Freddie Roach Reacts To Manny Pacquiao Splitting With Him For Next Fight

Manny Pacquiao will be back in a familiar setting, fighting for a world title, but what will be different is that he won’t have longtime trainer Freddie Roach in his corner.

Pacquiao announced he will have Restituto ‘Buboy’ Fernandez and Raides ‘Nonoy’ Neri training him for Pacquiao’s July 14 fight against Lucas Matthysse for the WBA “regular” welterweight title in Malaysia. Pacquiao won’t have Roach, who has been instrumental to Pacquiao’s success as a future Hall of Famer.

Roach spoke with the Los Angeles Times and said he had a tremendous run with Pacquiao and has no hard feelings regarding the announcement. Roach did reveal that he hasn’t been formally informed by Pacquiao that he has been let go and that he “probably” deserves a phone call from Pacquiao regarding the issue.

“I had a great [16] years with the guy and if they feel it’s time for me to go, I’m not upset with Manny. We had a great run. That many years? Who lasts that long together in this business?” Roach said.

The Hall of Famer trainer won seven Trainer Of The Year awards from the Boxing Writers Association of America, working with some of the biggest names in the sport. Roach has trained former world champions Miguel Cotto, Amir Khan, James Toney and more. Roach even worked with former UFC middleweight champion Georges St. Pierre in his return to the UFC last year when St. Pierre defeated Michael Bisping to win the title last year.

Pacquiao will be fighting for the first time since losing the WBO welterweight title last year on ESPN. It would be Roach’s last fight training Pacquiao.