UAAP first-timer Roach roots for La Salle: ‘I like green’

Hall of Fame boxing trainer Freddie Roach watches the Ateneo-La Salle game in the UAAP Season 79 men’s basketball tournament Sunday, Oct. 2, 2016 at Mall of Asia Arena. Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net

It’s been said an Ateneo versus La Salle match is a social event.

So it is normally attended by a wide range of celebrities. On Sunday at the Mall of Asia Arena, Manny Pacquiao’s longtime trainer Freddie Roach was one of those personalities part of the 20,000-strong crowd.

The decorated boxing mentor watched the game with sports columnist Quinito Henson, a La Salle alumnus, and proudly wore green.

When asked why he was picking the La Salle side, he said, “I like Notre Dame, I like Irish. I like green.”

“I met the [Green Archers] yesterday (Saturday). I met the players and the coaches and I like them,” he added.

Though he has already attended a championship game in the PBA, Roach shared this is his first experience in the local collegiate basketball scene.

“This is my first time in the college level. I hear it is [a fierce rivalry], so I look forward to a great game,” he said before the game.

Spending the majority of his career boxing and training fighters, Roach said he always has a soft spot for college basketball wherever he may be.

“I’m always into college basketball wherever I am in the world. It’s a great sport and I think it’s going to be a lot of fun,” he said.

Roach is in town training Pacquiao for his upcoming fight against Jessie Vargas next month in Las Vegas.