By Phil Rivera
Famed boxing trainer Freddie Roach—who’s trained everyone from Mike Tyson to Manny Pacquiao—originally came to New York this weekend to work the corner of pupil Glen Tapia, who was slated to appear on the undercard of the Gennady Golovkin-Daniel Geale show. But after Tapia’s fight was scratched, Roach found himself with a decision to make, head home to L.A. or stay in the Big Apple and scout Golovkin as a future opponent for Miguel Cotto, who he also trains.
Ever since Cotto defeated Sergio Martinez for the WBC middleweight title, there’s been talk of a potential bout between him and the WBA champ Golovkin. Roach has chosen to stay, and see for himself what all the “GGG” hype is about.
“I’m staying, because maybe I’ll like him for Cotto, I don’t know,” said Roach. “I’ve heard a lot about him so let’s see if it’s true. He’s going up against his best opponent they say, so we’ll see.”
Before Cotto fights again, Roach’s main man Manny Pacquiao has a date with Chris Algieri, November 22, in Macau, China. With Cotto tentatively slated to return in December, decisions have to be made on where Pacquiao will train in order to accommodate both pugilists.
“I haven’t decided where camp will be next, it could be in Manila [Philippines] or we might stay in Macau the whole time,” Roach said. “We’ll see, because Cotto might have a fight coming right after that so I may be training Pacquiao and Cotto at the same time, so I’m waiting for a couple of things to happen first.”
The last time The Boxing Tribune interviewed Roach his fighter Ruslan Provodnikov had just dropped a controversial decision, and his WBO 140-pound strap to Algieri. At the post-fight press conference Roach wasn’t too keen on a potential Pacquiao-Algieri bout, even mumbling an expletive when the topic was brought up.
Today he feels differently.
“He’s a quality opponent,” said Roach. “He beat Ruslan in a close fight. He’s a little bit awkward, he’s not my favorite style for Pacquiao but that’s how life is, you have to beat all kinds of styles out there, so we’ll figure out a way.”
When asked his thoughts on the other mega fight on the 2014 calendar, Floyd Mayweather’s rematch with Marcos Maidana, Roach didn’t mince words with how he felt about it.
“Who cares,” said the six-time trainer of the year.
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