LOS ANGELES (via GMA News) - Unknown to most people, eight-division world champion Manny Pacquiao and five-time Trainer of the Year Freddie Roach made a pact two years ago.
Pacquiao, who was then preparing to face a dangerous foe in Mexican Antonio Margarito, asked his longtime trainer to be honest enough to tell him if his game is starting to fade.
Roach, of course, has seen so many fighters put off quitting for so long they ended up suffering from crippling injuries in retirement. That includes the trainer himself.
The famed trainer, though, promised not to let that happen to the Pacman. He promised his most successful fighter he would tell it to him straight if it's time to call it quits.
Amid all the talk that Pacquiao starting show signs of slowing down as he steps up preparation for his fourth encounter with Juan Manuel Marquez, the Hall of Fame trainer emphatically announced: "If he starts to slide I will be the first one to tell him.”
Needless to say, Roach still feels there are a couple of fights left in his famous ward. Watch him as he sums up the gains the Filipino ring superstar has made in his first week of training at the Wild Card Gym and plot the next five weeks of their preparation for the December 8 mega-fight. (Video courtesy of GMA News).
"Manny has to be on top of his game to deal with these guys. I don’t want sparring partners who just try to go through the motions. I want guys who try hard and try to win sparring sessions," Roach said at the close of Pacquiao’s first week of preparations in LA.
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