THE GOOD OLD DAYS: THE TEAM THAT SHOOK BOXING
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Manny Pacquiao along with trainer Freddie Roach and Promoter Bob Arum in the Sport of Boxing was, “The Dream Team”.
The Dream Team captured boxing by the horns and took the planet by storm. A man weighting less then the average size of a 14 year old high school freshman astonishingly rose to the top of the boxing mountain and became a household name around our blue planet.
Wild Card Gym owner and Trainer Freddie Roach refreshed and reset his career with the young boy from the Philippines. Roach and Pacquiao had almost a father/ son relationship and their impact on boxing is probably greater then any boxer/trainer in history.
Pacquiao became boxing only eight division world champion, retiring legendary fighters along the way, and if they didn’t retire, they were never the same again. Pacquiao’s speed and power and relentless aggression made him the most feared boxer of his generation. Not since Mike Tyson has anyone put his stamp on the Sport like PAC-Man did.
Along with Roach and Pacquiao is Top Ranks Bob Arum who’s History in boxing is legendary.
Lets take a look at what happened to the Dream Team:
Sometimes what is reported/remembered and what is reality is different. For example, history tells us that the Great Detroit Lions running back Barry Sanders retired early/ in his prime because he didn’t have the desire to play anymore- and that’s a nice story to let the water flow under the bridge. In reality, Sanders wanted to get a raise and the Lions wouldn’t give it to him. He sat out hoping the Lions would pay him or trade him and the Lions played hard ball and refused to budge and cut short Sanders career.
Juan Manuel Marquez broke up the Dream Team:
After Pacquiao got KO’d in one of the biggest Knockouts in Boxing History, Pacquiao the warrior of course wanted another rematch.
Marquez was happy with the Trilogy (4 fights) and wasn’t interested in a 5th fight unless he got a kings ransom. Pacquiao told Arum to give Marquez his asking price of $20 million ( History will tell you that he got offer $100 million, which of course during that time doesn’t make sense and isn’t true). Arum said that Marquez isn’t worth giving $20 million. Pacquiao being the gentleman moved on to bigger things, but he never forgot the letdown by his promoter.
Manny Pacquiao made Top Rank more money then it could count and when he ask Arum for the most important thing he wanted, it was a big fat -No/Sorry. The last straw was when Arum didn’t want to pay Pacquiao goodwill money to fight Crawford similar to how the Yankees paid an aging Shortstop by the name Derek Jeter ( his last 3 years)
Where are they Now:
Manny Pacquiao at 40 years old is still going strong and remains one of the top boxers and boxing stars/draws on the planet. He is currently with PBC fighting all the young Welterweight lions and hoping to fight Floyd Mayweather Jr. again.
Freddie Roach is also still going strong, training countless champions and contenders, Roach remains one of the top boxing trainers in the world and helps train Pacquiao in the United States.
Bob Arum amazingly in his late 80’s is still running the juggernaut Top Rank. He has recently aligned himself with powerhouse network ESPN and has top P4P fighters in his stable that are getting the treatment Pacquiao used to get when he was younger.
The Dream Team, it was awesome while it lasted.
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