Roach: Manny doesn't like Mayweather

Freddie Roach appeared on the Jim Rome Show to talk about the approaching megafight between Mayweather and Pacquiao. To kick things off, Roach began talking about how he thinks Floyd is the perfect opponent for Manny.

"I've never seen him dislike an opponent in my life, but you know what, he doesn't like this guy," Roach told The Jim Rome Show. "He won't say anything bad about him, but he won't say anything good about him either. I think this is a perfect opponent."

Freddie doesn't care for Mayweather so much himself, if you couldn't tell by now...

"Everything has to be his way. He has a comfort zone, like we couldn't say anything about the fight until he announced it. He's very very insecure," said Roach. "He's not that good a guy, I mean he's not a good guy, he's not a good person, he's not a good role model. Like it or not, Jim, he's a role model for kids because people look up to him. But the thing is, I think he's a bad role model for the kids and so forth...that's why I get a little pissed off at him for what he does on TV, it's just crazy and you got these young kids looking up to him, and like Manny is a perfect role model..."

I suppose these thoughts really shouldn't surprise anyone - but I think we should all take this with a grain of salt. Comparing which of the two is a better 'role model' is really a mixed bag. You can pick certain qualities out of almost anyone and consider them things that one should aspire to. Mayweather has surely done some bad things in his life, but he's also done a lot of good things as well - particularly for the Las Vegas community. Same goes for Manny, but his public persona is really the main differentiator in this case. Not to go all philosophical on you, but, my point is that even great people are capable of doing bad things, and terrible people are also capable of doing good things just as well. That's just human nature. In this instance I believe that both men fall somewhere in between the spectrum, like nearly all of the human population.

So now that I went off on my little tangent, I can get back to the interview...Freddie Roach couldn't leave without taking some parting shots at Floyd Sr., mentioning some of the same things he has to other outlets - that Jr. would be better off with Roger in the corner, and he feels fortunate that it will be Floyd Sr. instead.

"The dad gets so nervous in between rounds, he has trouble getting the words out, he kind of stutters halfway through it, and he doesn't really get the information across to the fighter," said Roach. "I mean, I'm really happy he's in the corner because the kid's going to be fighting by himself. I'm sure he's done this his whole life, because he grew up in the gym, I've known him since he was five years old. He was a good fighter at five, but the thing is, he's always taught himself and he's never really been taught the correct way to do things and I don't think his father can deliver that."

It is a little funny to be honest (because there is a little bit of truth in there), but if this leads as the most trash talk between the two camps, we're in for a dull couple of months...