Mike Wise | Freddie Roach got off the mat and triumphed

Freddie Roach, newly minted Hall of Fame trainer, will have his wares on display tonight when Amir Khan takes on Lamont Petersen. In today’s Washington Post, Mike Wise has written a great tribute to Freddie that reminds us of where Freddie has been, and what he’s had to deal with.

Freddie Roach got off the boxing mat and triumphed

Imagine you were there 25 years ago, the last time the rugged little tank climbed through the ropes in Washington. And you saw him swap hooks and crosses with a good fighter named Darryl Tyson, until he lost a 12-round war for the Continental Americas lightweight title.

You saw his will, his heart.
And after a black fan kissed him on the forehead that night, telling him, excitedly, “You’re the toughest white [expletive] I ever saw,” imagine all you heard later about that fighter was that he developed Parkinson’s disease at just 28 years old.

That’s it, right — boxing’s cliched ending, nothing to something and back to nothing again?

Read the entire article at Washington Post