Roach pursues another crown

MANILA, Philippines - Freddie Roach will be a busy man at the Cotai Arena in the Venetian Resort Macau on Nov. 23 as he’s not only working WBO welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao’s corner in the fight against Chris Algieri but the six-time Trainer of the Year awardee is also with Mexican Antonio DeMarco and Chinese flyweight Zou Shiming.

DeMarco, 28, is in General Santos City training alongside Pacquiao under Roach’s supervision. The Mexican southpaw is sparring with Filipino Dan Nazareno and WBA No. 5 welterweight contender Teerechai Kratingdaeng Gym. He faces WBA lightwelterweight champion Jessie Vargas in a scheduled 12-round bout in Macau as Roach seeks to add another title to his collection.

Roach once worked opposite DeMarco’s corner in Los Angeles. That was in 2011 when Roach was with Jorge Linares. DeMarco was behind in the three judges scorecards, 98-92, 99-91, 98-92, when referee Raul Caiz, Sr. stopped the bout with Linares unable to continue because of a bad cut on his nose. DeMarco seized the vacant WBC lightweight crown with the win. A year later, DeMarco lost the title to Adrien Broner on an eighth round stoppage. Last December, DeMarco went to Roach and reported for work at the Wild Card Gym.

It won’t be easy sailing for DeMarco in Macau. Vargas, 25, is unbeaten with a 25-0 record, including 9 KOs. As an amateur, he posted a record of 120-20 and represented Mexico at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Vargas has learned the tricks of the trade from Floyd Mayweather’s uncle Roger, former WBC superfeatherweight champion Cornelius Boza Edwards whom Rolando Navarrete dethroned in 1981 and Cuban Ismael Salas. Now, he’s trained by ring legend Roy Jones, Jr. with conditioning coach Angel Heredia in his team. Heredia turned state witness in a doping case and avoided incarceration despite being a known provider of illegal drugs to athletes. He transformed Juan Manuel Marquez into the muscular monster who knocked out Pacquiao in 2012.

Vargas is threatening to eventually move up in weight to challenge Pacquiao with Jones and Heredia in his corner. Top Rank chairman Bob Arum is probably looking at Vargas as a future opponent for Pacquiao and that explains his presence in the Nov. 23 undercard. DeMarco, however, is out to spoil Vargas’ plans.

DeMarco’s record is 29-3-1, with 22 KOs. He’s a typical Mexican brawler unlike Vargas who prefers a tactical fight. Since losing to Broner, DeMarco has racked up three straight wins but in his most recent outing last August, he was floored in the first round before scoring a decision over Lanardo Tyner. Both DeMarco and Vargas are 5-10 with an identical reach of 71 inches.

Vargas wrested the WBA/IBO lightwelterweight unified championship from Russia’s previously unbeaten Khabib Allakverdiev via a unanimous decision in Las Vegas last April then repulsed challenger Anton Novikov, also a Russian, on points in his first title defense last August.

Another Roach protégé in the undercard is Shiming who faces Thai veteran Kwangpichit Onesongchai in his first 12-round bout. Both Shiming and Kwangpichit are 33 but their pro history is extremely divergent. Shiming, a two-time Olympic gold medalist, has a 5-0 record, with one KO, while Kwangpichit’s slate is 27-0-2, with 12 KOs. The Thai’s list of victims include a slew of Filipinos, including Jay-Ar Estremos, Dondon Gimenea, Noli Morales, Frederix Rodriguez, Noel Adelmita, Fernando Ocon, Roilo Golez and Geboi Mansalayao.

Roach was recently cited by author Robert Greene in his book “Mastery” for creating a way to upgrade his work with fighters as a trainer. Greene called it Roach’s successful adaptation in letting go of the past in revolutionizing methods of doing things in “Life’s Task.”

“Roach instinctively found his way back into the ring because he understood that what he loved was not boxing per se but competitive sports and strategizing,” wrote Greene. “Thinking in this way, he could adapt his inclinations to a new direction within boxing. Like Roach, you don’t want to abandon the skills and experience you have gained but to find a new way to apply them. Your eye is on the future, not the past.”

Greene said Roach found in his mitt work the way to connect with fighters in teaching strategy and techniques. “He expanded the mitt work into something larger, a simulation of a fight that could go on for several rounds,” said Greene. “This allowed him to get closer to his fighters, to literally feel their full arsenal of punches over time, to see how they moved in the ring. He began to study tapes of opponents, looking for any kind of pattern or weakness in their style. He would devise a strategy around this weakness and go over it with his boxers in the mitt work. Interacting so closely with his fighters, he would develop a different kind of rapport than what he had with (Eddie) Futch, more visceral and connected.”

It is this rapport that Roach brings with him in the corner of Pacquiao, DeMarco and Shiming for their fights in Macau on Nov. 23.