(*Garcia chuckle*)
MACAU — Greetings again from paradise the novelty size chandelier capital of the world. I heard you like notes, so I put some more notes in your notes. The main action today was a pair of roundtables with trainers Freddie Roach and Robert Garcia. Roach is a media tart (and I mean that in the best possible way) and the press love him for it. Garcia, meanwhile, is building a bit of a following of his own with his “hola-fellow-well-met” routine.
David Beckham was also in town to announce a partnership with The Venetian. At the end of a lengthy press conference, I don’t think anyone in attendance would have been able to tell you what exactly that partnership entails. So that was fun. He’ll be at the fights, though, which is cool, I guess.
There was a fair bit of talk about Pacquaio fighting that guy whose name starts with M and ends with –ayweather, but it’s the usual bait-and-switch that happens before every fight so we’re just going to pretend it never happened. Anyway, you asked for notes (at least I think you did), here are the notes:
Roach on the brawl
I just wish it never happened, to be honest with you. I think I was set up, they knew that was my time and they knew I was going to ask them to leave and they told me that they weren’t leaving. Some words were spoken, in what order I’m not sure. Again, I thought they were disrespecting Manny by using his time… My good friend Julio Cesar Chavez called it pretty well… He called him [Ariza] a “fucking scumbag.”
Roach on who’s next for Manny
[Juan Manuel] Marquez. Marquez talks so much shit I really want to shut him up. He’s so satisfied, he doesn’t want to give us a rematch. We gave him three rematches. I think he owes us one.
Roach on Zou Shiming
I thought it was going to happen really quick with Shiming because his first sparring partner in America was Brian Viloria and I thought “for sure this kid’s going to be champion in, like, a month” – he was doing that well. He has Brian Viloria’s number for some reason and then obviously in the first fight he reverted back to his amateur style a little bit too much, I thought. And in the second fight he thought that I wanted him to be more of a banger and I think our game plan got lost in translation a little bit. He stayed in the pocket way too long and got hit way too much in that fight. Because I want him to sit down and score with a couple of good combinations and get under and get out with his speed, but he just stayed in the pocket a bit too long. So now we’re trying to work the middle a little bit, be aggressive but not too aggressive, you know? It’s coming along, he’s getting better, but it’s not going to be as fast as I thought it would be.
Roach on the World Series Of Boxing
It’s just four round fights. It’s a good place for a young kid to start. Just like Prizefighter is not a good place for a young kid to start. I mean, James Toney just went over to Prizefighter and got beat in a three round fight. It’s not good for fighters to do that.
Garcia on the brawl
It could have been handled in a different way. He could have done it differently. But my team could have acted differently, should have acted differently.
Garcia, who methinks doth protest too much, on Rios’ weight
He actually said to the HBO guys that he felt like throwing the bottle of water away because he’s been drinking so much, he’s so full. He’s been eating four times a day, it’s something he’s never experienced.
Garcia on the weight-loss regimen Ariza has prescribed for Rios
I don’t know what the fuck he’s doing. *Garcia chuckle*
Garcia on whether Julio Cesar Chavez, Jr. is going to train in Oxnard
Yeah, but as of now right now he’s still not there. *Garcia chuckle*
Garcia on what he’s learned as a trainer, somewhat interestingly considering what happened in Mikey Garcia vs. Orlando Salido
I’m still learning. I’m still getting better. I’ve thought about it, I’ve thought about my career and the first thing that comes to my mind is when I fought Joel Casamayor. I think “if I knew what I know now, I would have become world champion that day,” because we headbutted in the 6th round and it was a pretty big cut. They took me to the doctor and I said “I’m good, I can still continue fighting.” But I was ahead on all the cards, I could have said “I can’t see, waaa” and they would have gone to the scorecards and I would have won and become world champion. Now, I’d tell my fighter – man, you can’t see, because I know we’re winning!
