MANNY PACQUIAO’S WORLD title fight against Timothy Bradley today is just one event in a whirlwind weekend for trainer Freddy Roach, who will be inducted into boxing’s Hall of Fame on Sunday.
Roach said he wouldn’t miss the ceremony in Canastota, New York, calling it a “once in a lifetime deal.”
“Part of the reason I’m going in the Hall of Fame is Manny Pacquiao,” he added. The two teamed up in 2001, when little-known Pacquiao needed a place to train in the United States and tried Roach’s Wild Card Gym in Hollywood.
The two had a connection immediately, Roach recalled.
“It was the first time we met each other,” Roach said. “I didn’t miss a beat on the mitts. It was like I knew him his whole life. He couldn’t even speak English back then.”
Pacquiao has since evolved into a global superstar, a world champion in eight weight classes who is a hero — and congressman — in his homeland and a money-spinning celebrity in the United States.