We're just a couple of days away from Kovalev-Pascal II and Freddie Roach took some time out to talk to FightHub about his training camp with Pascal and what he sees in Kovalev. Here are a few excerpts from the video.
Roach on his decision to train Pascal and delay back surgery:
"[Pascal] kept showing up everyday...his work ethic was really good and I said 'you know what, I'm gonna make a decision here, I'm not gonna have surgery, I'm gonna train you for this fight because I think you can win this fight if you become a better fighter - because there was a lot of room for improvement there. And I wanted to show the world kinda that we make better fighters here and that we do teach."
Roach on their approach entering this second fight with Kovalev:
"The game plan is to outbox [Kovalev] and win every round one at a time. I said 'if the knockout comes, that'll be a bonus.' [Pascal] totally understands that now, we're on good terms with each other at this point...but he's turned into a very good student and I like that."
Roach on how he rates Kovalev's boxing ability:
"He does have a good understanding of the basics...but he's very predictable though. And the thing is if you are a little bit clever with him and use a little bit of speed with him - he doesn't have a lot of speed and he's a little bit of a long puncher. And so Pascal has to score and get out really quick and not just step straight back...we have to fight a very, very smart fight...I told [Pascal] 'your jab will win this fight, you've got the best jab I've ever seen and I know you don't use it, but in this fight you will' and everyday we've been developing that left hand and it's been getting better and better everyday."
Check out the video for the full interview.