Roach putting his money on Hopkins

Freddie Roach is one of those guys who doesn't talk much, but when he does, he is always worth listening to. The Hollywood trainer is used to working with the likes of Manny Pacquaio and Oscar De La Hoya, but will be in Bernard Hopkins's corner for the second time on Saturday night, after overseeing Hopkins's training for the bout against Joe Calzaghe in Pasadena.
And Roach thinks it's a close fight, unlike the Las Vegas oddsmakers who make Calzaghe a strong favourite. And he is willing to put his money on it.
"Odds-wise I’d make it even money if I was the odds maker," Roach said. "I’ve only bet on a couple of fighters in my career, but I’m going to bet on this fight."

Roach, who has led a four-man training team for Hopkins, and it has been his job to work out Calzaghe's style. "Calzaghe’s style is a little bit different," Roach said. "It’s not hard to figure out. He fights the same fight every time, but he’s very effective with it.

"Bernard’s always in shape. But he’s in much better shape in this fight. It’s only 5 pounds more [than his bout against Ronald "Winky" Wright], but he’s much stronger with this fight. Bernard knows more about boxing than all of us. He’s the world champ and he’s been in there forever.

"There are certain adjustments that you have to make when you fight a righty or a southpaw, and Joe doesn’t make those changes. I don’t think he’s fought anyone like Hopkins. Jeff Lacy is not as smart as Bernard. Bernard’s smart, he’s a smart guy…I believe Bernard will control the fight.”

">“He (Bernard) walks me into punches sometimes while we’re training. And I know it’s not malicious or because I’m a white guy. Bernard’s like Joe Louis. He’s a text book fighter. His hands are up, his feet are set. He’s a very smart fighter. I hope the British people boo us. I like that we’re an underdog.”

Losing to a guy like Bernard Hopkins is not a disgrace. And at the same time losing to a guy like Joe Calzaghe is not a disgrace. “

Comments

[Gloria]

Roach got it spot on. I thought Hopkins showed what a great pro he is.
I think he just overdid the dirty stuff and held on to much. The American boxing judges interpretation of boxing worked in Joe 's favor. Joe won because he came to fight and came forward the whole time. He got lucky in my opinion but good on him ,the nice guy won