Freddie Roach: Rise of The Fallen

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    (June 8, 2012 – Source: Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images North America)

    Hysteria – state of violent mental agitation. Could this be what we as boxing fans are experiencing when we think of Freddie Roach? The outcry has gotten so loud in the last few months,  all fingers point to Roach; all the blame laid upon him for the string of loses and draws his stable of fighters have been taking.

    The opinion of many is that Roach is spreading himself to thin amongst so many fighters. So quickly, we forget all the great achievements Roach has accomplished throughout his career as a trainer. After his retirement from fighting, Roach worked with his former trainer and mentor Eddie Futch as an unpaid assistant picking up the necessary skills to excel in his new career as a head trainer.

    Roach you would say had gotten his claim to fame when a young man from General Santos City, Philippines by the name of Emmanuel “Manny” Pacquiao walked to his gym. Roach and Pacquiao went on to achieve things fighters and trainers can only dream of. This includes eight-division world championships for Manny Pacquiao and Roach being inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame and 2006 California Boxing Hall of Fame Inductee.

    Roach also added the Boxing Writers Association of America Trainer of the Year in 2003, 2006, 2008 & 2009. Roach also added the 2008 World Boxing Council (WBC) “Lifetime Achievement Award” to his mantle. But now Roach seemingly isn’t held in that high regard he should by some in boxing.

    Come September 15, 2012, Roach will be given the opportunity to redeem himself or Julio Cesar Chavez Jr, son of the legend will fall victim to what is being called the Roach curse. The Roach curse is a urban legend if you will started amongst boxing fans and media, a myth that started once Roach’s fighters began to lose in fights they truly had no business losing.

    The first fight that began it all was on October 15, 2011, when Jorge Linares the then heavily touted contender was being pushed as the second coming, took on Antonio Demarco for the Vacant WBC lightweight title. Linares would start out fast looking great in the early rounds eventually gassing in the second half of the fight with Demarco scoring a 11th round TKO.

    The sign of a bad storm brewing was November 12, 2012, when Manny Pacquiao not looking himself in his fight with Juan Manuel Marquez in a fight that Roach claimed Pacquiao would stop Marquez by knockout. Instead we got a very controversial decision with a lot of fans split down the middle on a definitive winner.

    Next it would be Amir “King” Khan going in to what the betting line in Vegas via sportsbook.com had Khan as a -1100 and +600 for Peterson. While there was plenty of controversy to speak of in that fight; should a fighter that’s a +600 underdog even be involved in a close fight with a -1100 favorite?

    History would repeat itself when Linares would take a supposed to be a tune up in Sergio Thompson which ended in Linares being blitzed by Thompson. Linares was sent to the canvas twice in the 2nd round and the fight was stopped due to a cut to the left eyelid of Linares. This would bring on the whispers and rumors of Roach not giving enough attention to some of his fighters due to being too busy with Pacquiao.

    Lateef Kayode would also fail in his step up fight with Antonio Tarver scoring a draw in a fight where he felt he won and went as far as to imply that Showtime maybe had something to do with the decision. Both had their moments in the fight, with Kayode starting strong and Tarver biting down and inching his way back into the fight with accuracy, even landing big left hooks hurt Kayode a few times.

    Manny Pacquiao suffered his first lost in 7 years when he took on Timothy Bradley June 9, 2012, when the world got to witness the ugly side of boxing. Bradley was awarded the win in a fight no one seen him winning.

    Khan would come back after a failed attempt to rematch Peterson due to a positive drug result on Peterson behalf, and was replaced by Danny Garcia the new WBC light welterweight champion. Garcia a 6 to 1 underdog who had no shot so they said. He was to slow they believed, he was flat footed, but in the end Garcia put Khan down a total of three times with Kenny Bayless finally stepping in to call a halt to the contest ending in Khan worse lost since being knockout by Prescott.

    Roach has one last spade in his deck of cards, Julio Cesar Chavez Jr son of a legend. Chavez is looking to prove that he is his own man when he goes before the true middleweight champion of the world and Ring belt champion Sergio “La Maravilla” Martinez. Roach will be looking to focus all his attention on the young Chavez as he goes up vs. his toughest test to date.

    Martinez last four fights have ended in knockout and per our conversation on the ThaBoxingVoice.com radio show he promises another come September 15, 2012. Chavez has his advantages in this fight, size being the most evident as he has entered the ring as high as 22 lbs over the middleweight limit on fight night.

    The duo is scheduled to meet at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, headlining the pay-per-view. This will be the big stage for both fighters. This fight can catapult either fighter in to super stardom. More importantly for Roach, it’s the opportunity to defy the odds for his fighter.

    Three fights ago no one gave Chavez Jr a chance against Martinez. Today they pick Chavez, due to his resilience, his size, and weight advantage; all things no one thought to mention before. All things Roach clearly worked on.

    Roach has brought Chavez from a boy fighting to please his father to a boxer puncher who intimidates his foes by inviting them to hit him, taking those shots smiling and mounting his ferocious body attack. , Julio has made huge progress since taking under five time trainer of the year Freddie Roach. In his last fight he put in an impressive showing against the highly regarded Andy Lee, taking him out in the 7th round. Chavez has shown considerable improvement in his last several fights. This could be Roach’s ticket out from underneath that dark cloud of fan fueled rumors. No one picked Chavez to beat Martinez 3 years ago. Should that happen on September 15th, it only shows how good of a trainer Roach really is in the development of the son of a legend.