Freddie Roach has detailed the subtlety he has attempted to teach Jaime Munguia in preparation for Saturday’s fight with Saul “Canelo” Alvarez.
Hall of Fame trainer Roach worked with Munguia for the first time in the build-up to January’s fight with John Ryder, when Munguia won in the ninth round, and in their second fight together they are confronting the highest-profile fighter in the world.
It is at Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena, on the occasion of Cinco de Mayo weekend, that Alvarez will make the latest defense of his undisputed super middleweight title.
At 33, he will fight his fellow Mexican when suggestions persist that he is in decline and when, partly as a consequence of Munguia’s progress under Roach and partly because of his increased physical maturity, Munguia is considered capable of posing a worthwhile threat.
It was a similarly aggressive and previously underappreciated fighter in Manny Pacquiao who was once polished into one of the very finest of all time by none other than Roach, and after their second training camp together at Roach’s revered Wild Card Gym in Los Angeles, the respected trainer said: “I’ve had two training camps with [Munguia]. The first, he was the best student in the world – he listens very well, and I was working with him on his defense and his offense, and he became more of a complete fighter. I hate when people say, ‘He has no defense at all.’ They’re full of s***.
“If he didn’t have a defense, he wouldn’t have an offense at all, either. He’s a good fighter, he listens very well. I train him in the gym and I train him hard, and it’s worked out well.
“Mostly his head movement [has improved]. He’s slipping punches, making guys miss. He counters on top of that – countering’s the important part, ‘cause that’s where the points can be scored. He’s gonna slip and make him miss and counter with the right hand over the top, or with the left jab. I’ve got him really prepared for this. We’ve done this over and over and over again. If he f**** up and makes a mistake and doesn’t make a move, I’ll be disappointed, yes. But I don’t see that happening.”
Munguia, 27, is the significant underdog against Alvarez, but there is little question that not only does Roach’s presence in his corner mean that observers consider him more capable of upsetting the champion, but also that Roach’s reputation had already enhanced Munguia’s profile – in turn contributing to him securing his biggest-ever fight.
“[Alvarez] has very common combinations,” Roach said. “He’ll throw a left hook to the body, a left hook to the head. Every time. Every time you get one, you get two. If he lands the one to the head, I’m gonna kill my guy.
“[Munguia’s] got to keep working behind the jab and keep snapping at the jab and keep stepping in with the jab. You can’t reach with two jabs, but if he steps in with two or three jabs and puts this guy on the ropes, and then powers right hands into the body and the head … this guy’s gonna eat [punches] all night.”
Through working with Munguia, Roach is also in the position of having a shared interest with Oscar De La Hoya, whom he fell out with in the aftermath of working with the fighter in his 2007 loss to Floyd Mayweather Jr. – and whose damaging defeat by Pacquiao in 2008 he oversaw.
“Oscar didn’t talk to me for a long time, but he talks to me now,” Roach said. “When he got beat by Pacquiao, I think he may have hated me for a while, but everything seems to be OK now.”
“Oscar [my co-promoter] told me that Freddie was a very good trainer, that he works hard, that I will learn a lot of stuff with him, and that has been the case,” Munguia said.
“We learned a lot of stuff in general. Hard work every day. Discipline, of course. I’m very happy with all the things we’ve done.
“The one thing is working hard every day, and giving always an extra effort. Freddie makes me be an aggressive fighter, and I like that.
“My [co-]promoter Fernando Beltran – he was the one who took us to work with Freddie.
“I’m highly motivated. This is a dream come true, and I will not waste this opportunity.
“Let’s see what happens in the ring. We’re going to try and do an intelligent fight – that’s our plan.”