By Nick Giongco
Manny Pacquiao and Freddie Roach are parting ways after a 17-year union, ESPN reported yesterday.
The decision to leave Roach and reinstate Buboy Fernandez as lead trainer was announced by Pacquiao’s Canadian agent Mike Koncz, who told Dan Rafael about “Manny’s decision.”
Pacquiao is scheduled to face Lucas Matthysse for the Argentine’s World Boxing Association welterweight crown in Malaysia on July 15.
“Manny has told me that Buboy will be handling the training on this fight,” said Koncz. “What’s important to Manny is that he has one voice to listen to in the corner that he trusts, and I guess that’s Buboy for this fight.”
Roach began training Pacquiao in mid-2001 and they made their debut together at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas where the then-unknown Filipino lefty knocked out Lehlo Ledwaba to win the International Boxing Federation super-bantam title.
The last time the 58-year-old Roach worked the corner was in July last year in Brisbane, Australia, where Pacquiao dropped a disputable decision to Jeff Horn.
During their teamup, Pacquiao and Roach scored their greatest hits with wins over Oscar De La Hoya, Erik Morales, Marco Antonio, Barrera, Miguel Cotto, Ricky Hatton and Antonio Margarito.
