LAS VEGAS—What was supposed to be a grand sendoff for Freddie Roach turned out to be a somber affair last night.
His prized ward, Manny Pacquiao, won the war but lost the decision and his WBO welterweight crown to Timothy Bradley Jr.
“I thought we won the fight” said Roach, who proceeded to the airport even before the postfight conference was over to board a chartered plane that would take him to Canastota, New York.
Roach will be inducted into the international boxing Hall of Fame for having been awarded Trainer of the Year five times.
“It’s one of Pacquiao’s best fights since (Miguel) Cotto, even though he failed to stop Bradley,” said Roach, who also praised Bradley for being “tough and being very durable.”
Roach has nothing but disdain for the judges that ruined his enshrinement Sunday (Monday in Manila).
“They had their eyes closed,” said Roach. “Some of them weren’t right because they saw two different things. It is so bizarre.”
On his scorecard, Roach said the most Bradley, would get was 10-2.
“I didn’t see it any closer,” said Roach, who entertained thoughts that Pacquiao’s controversial victory over Juan Manuel Marquez in their third fight last November may have influenced the judges’ scoring.
“But they should not take it (majority decision) against us.”
Roach added that after Pacquiao gave away the 11th round, he told Pacquiao “to pick up and finish this guy.”
Bradley did absorb some good shots, but he kept moving away from Pacquiao’s reach and lasted the round.
And that was all the judges needed to stop Pacquiao’s seven-year reign of terror, at least in the record books.
Pacquiao may have failed to finish off Bradley, but Roach promised he will get him the next time.