As he readies Manny Pacquiao for his Nov. 13 fight with Antonto Margarito (on HBO pay-per-view), Pacquiao's trainer, Freddie Roach, is taking some time to talk to FOXSports.com about the preparation process from his Wild Card Gym in Hollywood.
In Part 3 of four interviews, we spoke to Freddie about having Pacquiao spar with another of his fighters, WBA light welterweight champ Amir Khan, and about how far along Manny is at this point of training camp.
FOXSports.com: I saw how you brought in Amir Khan as a sparring partner. How'd that work out?
Roach: It worked out great. It brought (Manny's) speed back up. Against some of the bigger guys, he was fighting at their speed level. So I brought in Amir to get his speed back up and it worked out well.
FOXSports.com: How often do you bring in name fighters like Amir as a sparring partner?
Roach: Just once in a while when I need them. And Amir has a big fight coming up against Marcos Maidana in December, so it's good for him to get back in the gym early. They've trained together every day. It's good. They run together and they push each other. They're very competitive.
FOXSports.com: What are some of the things you look for when choosing sparring partners?
Roach: Mostly the style and the size of them relative to the opponents. Sometimes I just look for the quality of work. When (Manny) can be sharp with a fast guy like Amir Khan, he can be sharp with anybody in the world.
Good work is good work. It's timing and distance. At first we bring guys in who are similar to the opponents, but toward the end of camp it changes to what gets him to be his best it terms of speed and timing and distance.
It's all really come together in the last week. We really had a great week here in L.A. last week. (Monday) we had one of the best days we've ever had. We're back on track now that he's in America and there are no outside distractions with politics and so forth. He did a little thing on Jimmy Kimmel (Monday) night, but it wasn't too harmful.
FOXSports.com: What made (Monday) such a great day?
Roach: We did 15 rounds of mitts yesterday, straight through, no rest period. Everything I asked for, he knew exactly what I meant. We're on the same page with the game plan. He knows what to do in situations. He showed me all the different ways he can beat this guy — inside, outside, with angles. It was just a complete great day. He understood everything, I understood everything. We're just on the same page. It was probably the best 15 rounds of mitts I've ever done in my life with a fighter.
FOXSports.com: When you got back to the Wild Card from the Philippines, what were the main things you wanted to accomplish?
Roach: The core strength and the conditioning are the most important things over there. As you get closer to the fight, time and distance come into play more. Just the hard work, the sparring partners, the bigger guys — the 170 pounders, 165 pounders, strong guys — maybe a little slower than I would want for Manny. But those big guys get him used to taking a punch from a bigger guy.
It worked out really well. We had some distractions over there because the President wanted to meet with him and Congress was in the way a little bit. He missed one day of training because the President wanted to meet with him and I was a little pissed off about that. That's why I said it was the worst training camp we've ever had, because he would never do that before.
But we only missed one day. Compared to what most fighters do, I'm sure it was a great training camp. But for us it was a little bit different. When he tells me he misses his job in Congress, I was a little surprised.
We got through that now, and the focus is 100 percent on the fight, and he's ready. If the fight was today, I'd be happy.
FOXSports.com: When do you take off for Dallas?
Roach: Monday night (Nov. 9). The last day of sparring is on Monday. We'll do three or four rounds just to sharpen him up. Then we'll get on a plane and go to Dallas. We'll shake out Tuesday and Wednesday, weigh in on Friday and the big fight is on Saturday.
FOXSports.com: What do you guys do once you get there?
Roach: It's just a matter of maintaining everything, staying sharp, staying focused. On Thursday, everything gets cut back. We always go in different directions. A little less rounds each day.
The weight's not a problem right now. Pacquiao weighed out at 147 pounds (Monday). So he'll be going in the ring at 149, his prime weight. He'll be at his best at that weight.
FOXSports.com: How do you feel at this point about where things are as compared to other fights?
Roach: I feel great. He's back on track again. We sparred 12 rounds on our peak day last Saturday. He beat four guys up with no problem. He looked really, really good.
I definitely think we will knock this guy out, and it's going to be a great fight for us.
