Freddie Roach: “Chavez Jr. is going to go out there and make Sergio Martinez fight, and be in for the fight of his life!”
Freddie Roach: “Chavez Jr. is going to go out there and make Sergio Martinez fight, and be in for the fight of his life!” By Jenna Jay, OnTheRopes Boxing Radio, Doghouse Boxing (Sept 10, 2012) Doghouse Boxing - Tweet
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By
Jenna Jay (Exclusive Interview by Jenna J, Doghouse Boxing).The
PPV event between Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. and Sergio Martinez is now
less than a week away, and both fighters are doing their final
preparations for the fight. In part 2 of my exclusive "On The Ropes"
boxing radio Interview with Freddie Roach, we discuss how the training
camp has gone for the fight, Chavez Jr’s growth as a fighter, his
thoughts on Sergio Martinez as a fighter, the game plan they have to
beat Sergio Martinez, and his official prediction for the fight this
weekend. Here is what he had to say.
Jenna Jay: How has training camp gone for Julio Cesar Chavez Jr’s upcoming September 15th bout with Sergio Martinez?
Freddie Roach: Going
pretty well, Chavez Jr. was a little tired last night, so he took a day
off and got some rest last night. He’s been working pretty hard and
getting ready for the big fight.
Jenna: Did you believe when you first started working with Chavez that he would become the fighter his is today?
Roach: No,
he was kind of raw and a little bit green, and he’s really come a long
ways, he’s progressed well and he’s been working really hard, and the
hard work really has paid off for him. He’s become a really good fighter. Jenna: Chavez’s last fight
was against southpaw Andy Lee, and is considered by most to be his best
performance. Can you me what you thought about Andy Lee going into that
one, and how you felt everything went?
Roach: Going into the
fight, I knew Andy Lee. He was a good south paw, with a good left hand
and power, had a great amateur background of course, and we were going
in there with a few experienced guy, but Chavez just broke him down and
just fought a very good fight. Chavez usually does not like fighting
southpaws that much, but we worked really hard on how to handle a
southpaw stance and the game plan worked very well.
Jenna: Chavez Jr. has also
been a great finisher in recent fights, is that something that comes
natural to him or something that you have been working with him on?
Roach: I
think that comes more natural to him. Of course his father use to break
fighters down and would finish very well also and I think he might of
got that from his dad.
Jenna: When you look at Sergio Martinez as a fighter, what do you see?
Roach: He’s
a great athlete, and while I don’t think he’s a great great boxer, he’s
very athletic, quick and he does have punching power and he’s awkward
with that south paw stance which can be difficult, and the movement can
give you some difficulty. I think he is the most difficult fighter we
have faced so far.
Jenna: How does Chavez Jr. go about fighting the style of Sergio Martinez?
Roach: Well
the thing is, you have to nullify the speed, so you got to try and
break him down to the body and you got to take his legs away from him,
and pressure him quite a bit, but you can’t pressure him by just going
forward, cause he does have that movement that he has and hides the left
hand well, he tries to set you up and knock you with the big left hand. So he is a little bit difficult style wise but his patterns you can
tell when he’s setting em up. He’s 38 years old, he’s a little bit older
and he does not fight every round 100% because I don’t think his body
will let him, so he does take rounds off and so forth and we are trying
to identity when he’s resting, and when he’s trying to rest we are going
to press him and make him fight those rounds as well as the test, and
with the pressure we can get to him.
Jenna: There has been a
lot of talk between the 2 camps in the lead up to this fight, do you
think the distaste that Chavez seems to have for Martinez is real or
just promotion?
Roach: No, I know Chavez
doesn’t like this guy, and says he’s weak and is going to take advantage
of it. So Chavez is working hard and he’s going to go out there and
make this guy fight and be in for the fight of his life!
Jenna: What is the most important thing for Chavez Jr. to do to come away with a victory against Sergio Martinez?
Roach: The
biggest thing is he can’t follow him, people get caught up in following
Martinez, and if you follow Martinez he will walk you into the left
hand and he’s very patient, he moves around a lot and gets guys to
follow him and if you do follow him he will hit you with the big left
hand and he does have knockout power, so that’s something we can’t do,
and we got to cut the ring off, stay more directly in front of him and
put pressure on him.
Jenna: What do you think is next for Chavez Jr. if he is able to beat Martinez?
Roach: He’s
having a little trouble making 160, so I’d like to see him try and go
to 168. There are great guys up there, Kelly Pavlik has been mentioned
as a possible next opponent and stuff like that and I’d like to see him
move to 168 next cause he will be a lot stronger and a lot more durable
at that weight because he does have a little trouble making the 160
limit.
Jenna: Final Question for you Freddie. What is your official prediction for the Chavez Jr vs. Martinez bout?
Roach: Well
I think we are going to press this guy and break him down and get a
late round stoppage. He is dangerous and so forth, but we have a good
game plan down and we are going to fight the best fight of our life.
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