Pacquiao-Roach Conference Call Highlights

Freddie Roach, Bob Arum and Manny Pacquiao talk November 14th.

This afternoon the media was treated to the wonders of a Freddie Roach, Bob Arum, Manny Pacquiao conference call. After listening to the hour long conference call I can say that those of you without the capacity to attend such an event missed almost nothing. There were a few points of interest, not the least of which was that Freddie spent a significant amount of time telling us all how great Baguio was to the point where it became a bit desperate. Manny for his part added almost nothing to the conversation except for a pretty fantastic "yes and…" to a certain well known Worldwide Leader scribe which led to some awkwardness. The highlights of the conference call can be found below:

* The MGM Grand has sold out of tickets for the event. They are also hearing that the closed circuit locations are doing big numbers for tickets so if you expect to watch the event on closed circuit you might want to get your tickets now.

* Bob Arum: more attention, more interest then any fight he can remember in the last five or ten years.

* Freddie Roach says that Manny is 95% ready right now for the fight on Nov. 14th.

* Freddie talked about what it would be like to win a 7th world championship in a 7th weight division: Beating Cotto for 7th world title it'll be unbelievable - Manny is a throwback like Henry Armstong fighters don't move up and win championships in different divisions. He's getting better and better, carries his speed and power up when he moves up. One of the greatest achievements ever, surpassing Sugar Ray Leonard, Tommy Hearns - he's in the elite category in the top 5 fighters of all time of any era.

* Freddie mentions that he does not believe Manny could move up to a higher weight class, though if the right fighter came along at 154 they might try it.

* Freddie talks about how Manny is the most popular fighter he has ever been around. "Even Tyson doesn't have the drawing power of Pacquiao right now. His countryman love him and he's a great inspiration of his country that's why we trained in Baguio for the first four weeks - we had a great time there, it worked out really well and the people appreciated it."

* Is Miguel Cotto the biggest challenge for Manny? "I don't know if it's the biggest challenge. He's a very good fighter, he's champion in the world, we're moving up in weight class where we fought Oscar also. He's going to knock Cotto out - I'm very confident and I look forward to the win."

* Freddie was asked how difficult it was to train in Baguio: "Baguio worked out well for us - we asked people to stay away - closed the gym down; it was no problem at all. No politicians bothering him, or asking for support. It was the best four weeks we've ever had, Manny was on par from day one. I thought he was trying to impress me because I wanted to stay closer to Wild Card. The weather messed with us a little bit, we ran in the rain, we went in the pool, we went inside sometimes - we had no distractions - we had a great first month. The last week in Manilla was a little tougher because there was a lot of politicians there and everyone wanted to pull him in different directions. First four weeks in Baguio were great."

* One point of interest came up when an LA Daily News writer asked Freddie about this being the most difficult fighter that Manny has faced. The writer mentioned that "everyone on this line right now" would agree that Oscar wasn't throwing very hard the night Manny beat De La Hoya. This got Freddie all riled up – "Yeah but before that fight nobody thought Manny could fight him - why does nobody say Manny had a good night. Everyone wants to talk about how Oscar had a bad night."

* Finally what is Freddie's feeling on Cotto coming off the brutal KO at the hands of Margarito especially considering that Manny has been knocked out twice in his career: "You need time to build your confidence back, and fighters to build your confidence. Obviously we got Cotto at a good time he's getting better, but it definitely effects you - it takes something out of you - his first fight he didn't look that good, his second fight he looked better getting more confidence the thing is if we give him confidence in this fight he'll get stronger and stronger so I feel we need to take it away from him right away."


I can see it here how Roach really defends, supports Manny Pacquiao about his previous fights, his preparation up until this very moment , or let's say couple of weeks more before the firepower fight of Pacquaio over Cotto.
Click here.