Roach doing the Right Thing?

Freddie Roach has been laying a lot of smack lately. He has made his strong opinions known regarding Oscar De La Hoya, calling the Golden Boy every old, washed-up and over the hill. It’s really nothing new if you’ve followed the guy’s training career. Freddie calls it like it is. He speaks without filter and gives you his honest take on pretty much whatever you ask him. What’s a little bit surprising though is how he seems to have stepped it a notch higher even for himself. He pulled out a toy guy and teased Oscar in San Francisco and said “Oscar, I think this is yours because I can’t pull the trigger”. And just recently, he has vowed that Manny Pacquiao will send Oscar into retirement and knock him out on December 6, among other things he has said against Oscar. 

It’s safe to say that the Dream Match is personal to the main parties involved regardless of how much they want to deny it. Manny had his rift with Oscar after the latter tried to sign the former “under the table” only for it to backfire in the Golden Boy’s face. On Manny’s part, it was allegedly Oscar’s big mouth that sealed their partnership’s fate when Oscar spoke publicly about his Pacquiao signing after the two agreed to keep it hush until Pacquiao’s contract with Top Rank expired. Roach on the other hand has his own beef with Oscar after he was made the scapegoat and fired after their unsuccessful team-up against Floyd Mayweather Jr. last year. You can also throw in Nacho Beristain, who is currently training Oscar and has his own score to settle with Pacquiao after Pacquiao beat Beristain’s most prized ward in Juan Manuel Marquez earlier this year. So is this really just a case of sour grapes fermenting into wine for December 6?

Maybe that is why Freddie has been more animated than usual about this upcoming fight. But is Freddie really doing the right thing by calling out and instigating Oscar time and time again? It almost seems like Freddie is the one who really wants to personally put a beating on Oscar with the way he has come out with verbal jabs, straights, left hooks and even some subtle low blows.

Do you really want to wake up a sleeping dog? Yes we get it. Even before the fight was made official, Freddie has made it clear he felt Oscar wasn’t particularly spring chicken anymore and Manny has a legitimate chance in beating him so that the match could be signed and for people to actually buy into it. Okay, we all understand now that he really believes in what he said and offering not to take any pay if Manny was to lose just solidified that point even more. But when push comes to shove, is it really necessary for Freddie to keep hurling these verbal haymakers? 

It is common practice for professional teams to post media clippings of anything the other team might have said through the media that was disrespectful regarding them. They use it as extra motivation for them to want to beat their opponents even more. I have participated in team sports before and have been exposed to this kind of mind games and I tell you it does work. During times when you’re tired and ready to just let the game play itself out, you’d get reminded of the disrespectful things the other team just said about you and it instantly pumps your blood back to life and provides you with untapped adrenaline that forces you to keep fighting and not allow yourself to just lie down and die.

Remember the favored French 4 x 100 relay swimming team that promised to kick USA’s asses in Beijing? USA’s Jason Lezak who pulled off that great comeback in the last leg attributed his performance to his desire to shut the French swimmers up after their team felt they were disrespected by the highly favored French team. And yes, USA beat the France in a come from behind storybook fashion.

I sure hope Freddie Roach has a plan. He has indeed stuck his neck further than ever this time. For all the preparations and hard work he has been doing with Manny, fact remains that Oscar is still the betting favorite. Oscar is naturally much bigger than Manny and based on what we’ve seen in his open workouts, he certainly looks good and comfortable fighting at 147. At the end of the day, Manny and Freddie can very well do their best but this fight may very well be decided by only Oscar De la Hoya himself. Freddie said it himself that they wouldn’t fight Oscar if he was in his prime. So why push the guy? A familiar saying in sports suggests “never underestimate the heart of a champion”.  Oscar De la Hoya is a legitimate champion whether you like him or not. If he comes in feeling his age on December 6, then it could be a long night for Oscar. But if he comes in as a hungry fighter with a lot to prove and in the best shape he could possibly be then Freddie might be on the receiving end of a truckload of humble pie.

We all have to remember, no matter how much good is said about Manny’s training and conditioning right now, Manny at 147 is still an unknown commodity. Roach may very well be counting his chickens before they hatch. I tell you this much though, one thing Roach has in common with a mother hen is that he definitely is on the hot seat. Maybe he intended it to be this way so he can take pressure off Manny’s shoulders. Maybe he really just saw something in Oscar that he knows would lead to a sure Pacquiao victory. Maybe Kobe never really touched that girl in Colorado. Maybe I will get a haircut tomorrow. Maybe, maybe, maybe… We can only speculate why Roach has come out with stronger comments against an opponent like never before. But like I said, I just hope he knows what he’s doing.

If Manny Pacquiao gets murdered in the ring by De la Hoya, you already know whom people will be pointing their fingers at first. Don’t put it past anybody to blame Freddie if that happens. By doing all the talking, Freddie has opened himself to a huge potential backlash. Filipinos all over the globe would not hesitate to lay blame on him if Manny does end up taking a beating because it was him after all who guaranteed Manny would win and pushed for this fight harder than anybody else. Freddie is a great person, and for his sake I hope that does not happen. But if it does, he would have nobody else to blame but himself. Like they said, don’t ever kick a sleeping dog because it might just bounce back and bite you. For Roach and Pacquiao fans however, hopefully the dog Freddie has been kicking is one that has lost it’s bite and fight after all- just don’t tell Manny’s dad, otherwise that dead dog would be named adobo or asosena in a heartbeat.