Roach: Mayweather training with his dad is advantage for us

MANILA, Philippines – Freddie Roach, the trainer of Manny Pacquiao, says he feels that Floyd Mayweather Jr’s choice to revert to his father as trainer in 2013 will be a big advantage for his fighter when they square off on May 2 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. 

Mayweather (47-0, 26 knockouts) switched to his father Floyd Sr before his bout with Robert Guerrero Jr, deposing his uncle Roger, who worked his corner in the previous 13 years. 

Both Roger Mayweather and Floyd Sr were accomplished boxers with decades of in-ring experience. Roger was a two-time world champion in the 130- and 140-pound divisions, while Floyd Sr was a fringe contender during the ’70s and ’80s whose career was hampered by problems outside of the ring.

“Luckily Roger won’t be running the corner for Floyd, his dad is in the corner. I think Floyd Sr makes it an easier fight for us,” Roach, who is in Macau preparing Chinese boxer Zou Shiming for his fight against IBF flyweight champion Amnat Ruenroeng on Saturday, told Rappler.

“The dad’s not as good a trainer, he’s not as good a fighter. He keeps telling me how great he is, but it takes him 10 minutes to say one word in the corner.  

“Roger is the better fighter, Roger is the better trainer. Roger has more wins with Floyd than anybody. I think it’s a huge mistake getting rid of Roger and going with his Dad. I love his Dad in the corner.”

(READ: Manny Pacquiao puts on game face as training camp looms)

The Mayweather family has had a long history of feuding, with Roger turning Floyd Jr pro following the 1996 Olympics after Mayweather Sr was sentenced to 5 years in prison on drug trafficking charges in 1994. 

Mayweather Sr returned to his role as head trainer just before his son became a world champion for the first time in 1998 but quit in 2000 after Floyd Jr’s bout with Gregorio “Goyo” Vargas. 

The HBO 24/7 reality series often chronicled the family squabbles, with Mayweather Jr throwing his father out of the Mayweather Gym in Las Vegas on camera prior to his 2011 bout with Victor Ortiz. After a disagreement involving two female boxers, the father and son nearly came to blows, with Mayweather Jr telling his father, “You weren’t shit as a fighter so how you gonna be something as a trainer?”

Mayweather Sr trained Ricky Hatton for his 2009 fight with Manny Pacquiao in 2009, which Pacquiao won by second round knockout.

“He said that he would die for his mother but he’d put up a fight for his daddy,” Mayweather Sr told the 24/7 cameras before that fight. 

The two patched matters up prior to Mayweather Jr’s 2012 bout with Miguel Cotto, serving in an unofficial capacity in the camp. Mayweather then installed his father as head trainer after he was released from prison later that year after serving two-thirds of a 3-month sentence for misdemeanor domestic battery.

The 36-year-old, 8-division champion Pacquiao (57-5-2, 38 KOs) has been with Roach ever since he first began campaigning in America in 2001.

Roach says Mayweather Sr tends to be a more defensive trainer than his brother Roger, but Mayweather Jr is the boss at the end of the day.

“Overall, Floyd runs the show. He doesn’t care, he doesn’t want to please anybody but himself. I’ve known him since he was 5 years old, he was a good fighter back then also. 

“One thing about Floyd, he is a self made fighter. Nobody taught him how to fight. He grew up in the gym, he grew up a fighter, and that’s where he learned to fight.” Roach said. – Rappler.com

Ryan Songalia is the sports editor of Rappler, a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA) and a contributor to The Ring magazine. He can be reached at ryan.songalia@rappler.com. Follow him on Twitter: @RyanSongalia.