Former two-division world champion Zab Judah is none too pleased with Manny Pacquiao’s trainer Freddie Roach after recent comments the trainer made regarding a report that Floyd Mayweather Jr. had knocked out Zab Judah in a sparring session. Roach was not impressed.
“Who cares if he knocked out an old man like Zab Judah,” Roach said on Manny Pacquiao’s Facebook page. Judah seemed baffled by the comments and responded by skewing Roach.
“I don’t know his situation or what kind of likeness the man has for me, but I’m not into that. I’m a married man. I just want you to know that for the record,” said a laughing Judah in an interview with Dontae’s Boxing Nation. “I feel for you for your situation, but that does cause you to have Tourette’s at the mouth.” Judah went on to say that Roach did nothing in boxing as a fighter and isn’t worthy enough to be considered a Hall of Fame trainer.
“Let’s bring it to the record, Freddie. You were a fighter yourself. You did nothing in boxing,” added Judah. “You want to talk about bums, let’s talk about Roach. You were just like a heavy bag in the boxing world. You didn’t beat anybody, you didn’t do anything, I’m a five-time champion of the world. I’ve never in my life said anything negative towards you.”
As a fighter, Roach was 40-13 with 15 knockouts and lost five of his last six fights leading up to his retirement in 1986. In addition, Roach never fought for a major world championship.
Unlike Roach, Judah has been in 22 world title appearances, with a record of 12-10 with 10 knockouts. In his prime, Judah was known for his incredibly fast hand speed. In 2010, Judah gave Argentian slugger Lucas Matthysse his first professional defeat, despite tasting the canvas in the 10th round. Furthermore, he has fought guys like Danny Garcia, Amir Khan, Joshua Clottey, Miguel Cotto, Floyd Mayweather Jr., etc.
Judah began to tread into deep water when he said that he didn’t see Roach as a Hall of Fame trainer.
“You’re a Hall of Fame trainer. I beg to differ,” said Judah. “A Hall of Fame trainer can take somebody from day one from scratch and make them into a champion. You’ve never taken anyone.”
Judah added that fighters like Amir Khan, Miguel Cotto, and Manny Pacquiao had been already good boxers before they came into Freddie Roach’s stable, but I also ‘beg to differ.’
Manny Pacquiao was not the offensive machine he was before Freddie Roach became his trainer. When he was a flyweight, he was knocked out twice. Yes, he had power, but he was a one-dimensional, one-handed fighter. Compare the Pacquiao who got knocked out against Rustico Torrecampo and Medgoen Singsurat to the Pacquiao we saw against Oscar De La Hoya or David Diaz; that’s not the same fighter.
Amir Khan had a similar introduction. Roach took Khan under his wing after a brutal knockout loss at the hands of Breidis Prescott in September 2008. Khan went on to win his next eight fights, took a controversial split decision loss against Lamont Peterson, and was knocked out by Danny Garcia.
Instead of blaming the loss on himself not following the game plan, Khan blamed the loss partly on Roach’s Parkinson’s Disease, which led to their separation. Now under the tutelage of Virgil Hunter, Khan appears to be doing much better and hopes to get a world title shot soon.
In November 2008, Shane Mosley fired his father, Jack Mosley, as his trainer. The former three-division world champion hired Naazim Richardson to prepare him for Antonio Margarito, whom he annihilated in nine one-sided rounds, in a performance that looked far better than his previous one against Ricardo Mayorga when he trained with his father.
While Roach has never built a superstar, he has taken good fighters with major flaws and made them great fighters. That is the resume of a Hall of Fame trainer.
