"Manny definitely is a complete fighter now. Everything is working well and he's a multi-time world champion. You know, the best thing about Manny Pacquiao is that he still wants to learn more. He's going to get better and keep improving. He has two hands now and that's what it's going to take to beat a guy like Mayweather. We're really anxious for that fight, but if we fight Cotto or Mosley, they're really tough fights also. They're a little bit bigger and stronger guys, but Manny don't want little fights. He wants to be challenged so we'll fight the big guys," stated world-renowned trainer Freddie Roach as he gave an update on Manny Pacquiao, Amir Khan and much more. Check it out!
PC: How have you been man?
FR: Everything is good, thank you!
PC: The boxing world recently lost a legend in Alexis Arguello. Most people remember him for his two fights with Aaron Pryor, but I'm sure you have a more vivid memory of him. Can you share those memories?
FR: When I was 18 years old, he was getting ready to fight for the 150-pound title and he had three guys as his sparring partners and after the first day, he let one go and kept two. He kept me and we sparred the whole time. He taught me more about boxing than anyone ever has. Just being in there with a guy of his caliber helped my game so much. What a gentleman he was. He dressed like a champion, always in a suit, he walked like a champion and was just a great guy.
PC: His demeanor in many ways reminds me of your fighter Manny Pacquiao. After their fights, you would never think any of these guys are prizefighters that just punished their opponents; very humble men.
FR: Yeah, very similar; just very generous people. I'm sadder about this than Michael Jackson for sure. Alexis was a great fighter and it was no BS with him. He was just a good guy and you don't find that too often in our sport.
PC: You have Amir Khan coming up. How is he looking and did the delay hurt or help him and in what ways?
FR: I didn't let it hurt us. We took a week off and we came back and we peaked again yesterday. Now we're starting to taper off from here to the fight. We'll start cutting back on the sparring a little bit. We're just winding down for the fight. He's definitely ready. We're leaving out at 3:00 for the UK today so that we can get acclimated to the time change of course.
PC: For some of the fans that we have that may be just getting into the sport, what does it mean when you say a fighter has peaked?
FR: We have a system here and we start off with 4 or 5 rounds and then we peak at 10 or 12 rounds depending on the fighter. Manny Pacquiao peaks at 12 and Amir will peak at 10. That's when he's ready to fight. Like yesterday, I let him go. I don't give him much instruction. I just told him to show me the gameplan and he did it for me. He boxed 10 really good rounds for me yesterday, he looked really sharp and now I know he's ready to fight. We don't want to go overboard and overtrain so now we back off a little bit. When we get to the UK, he will box 8 rounds, 6 rounds and then 4 rounds. Then we will have the weigh-ins and then the fight. So you peak them and then you gradually maintain until the fight for the last 2 weeks.
PC: Speaking of peaking out, you're a very bust trainer. Do you feel you need to taper down somewhat or is this what keeps you going?
FR: I need a vacation, but I just don't have time right now (laughing). After Amir's fight, I'm going to take a couple of weeks to relax a little bit and then Manny Pacquiao will be in camp soon. So after Amir's fight, I'm going to take a couple of weeks off. I might go to the beach in Mexico, so we'll see.
PC: You are so strategic with the moves you make as far as Manny's opponents. I think you get into his opponent's head a little bit. It's almost like watching a chess match. Who would you like to see Manny fight next?
FR: Well, the fight that I want to make is Mayweather, but we can't seem to make that fight because his Marquez fight got postponed so we can't wait for him. I think we're going to fight either Cotto or Shane Mosley, so either one is fine with me, but Mayweather is the one I want though and hopefully the Mayweather fight will happen by early next year.
PC: When I first interviewed you, you told me that Manny Pacquiao had so much more learning to become a complete fighter. Are you confident in the fact that he is a complete fighter now?
FR: Yeah, Manny definitely is a complete fighter now. Everything is working well and he's a multi-time world champion. You know, the best thing about Manny Pacquiao is that he still wants to learn more. He's going to get better and keep improving. He has two hands now and that's what it's going to take to beat a guy like Mayweather. We're really anxious for that fight, but if we fight Cotto or Mosley, they're really tough fights also. They're a little bit bigger and stronger guys, but Manny don't want little fights. He wants to be challenged so we'll fight the big guys.
PC: I wanted to call you for the winning lottery numbers after both of your predictions for the De La Hoya and Hatton fights were dead on!
FR: (Laughing)
PC: What is it about Manny that makes you so confident to put yourself on the line with some of these stoppage predictions and, in some cases, giving accurate rounds of the stoppage?
FR: It's his work ethic. He's been really sharp for these last two fights and everything that we worked on is coming into play now and he's using it a lot more. I have a lot of confidence in my guy. I know how good he is. We had a great training camp the last time and just studying Ricky Hatton, he makes a lot of fundamental mistakes and nobody has ever corrected those mistakes soÂ…styles make fights of course, but people have habits that they do all of the time. Ricky had a couple of bad habits and we took advantage of it. I just knew it was going to be a short fight for us.
PC: We rarely see a duo like you and Pacquiao in boxing these days. It's so rare to see a trainer and fighter stick together for more then a couple of fights now. Do you think you will retire with Manny and if not, how much longer do you see yourself in the game?
FR: I really like what I do. I have a lot of young guys coming up. I'm not ready to retire yet. Hopefully I will get to do this until I am an old man. As long as I'm useful, I will keep working. I want to do it until I can't do it no more. My trainer Eddie Futch worked until his 90's so that's my goal.
PC: I always appreciate your time. Good luck with Amir. Is there anything you want to say in closing?
FR: Thank you for your support. I will talk to you when I get back. I want to tell you about Amir's win when I get back, okay?
PC: No doubt.
[ Follow Percy Crawford on Twitter @MrLouis1ana ]