LAS VEGAS Floyd Mayweather Sr. trains his son but the other trainer in Saturday's megafight Freddie Roach said he believes he has more of a father son relationship with Manny Pacquiao than the Mayweathers do.
I mean he hasn't been around that much Roach said of Mayweather Sr. He's been hired and fired too many times in and out of Floyd Jr.'s life too many times.
Mayweather Sr. and Roach have engaged the most serious trash talking efforts before the welterweight fight at MGM Grand though their reasons are fairly transparent.
Mayweather Sr. resents Roach's seven trainer of the year awards. The one time they worked against each other Pacquiao flattened Mayweather Sr. pupil Ricky Hatton in the second round of a 2009 fight. And when Mayweather Sr. walked away from a lucrative job with Oscar De La Hoya rather than work against his son in 2007 Roach took over the job.
Roach likes to needle Mayweather Sr. because it scores mental points when he pits Mayweather Sr. against his brother Roger Mayweather also a leading trainer.
When Roach trained De La Hoya for his 2007 loss to Mayweather it was Roger Mayweather working the opposite corner not Floyd Mayweather Sr.
You know I really have nothing against Floyd Sr. Roach said. I don't think he's mean. Roger's a little bit mean but Floyd he doesn't really bother me. He'll call me stuff and I'll say stuff sometimes just to get him and Roger mad at each other because they're very competitive.
Mayweather Sr. suspected that was the case all along.
He wants my brother to take the accolades from me he said. I know what the whole deal is. You know what Freddie knows what's coming.
Roach might like prodding the Mayweathers publicly but privately he has some compassion for what they have been through including several years when they hardly spoke after Mayweather Sr. quit as trainer in 2000 amid a camp dispute. Mayweather Sr. was evicted from his home and had the car he was driving taken back. Both were owned by his son.
He had his house taken away and his car taken away Roach said. That had to hurt a little bit. Me and Manny in 15 years I think he's been mad at me once and that's been about it.
It was over a game of darts that lasted until 2 a.m. in training camp and Roach insisted after a listless workout that Pacquiao not break curfew again.
He didn't talk to me for three days Roach said.
NOTESWeighty issues Roach acknowledged a suspicion addressed earlier this week by Alex Ariza Mayweather's strength coach who formerly worked for Pacquiao that Pacquiao is underweight. Roach said Pacquiao is about 144 pounds three less than the limit. riza said earlier this week that Pacquiao looks physically drawn and overtrained. Meantime Roach made a rather peculiar assertion that he believes Mayweather is more muscular for this fight and probably would come into the ring at an actual weight of about 160 pounds. Mayweather typically enters the ring about 150 pounds for a welterweight fight and said he has never seen 160 in his life even as a walking around weight.
Pacquiao's $25 million purse Top Rank Inc. founder Bob Arum who promotes Pacquiao said he set the Filipino star's purse at $25 million because Nevada law won't allow him to wire the money as he initially planned. Payment has to be in the form of a check and I don't like to write checks in amounts in excess of what I have in the bank because God knows anything can happen. So I can cover the 25 (million dollars) and that's what he will get the night of the fight. Actually the check will be for $17.5 million after 30 percent federal withholding Arum said adding Pacquiao also had received advances on his pay another violation of Nevada boxing statute. Arum said taxes also would be paid on the advances. Pacquiao has had major back tax issues in both the U.S. and Philippines primarily now the latter. Arum initially said he planned to set Pacquiao's base purse at $50 million. Mayweather's purse has not been announced and his contract has not been filed with the Nevada commission.
Getting the job done Amid the tit for tat rivalry between Top Rank which promotes Pacquiao and Mayweather Promotions Arum pointed out that his company sold more than 90 percent of corporate sponsorships for the fight. Included in that figure is the biggest of the sponsors that created a bit more than $13 million in gross income Tecate which long has sponsored Pacquiao and bid $5.6 million to win the beer sponsorship battle over longtime Mayweather sponsor Corona's $5.2 million bid. Sometimes you don't have to be the lead promoter to accomplish what has to be accomplished Arum said.
Journalistic impact The pay per view show will include two fights the main event and one fight apiece made by Top Rank (Vasyl Lomachenko Gamalier Rodriguez) and Mayweather Promotions (Leo Santa Cruz Jose Cayetano) in separate 122 pound title bouts. Both sides wanted their fight to appear immediately before Mayweather Pacquiao but Arum said he relented when several key boxing writers said if the Ukrainian two time gold medalist Lomachenko went first they would focus their undercard stories on that fight.
David Mayo has covered Floyd Mayweather throughout the boxer's career. Contact him at dmayo mlive.com.
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