Freddie Roach . . .

By Rick Farris


Freddie Roach

Occasionally, I'll stop by Wildcard to visit. I'm not close with Freddie Roach, but we will talk sometimes. His favorite fighter is Ruben Olivares, who I worked with for one fight 37-years-ago, so there is common interest. I think I worked a total of two dozen rounds with Olivares during that period, as he trained for Jesus Pimentel. Freddie wanted to know about Olivares, so I shared what memories I had, mainly what I saw him do with other sparring partners, his "habits" which were of concern to his promoter, George Parnassus. I was glad to have something of interest to provide.

Freddie's gym walls are loaded with memorabelia (as mentioned), and he wanted to show me a photo of his late father, in a fighting stance.You could see the family resemblence, the photo was B&W but you could tell the old man had the same red hair has the son. The apple didn't fall far from the tree. "My dad was a tough man, and he was hard on us. We got a lot beatings when he'd drink, my mom took the worst of it."

Roach told me what it was like in the South Boston area (Dedham, Mass.) where he was raised in the projects. "Some kids have swing sets in their yards, we had a boxing ring. Learning to box was not an option." Freddie's brother "Pepper" Roach was also a pro, and he works with boxers in his brother's gym, along with a crazy group of guys that seem to have followed Freddie west to make up quite an interesting group of gym rats. They have qualities that remind one of the old "Dead End Kids" movies.

Also working with boxers there is an old pal, Frankie Duarte. A couple years back, while visiting Duarte, we talked about the Teamster's Gym of the past and, of course, the name Frank Baltazar was mentioned. He told me stories about the 1973 National Golden Gloves team that Frank took to Boston. The stories were funny, and he wanted to talk with Frank, so I called Mr. Baltazar on my cell phone and handed it to Frankie. "Don't tell him who I am," Frankie insisted. I said, "OK, but don't piss him off being silly, or he'll stop taking my calls."

Anyway, this story brought back memories of that day. It's a great gym, Wildcard is that, however, it's too busy these days. Mel Epstein would really have a fit if he saw all the "broads" hanging out. He's say, "What are the whores doing here? Get 'em out or I'm leaving." And he'd leave. Things have changed, Mel.