MACAU - Freddie Roach admits he rarely asks a favor from the generous Manny Pacquiao.
But he's making an exception in the fight against Brandon Rios.
Saying he felt ridiculed and violated in a bust-up against the group of Rios on Wednesday, the Hall of Fame trainer said he has asked the Filipino ring hero to do something for him come fight time on Sunday.
Asked what favor he wants from Pacquiao, the five-time Trainer of the Year quickly responded: "I want a knockout. And Manny knows that already!”
They Said It!
“"I want a knockout." - trainer Freddie Roach to Manny Pacquiao
It will be recalled that during the run-up to the Pacquiao-Antonio Margarito fight in 2010, Rios tried to mimic Roach's slurred speech in a video that went viral. Rios later issued an apology, saying he didn't know that Roach is afflicted with Parkinson's Disease.
And just last Wednesday, former Roach assistant and now Team Rios conditioning coach Alex Ariza not only made fun of Roach’s health condition but he also kicked him on the chest after a heated verbal altercation with trainer Robert Garcia.
Roach stood firm in defending himself against claims made by Team Rios that he started the melee by getting "too arrogant" when he asked the group the leave the makeshift gym they shared at The Venetian hotel.
“I thought they were just disrespecting Manny by being on his time (in the gym). If they had come to me and asked me, ‘Freddie, we need an extra half an hour because we’re tied up with some press thing or whatever,' of course I would have said yes,” he added.
Asked if he will also issue an aplogy like what Ariza did, Roach was defiant.
“I have nothing to apologize (for)… I’m the one who got kicked like a girl,” he said, while apologizing to the girls among the press people gathered around him who he said "kicked harder than Ariza."
Roach also denied he made discriminatory remarks during the shouting match when he said something about the Mexicans.
“It was supposed to be for somebody who is Irish (Ariza). I thought he was Mexican so I said, ‘What are you, a tough Mexican?’ It was nothing racial. If you ever come to my gym, (you'll see that) every flag in the world is there,” said Roach.
“He (Ariza) was yelling and screaming like he was gonna kill somebody. So I said an old expression,” he said.
Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph
NOTICE ON UNAUTHORIZED AND UNLAWFUL USE, PUBLICATION, AND/OR DISSEMINATION OF SPIN.PH CONTENT: Please be notified that any unauthorized and unlawful use, publication, and/or dissemination of Spin.ph’s content and/or materials is a direct violation of its legal and exclusive rights to the same, and shall be subject to appropriate legal action/s.
