MACAU – The great Freddie Roach never imagined being in this situation.
When the Hall of Fame trainer worked the corner of Zou Shiming the last time, he couldn’t help but feel a little bit strange that one fighter whose looks eerily similar stood at the opposite end of the ring.
“It was strange as ever,” said Roach laughing, recalling having made a quick glance from his corner at Shiming's opponent Kwanpichit Onesongchaigym, the Manny Pacquiao dead ringer, just before their 12-round flyweight match was about to begin Sunday at the Cotai Arena here.
Of course, the similarity ends there as the 33-year-old Thai was definitely a world apart as far as Pacquiao’s skills were concerned.
Shiming, the two-time Olympic gold medalist from China who’s also a Roach protégé, proceeded to give Kwanpichit a sound beating as he knocked down the Thai in the second round on the way to hacking out a one-sided unanimous decision.
The loss was the first for Kwanpichit (27-1, 12 KOs), a self-confessed Pacquiao fan.
“You know, he only looks like Manny but he doesn’t fight like Manny,” said Roach of the Pacman look-alike, who gained so much attention as he fought in the undercard of the Pacquiao-Chris Algieri world title fight.
“So we’re lucky at that. Shiming did well (against him),” added the five-time Trainer of the Year.
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