Freddie Roach fields questions from the media about his fighter Viktor Postol taking on Terence Crawford tomorrow on HBO PPV. Check out some excerpts below with the full video above.
On whether Postol needs to pressure Crawford to keep him on the back foot in the fight:
"If you pressure him then...it sets things up for [Crawford] even better. So I don't think you have to pressure him, no, I think we're going to outbox him and try to keep him at a distance with our jab. The jab is they key to the fight and whoever is going to pull it off, that remains to be seen."
On how Postol can keep Crawford uncomfortable to where he'll have to keep switching from orthodox to southpaw:
"A good jab and a powerful right hand I think can take care of that, right down the middle. I think Crawford loops his punches a little bit and is not the strongest puncher in the world right now because I think he's getting a little confused with the southpaw and right hand stances himself. I don't really believe it's a good thing to do in boxing, you've had some guys with success in the past do it, very few, but a couple good ones."
On which stance he believes Crawford is most effective out of:
"Left. By far."
"I see that he's weak in the right-handed stance and strong in the southpaw stance. That's all I see. And when he gets caught in the middle, he's square...[his switching is] not seamless, no."
On how Crawford will have to try to overcome his height and reach disadvantages:
"I think he needs to be closer and pressure us a little bit. And I think that's gonna happen in the fight and we're gonna have to deal with the pressure."
On how important it is to have a Plan B when facing someone like Crawford:
"We have to be adaptable in the fight, for sure. We have to deal with the changes in stance and so forth also...In footwork, when you're fighting a southpaw it's a lot different than a righty and [Postol] does know that. It's not automatic yet, it's still a little bit awkward, but it's something we can control."
On what he believes is Crawford's best quality:
"I think his best quality is that he's a real good counterpuncher and if you lead to him and bring your hands back low, he will counter over the top really quickly. And I think speed might be one of his best assets. He is very quick."
On where he rates Postol among European fighters:
"I think he's as good as any of 'em. He's undefeated...he's doing quite well and learning all the time, he's getting better and better in each fight. I think we're right there with them (Golvokin and Lomachenko)...
On how Postol has been performing in sparring against southpaws:
"He does okay with the lefties, he's a little more comfortable fighting right-handed people but he does know the adjustments to make and the footwork he has to obtain to nullify any advantages from the southpaw side."