Dedham, Massachusetts December 14, 2012

Freddie Roach at Ringside: Dedham Native Trains Champions

By Brian Wright OConnor HOLLYWOOD Long before you see Freddie Roachs gym, you hear it, or rather feel it in the deepest part of your chest. The boxers jumping ropes and hitting the bags work in the same rhythm, a relentless base beat in three-quarters time that abruptly pauses every three minutes when a bell rings. The thump-thump-thump pours from the doorway of the Wild Card Boxing Club as you walk up the iron stairway to the cramped quarters where champions train. Inside, overlooked by boxing posters of Manny Pacquiao and other gladiators from the Roach stable, its a blizzard of action around the 25-foot ring. The improbable maestro of the gyms organized mayhem soon appears, his grey goatee, spiky hair and black-rimmed glasses moving from boxer to boxer like a worker bee coaxing honey from every stalk. The fisticuff pride of Dedham warmly greets visitors from the old hometown and settles into a bench near the corner doorway to discuss the klieg-light arena of professional boxing, his prominent place in the spotlight, and the unlikely pathway from Milton Street to Hollywood and Vine. The worlds top boxing trainer, with close to 30 champions under his tutelage, Roach, 52, has had a very good year. A six-part HBO series, On Freddie Roach, aired in January and he was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in June. He regularly trains Hollywood Freddie Roach points out boxing techniques to Meghan OConnor during a stars like Mark Wahlberg and Christian Bale, who appeared visit to the Wild Card Boxing Club. in the hugely successful film The Fighter about Lowells Mickey Ward. Roachs top charge, Manny Pacquiao, the worlds most popular boxer, has won championships in eight divisions and generates gate receipts and pay-per-view payouts that rival Dedhams annual town budget.

The relationship between the Filipino boxer voted Fighter of the Decade for 2001-2010 -- and the American trainer is close. Both come from tough working-class backgrounds and scrapped around in lower weight classes. The Philippines heavily Catholic, rural, poor, and opinionated is Ireland with bamboo. The journey to the top of the game began for Roach with modest steps. I remember as a little boy getting up at 6 a.m. in the morning. My dad Freddie Roach and Mannie Pacquiao at a press conference prior to the Filipino fighters bout against Juan Manuel Marquez. would have me do roadwork even on days like this, he says, glancing out the door where the Southern California weather is channeling New England with a cold, driving rain. I used to run over to the Hyde Park hockey rink and do wind sprints on the football field. Roach, one of seven children, trained under his father, Paul, a tough former professional boxer who moved the family from Dorchester to Dedham when Freddie was four. I used to catch the bus on Washington Street to get to Connollys Gym in Southie, he says. Take the bus to the Orange Line at Forest Hills and the Red Line to Southie. That was my routine. That was my world. All five Roach boys trained and fought there, including his brother Pepper, who now works with him at the gym Roach opened 20 years ago. There were a lot of great fighters around and a lot of great opportunities. Boston back then was a really good boxing town. There used to be four shows a month. Amateur boxing is what made me as a boxer. I had 100 amateur bouts, he says, his speech slightly slurred from Parkinsons Disease the legacy of a career in the ring that ended after an eight-year, 40-13 run in the professional ranks. Its not the same. Boxing is the hardest sport in the world. Its a lot easier to make a football team as one of 50 than to become the single world champion. The flood of talent from every corner of the world into the boxing game is evident at Wild Card, where Filipinos and Nigerians box alongside Mexicans and Russians. Its the United Nations of pummeling. Freddie trains them all, including a gentleman stooped and grey who offers the trainer a courtly greeting before stepping out into the rain. Hes my oldest client, says Freddie. Before turning pro in 1978, Roach worked, like his father, as an arborist, using his schooling from the Norfolk Agricultural School where he was class president to start his own business. When work was slow, hed help his dad deliver heating oil in the winter, until a severe back injury sidelined his father. I hated pulling the hose, he says, shaking his head. I remember my last tree job. It was a take-down for $300. Made enough to get a ticket to Las Vegas. My girlfriend at the time ended up going to the prom with another guy. I got mad, but boxing took over.

By age 26, Roachs career in the ring was over. He found a new mission at the side of Eddie Futch, the legendary trainer who had advised him to give up the gloves many fights before the inevitable became obvious. Roach quickly showed an ability to bring out the best in fighters. Rather than imposing a style or strategy on each one, he built their attack on the foundation of their own instinct and skills, an approach that has worked time and time again. In last weekends battle royale between Pacquiao and Mexican icon Juan Manuel Marquez, Roachs advice to go toe-to-toe with the Mexican counterpuncher looked great up until the end of the sixth round. Marquez, who had drawn once and lost twice to Pacquiao on close and controversial decisions, was bleeding badly, down on points, and backed up to the ropes. The Filipino boxer unleashed a cyclone of blows, hoping to finish him off. The Mexican welterweight dodged a particularly errant Manny right-hand jab and put his full body into an overhand right that clocked his opponent. With one second left in the round, Manny dropped to the canvas, arms beneath him, and lay unmoving for two minutes. Fight over. If you want to blame someone for him losing, blame me, said Roach after the bout. I was overconfident, said Manny. Translation: Stay tuned for Pacquiao-Marquez V. But back at the gym, the Las Vegas theatrics are still many days away. An HBO satellite truck sits in the parking lot, waiting to film Mannys arrival and training sessions. The phone is ringing off the hook. And the thump-thump-thump continues. Roach enjoys reminiscing about Dedham his first love, his friends at the Avery School, his junior-high wrestling coach and his fighting buddies from Connollys. But theres too much going on to dwell on the past. Freddie points out undefeated fighters training alongside novices. His assistant points to her watch and the phone, impatient to get the paying business back underway. One last bit of pugilistic wisdom: How do you know a good fighter? Just the way they move in the ring. You just know it.