Roach pointed out one thing that makes his relationship with Pacquiao memorable. It is their friendship with each other.
"He is loyal to me and I am loyal to him", said Roach in a
recent interview. with Brad Cooney. "We have never wavered. We respect each other. You don't always see that in this world".
This bond between the fighter and trainer have been tested several times ever since Manny walk into the Wild Card Gym.
In a dispute with Freddie Roach and Muhammad over trainers fees and accusations of wrong doing,Manny Pacquiao stepped forward and told his camp to pay Roach because they had a good working relationship.
In the year 2007, Roach had major disagreement with his assistant trainer over training fees. Justine Fortune left the Wild Card gym in order to form his own stable of fighters. Fortune lured Pacquiao into joining his camp. Manny knew where his loyalty lies and faithfully stayed with Roach.
When Roach felt that Manny was testing him by going back to the Philippines in order to train there in his rematch against Barrera, he gave in and followed the Filipino warrior in his homeland. Their relationship is one of giving and receiving. This is mirrored in their training regimen. Manny would tell Roach his ideas about a certain strategy or exercises and the trainer listens and make changes into gameplan.
The partnership have produced numerous awards for both of them. Roach and Pacquiao have been awarded Trainer and Fighter of the year more than once. Roach even proclaimed that he " became the best trainer in the world because he has the best pupil in Manny".
Friendships make wonders in brutal and dirty world of prizefighting. It took more than five years for Roach to transform Pacquiao from a one dimensional fighter to a methodical boxer puncher with a good dose of defense.Without this special bond between the two, improvements would be hard to come by. Freddie's relationship with Manny is indeed a template for aspiring trainers and boxers who want to succeed in a competitive world of pugilism.
