Manny Pacquiao ‘feels the fire’ in his heart in pursuit of boxing history
HOLLYWOOD — Freddie Roach learned that Manny Pacquiao planned to come out of retirement like the rest of us. So in May, when ESPN reported Pacquiao was ending his four-year break from boxing to challenge WBC welterweight champion Mario Barrios on July 19 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, the 65-year-old trainer found himself riding an emotional rollercoaster.
Roach remembered the good times and smiled at the thought of helping his guy add to an already legendary résumé by becoming the only boxer to win a world title as a Hall of Famer.
“But then part of me started thinking about maybe the negative side,” Roach recalled in late June. “Your mind wanders back and forth when you’re sleeping. Which one do you want? Do you want him to quit? At one point, I wanted to call him up and ask him and his wife to make the right decision and just retire. And then a couple hours later, I wanted to call them up and say, ‘Yeah, let’s make it happen.’
“I usually don’t let that get to me, and I usually go with the right decision. Because there is a wrong and a right decision. You don’t want one of your fighters to get hurt.”
The last time Roach worked Pacquiao’s corner, the inseparable duo lost on points following a flat-footed night in 2021 against Cuban Yordenis Ugás. That 42-year-old version of Pacquiao, who needed stitches for more than one cut on his face, bore little resemblance to the buzzsaw that won belts across eight divisions.
Among prizefighting’s biggest draws the past two decades with Roach at his side, Pacquiao (62-8-2) essentially experienced everything the sport could offer when he opted to retire and launched an ultimately unsuccessful Philippine presidential campaign in 2022.
However, Pacquiao’s recent decision to lace up the gloves again set the stage for something new: a rite of passage great fighters often come to experience despite intending to walk away.
“It is really hard to give up your passion,” Pacquiao said. “After four years, I realized that it’s good for my body to rest. And I can still feel the fire in my heart to push my limits, to continue my career.”
‘He wants it back’
Roach understands that universal truths about fighters, having been one himself, apply to pugs and superstars alike. Rare are those with enough awareness to recognize the proper moment to step away and the willingness to follow through.
Whatever early misgivings the 2012 Boxing Hall of Fame inductee had about “Pac Man” walking a perilous new path to the ring were put to bed when the two spoke. Roach might not have had input before reading headlines about Pacquiao’s return in the spring, but he wasn’t going to get the band back together without satisfying his concerns.
“I would never put a fighter back in the ring when he’s not prepared,” Roach said. “I would never do that.”
Pacquiao informed Roach that he was running twice a day, he wanted to fight for the right reasons, and he had the requisite hunger to do what was required to have his hand raised.
“I don’t think it’s ‘turn back the clock,’” Roach said. “He just misses what he had. He wants it back.”
What Roach missed most about not seeing Pacquiao around Wild Card Boxing, his famous Hollywood gym situated at the back of a strip mall near the corner of Vine Street and Santa Monica Boulevard, was Pacquiao’s “intoxicating” work ethic, which always seemed to elevate the level of competition and intensity in the place.
Shortly after Pacquiao’s comeback became public, it happened that the city of Los Angeles was honoring Roach’s 30-year contribution to the area, renaming it “Freddie Roach Square” on May 18.
From the day Pacquiao knocked on the steel door guarding Wild Card from the outside world and asked to hit mitts in 2001, he and Roach have been “addicted to each other,” said Hall of Fame publicist Fred Sternburg.
“They have such a good time. They work so hard,” Sternburg said. “And it’s probably the most productive partnership I’ve seen in all the years I’ve been working in boxing. And they just feed off of each other.”
A tall order
Reconnecting with Pacquiao was obviously wonderful, but Roach’s initial hesitation also extended to himself.
Was the trainer, who continues to work with a crop of up-and-comers, ready to run a training camp and properly prepare Pacquiao rather than falling into a trap of some pantomime show mimicking the days when they were at the top of their game?
Enduring Parkinson’s disease for more than half his life, Roach pondered if he could fully offer Pacquiao what he had to have in mind, body and spirit to navigate another 12-round championship bout against an opponent in his prime.
In 2023, Barrios, 30, did what Pacquiao was unable to by beating Ugás to claim the then interim WBC welterweight title and improve to 29-2-1.
The San Antonio-born boxer has plenty going for him Saturday beyond youth and vitality, and will bring something Pacquiao is very familiar with for the PBC pay-per-view fight on Prime Video: considerable size and reach advantages.
Standing seven inches above the Filipino’s 5-foot-5 frame, Barrios, the tallest opponent Pacquiao ever fought, weaponizes his physical gifts with fundamentals like a stiff and rangy jab, a dangerous counter right and meaningful body punches.
“This fight is unique,” Pacquiao said, flashing his endearing smile. “I love it. There’s a big question in the minds of the fans if, at 46, can Manny still fight? Can Manny still win?”
Pacquiao arrived in L.A. on a Sunday evening intent to find out. The next morning, with no sleep, he went for a typical early run and spent two hours at Wild Card that afternoon doing 12 rounds on the mitts. He returned the next day for more. A month into camp, any slippage from the four-year absence was no longer on anyone’s mind.
An admitted taskmaster, Roach pushed Pacquiao to rest and recover instead of taking daily mountain runs in Griffith Park. They agreed to spend some of those hours working out on grass to avoid the wear-and-tear that comes with preparing an aging body for unarmed combat.
Eschewing doubts and concerns for good vibes as the fight got closer, Roach said that the experience of seeing Pacquiao “in the ring showing the public what he can do and showing me what he can do is like living life all over again.”