Updated: Dec 4, 2008 04:55 PM
Millions of fight fans will cheer for Manny Pacquiao or Oscar De La Hoya this weekend in the year's biggest fight. But Michael Berk has the story of a boxer turned trainer whose fight began long ago.
"Freddie Roach was a great fighter. He thought it was a great insult to duck a punch," said Bob Arum, President of Top Rank Inc.
That was a badge of courage Roach wore during his career inside the ring. Now on the apron as Manny Pacquiao's trainer, he wears the scars. One big scar really -- Parkinson's disease.
"I'm on a new medication and it's working pretty well. I drool a little bit sometimes, but that's a characteristic of it," he said.
Research supports that side effect, but Roach believes there's another. One which the medical establishment would never support, "One time I had Muhammad Ali -- he has very violent tremors -- he asked me if he could work out in my gym about five years ago. Once he started hitting the bag, his tremors went away. I'm very similar to him."
Parkinson's can and will rob Freddie of his coordination, balance and ability to stand tall, that's what science tells us. The disease, however, has no chance against the sweet science.
"It's like home. I'm comfortable -- it's my comfort zone. I'm sore sometimes, that's natural, but it's what I live for," he said.
Ultimately, the punches may be what he dies for, "You can't prove it, but it's related, of course. I chose the sport, nobody forced me to do it."
And Parkinson's disease won't force him away.
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