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Roach + Pacquiao equals pain and defeat for foes
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Whether it's a feud between Freddie Roach and Michael Koncz, or Manny Pacquiao knocking the socks off of a fighter in the ring, when you combine Roach and Pacquiao together, they win. Even the verbal feud between Freddie and Big Floyd, Roach comes out on top. These guys just don't lose, period.
When Pacquiao first walked into the wild card gym many years ago, the beginning of a long standing victory tour began. These two guys have created so much destruction in their wake one could compare it to The Borg wiping out entire civilizations (you Star Trek fans know what I am taking about here.)
It's a mathematical equation that has equaled doom and defeat for just about every fighter put before them. Roach + Pacquiao equals pain and defeat for their foes. When Hatton got starched by Pacquiao, it looked like that really hurt. A lot of times when a fighter gets knocked out, yes we see the result of the punch, and the fighter goes down. But when Pacquiao knocks people out, it really looks like it's painful.
Equation A - Freddie Roach. A Massachusetts guy, born and bred fighter from childhood. His dad would give preferential treatment to whichever Roach brother who fought the best at the time. This is true, straight out of Freddie's mouth. The kid grew up fighting his brothers, and others in and outside of the ring. Roach was trained by the best, the late Eddie Futch. Freddie dished out some serious pain during his fighting days. He took some pain, and he dished it out just the same. Roach knows how to dish out pain, and he's taught that to his fighters.
Equation B - Manny Pacquiao. A kid from General Santos City Philippines, around the world from Massachusetts. He did what he had to do growing up to survive. A fighter, a warrior, a guy that rose from rags to riches through hard work. Manny is a former student of Roach, now turned partner. Roach said it himself, "Manny is no longer my pupil, he's my equal." Pacquiao has evolved from student to partner because he now see's what Roach see's when they are training together. In fact, according to Roach, Manny now has the ability to take what he shows him, and adds something to the move that makes it even better. Roach told this writer a few weeks ago that "Pacquiao now has the ability to take what I show him, and makes it even better by adding his own idea to it." This is a BAD deal for anyone that faces him in the ring.
There have been many that have been on the wrong side of this duo equation. Morales, Barrera, Diaz, De La Hoya, Hatton, Larios, Marquez, the list goes on and on. It's a simple equation, but it's not a simple equation to solve. Math is funny, you can look at the numbers and see what the numbers are, but you can't always figure out what the answer is. Seems as if so far, the Roach + Pacquiao equation has yet to be solved.
