One of the longest and most successful partnerships in recent boxing history appears to have come to an end.
Manny Pacquiao will not be trained by Freddie Roach ahead of his July fight against Lucas Matthysse, according to ESPN’s Dan Rafael. Instead, his friend and longtime assistant trainer, Buboy Fernandez, will train him for the fight.
This appears to make official a split many saw coming.
Pacquiao began training with Roach when he moved to the United States and fought regularly in America around 2001. They had great success together, with Pacquiao helping Roach to achieve international fame and even become the subject of an HBO TV show. But as Pacquiao’s career started to wane and his interests turned to politics, Roach was critical of Pac-Man to the media. He has advocated for Pacquiao to retire from boxing. He was critical of Pacquiao for not being focused enough on his training last year.
After Pacquiao’s loss to Jeff Horn in Australia last summer, Pacquiao’s promoter Bob Arum even threw Roach under the bus. Roach said he thought Pacquiao was upset with him and that he hadn’t been paid for the fight.
Pacquiao has been due for a change and may want to simplify with fewer voices in his corner.
