Boxer Manny Pacquiao (L) and coach Freddie Roach. TRISTAN TAMAYO/INQUIRER.net
MANILA, Philippines—There’s no denying that the names Manny Pacquiao and Freddie Roach meant incomparable success during the 2000s and early 2010s.
No other duo in boxing drew more success and notoriety than Roach and Pacquiao (62-7-2), who through the ranks with the iconic Filipino slugger going on a 27-5-2 record and taking home World titles from the junior featherweight to the super welterweight divisions.
Roach, who has trained 27 World champions, said that he built the famed Wild Card Gym in Los Angeles in the hopes of stumbling upon the next Muhammad Ali.
It just so happened that the next version of The Greatest was Pacquiao–for Roach, at least.
“I’ve always said I built my gym just in case the next Muhammad Ali walked through the door—Manny Pacquiao is my Muhammad Ali,” wrote Roach on his Twitter account.
I’ve always said I built my gym just in case the next Muhammad Ali walked through the door – Manny Pacquiao is my Muhammad Ali. #truth #boxer #Senator #wildcardboxing #boxing @MannyPacquiao @MuhammadAli @WildCardBoxing1 @WCBstore @KnuckleheadSean @david_sisson35 📸#LucasNoonan pic.twitter.com/Vmd7XeLIo9
— Freddie Roach (@FreddieRoach) February 8, 2020
Both Pacquiao and Ali are overly charismatic personalities outside the ring and intense competitors inside of it.
Ali is the only three-time World heavyweight champion, the most for any fighter in that weight class, while Pacquiao is the only boxer to have won a World title in eight different divisions.
Roach is already in the World Boxing Hall of Fame and has won Boxing Writers Association of America’s Trainer of the Year award seven times from 2003, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2013, and 2014.