Freddie Roach voted into Boxing Hall of Fame

Source : AKTV

Freddie Roach, the renowned trainer of Filipino boxing icon Manny Pacquiao, is part of the latest class of inductees into the International Boxing Hall of Fame.



Roach joins other illustrious names such as former world champions Thomas “Hitman” Hearns and Mark Johnson, announcer Michael Buffer, broadcaster Al Bernstein, and boxing journalist Michael Katz.

“I’d like to thank everyone, from the bottom of my heart, who voted for me and congratulate those inducted with me today,” said Roach in a statement.

“I started my career in professional boxing with Eddie Futch and now we will be together, forever, enshrined in the International Boxing Hall of Fame with the greatest legends of the sport. I am truly honored and humbled.”

Born in a suburb of Boston, Massachusetts, Roach began his amateur boxing career as a teenager before turning professional at age 18. He trained under the legendary Futch, who later took Roach under his wing as an assistant trainer.

In 2001, Roach began working with Manny Pacquiao, a partnership that saw the Filipino pugilist zoom to the top of the boxing world. Roach is credited for turning Pacquiao from a one-dimensional offensive dynamo into a complete boxer.

Remarkably, Roach has achieved tremendous success as a trainer despite suffering from Parkinson’s Disease, which he attributes to fighting too many times.

“I had five fights too many,” Roach told The Guardian in an interview last May. “I lost four of ‘em. I had the finest trainer there’s ever been, Eddie Futch, and he knew I’d had enough. But I was 26 years old and still hard-headed so I couldn’t see it. This is how it is. Boxing gets in your blood and you just can’t quit.”