Roach No to Blame about Oscar’s lost to Mayweather Bout
MANILA, Philippines – If Oscar de la Hoya loses on December 6, Freddie Roach will surely don’t feel bad about getting blamed for it.
The Hall of Fame trainer said in an international media-conference call on Monday that de la Hoya blamed him for losing to Floyd Mayweather Jr. in 2007.
Roach rejected de la Hoya’s claims and said Oscar strayed from using his bread and butter, the jab.
“The game plan we had for the fight with Mayweather Jr. was working well in the early rounds. I thought we were winning. Then he abandoned the game plan and we lost by decision. About a month ago, he started blaming me for the loss.
“Well, he can blame me for [him] losing this one too,” Roach said, referring to the de la Hoya-Manny Pacquiao match on December 6.
Pacquiao’s trainer didn’t run out of verbal ammunition that easily.
He called de la Hoya a slow learner, the exact opposite of Pacquiao.
“Oscar was great at training camp. He works hard. He trains hard. I know that,” Roach said.
“But he’s not the fastest learner in the world. When you show him something new, he needs time to work on it. With Manny, you show him something once, he picks up quicker.”
When asked whether he would train de la Hoya again, Roach appeared certain about his reply.
“I don’t think so,” he declared. “He said one time he’d never fight without me in his corner. But he just wanted to make me feel good, I guess. And I did feel good.”
“I have no problems with Oscar. He’s a great guy. Maybe after the fight, we can become friends someday. But as it stands now, I’m just using what I learned from him to prepare Manny for this fight,” Roach added.
Much has been said about Roach’s game plan and how much it has been patterned after what he learned when he trained de la Hoya.
Roach downplayed the connection between de la Hoya experience and Pacquiao’s success.
“[What I learned from de la Hoya] helps a little bit but it doesn’t win the fight, of course. Manny’s ability will win the fight.
“I can advice Manny and tell him certain habits that Oscar has, and hopefully get that to our advantage. But it’s up to Manny to make those moves.”
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