battle in Las Vegas this December. Beristain will have the advantage of having a bigger calibre weapon this time around. It won?t be Juan Manuel Marquez but Oscar de la Hoya who will be following the Mexican trainer?s commands.
To make things more interesting Hall of Fame trainer Angelo Dundee was hired as a consultant in de la Hoya?s training camp. Dundee?s pupils include two of the best ever, Muhammad Ali and Sugar Ray Leonard.
Thousands of words have already been written analysing the strengths and weakness of De la Hoya and Manny Pacquiao. But in the event of a long drawn out struggle, the cornermen could once again play a decisive role in the outcome. There is a well worn saying in basketball ?Players win games, coaches lose them.? Could this also apply to boxing? There is also another well worn saying in boxing,? Everybody has a plan, until they get hit.?
The 87 year old Dundee has seen it all. But his role as consultant will not include being in the Golden Boy?s corner during the fight itself but he will be taking part in mapping out the strategy to beat Pacquiao.
Too bad. Dundee is also a great motivator during crucial moments of a fight. My favourite Dundee career highlight was his telling an already half blind Sugar Ray Leonard, ?You?re blowing it,son! You?re blowing it!? pushing his boxer to come from behind to score a dramatic 14th round TKO win over Tommy Hearns in 1981.
Aside from the Marquez brothers, other notable fighters trained by Beristain include two division former champ Daniel Zaragoza and the greatest 105 lb. boxer of all time Ricardo Lopez. Beristain would have to be considered the most ?successful? trainer against Team Pacquiao considering that Marquez pushed the Pacman to the brink for 24 total rounds.
One advantage Freddie Roach has is that he already knows his fighter. He has handled Pacquiao since 2001. Beristain and Dundee just came aboard for this bout. De La Hoya getting two legendary trainers could mean two things: 1. He respects Pacquiao?s ability 2. He is very worried.
De la Hoya has been changing trainers throughout his career. He has been handled by the likes of Robert Alcazar, Jesus Rivero, Gil Clancy, Emmanuel Steward, Floyd Mayweather, Sr. and even Roach himself. This will be to Pacquiao?s advantage and Roach has been commenting on Oscar?s inability to pull the trigger.
Roach has trained many champions but Pacquiao is his masterpiece. They have been through the best and worst of times. The worst moment in their corner was the state of panic that ensued after Manny Pacquiao was cut and bleeding profusely during his first fight against Erik Morales. Roach and assistant Buboy Fernandez have learned their lesson since that bout and the Pacman has won eight straight fights.
Roach had the benefit of having a great teacher, Hall of Fame trainer Eddie Futch. Aside from training Roach when he was a boxer, Futch engineered the first two defeats of Ali?s career, when he was in the corner of Joe Frazier and Ken Norton.
Roach and Beristain will be having an international media conference this November 10 to discuss their training regimens.
Other interesting points to ponder:
It has been reported that eighteen of twenty boxing experts in Ring magazine favour Oscar. I am guessing these are the same guys who picked Marco Antonio Barrera in 2003 and Erik Morales in 2006.
In 2002, during their 80th Anniversary, Ring Magazine had a collector?s special issue ?The 80 Greatest Fighters of the Last 80 Years.? De la Hoya was already included and ranked number 75. Pancho Villa was ranked number 59 and Flash Elorde number 78.
In 2002 Pacquiao was not yet included in the Ring?s Top 10 Pound Per Pound list.
So, if you were to travel back in time to 2002 and tell people that Pacquiao would be fighting De la Hoya, you most probably would be sedated and brought to a mental institution.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Rene Bonsubre, Jr..
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