From failed fighter to tremendous trainer, Roach is regarded as one of the greatest coaches in history and is most famous for his work with Filipino icon Pacquiao.

Freddie Roach is an American trainer and former professional fighter. Widely regarded as one of the greatest boxing trainers of all time, Roach is most known for his work with Filipino superstar Manny Pacquiao.

He has also worked with Oscar De La Hoya, Amir Khan and Miguel Cotto. "La Cucaracha" has also dipped his toes into the MMA world having coached UFC legend Georges St-Pierre.

Born in Dedham, Massachusetts, Roach had a troubled youth and has previously claimed to have had more than 300 street fights before containing his aggression at the AAU ranks in New England.

Trained by his father Paul Roach, a parent who he admitted to being abusive towards him and his siblings, he notched up 150 amateur bouts and was a national standout with multiple Golden Gloves won. He also won the New England featherweight championship, a title his father had held in 1942.

Wild Card Boxing stable

After learning his craft under Futch, Roach decided to part ways to become a trainer himself. The first fighter of profile to join Roach was boxer-turned-actor Mickey Rourke, who had decided to make a comeback to the ring.

The Hollywood star chose Roach as his trainer and would work together for eight fights before Rourke retired once again.

Ironically, his final fight was against Sean Gibbons in 1995, who is now president of Manny Pacquiao Promotions. To show his appreciation towards Roach, Rourke handed over all of his boxing equipment to Roach, which allowed him to go into coaching full-time and helped him open up the iconic Wild Card Boxing Gym in Los Angeles with his brother, Pepper.

Roach has worked with 36 world champions, the first being Virgil Hill, whom he took over the reins as coach from former mentor Futch. "Master Roach" guided De La Hoya to a split-decision defeat to Floyd Mayweather and it was his only fight with the "Golden Boy".

Roach is 0-2 against Mayweather with the 2015 showdown between the latter and Pacquiao in what was billed as 'Fight of the Century'. Pacquiao would lose by a disappointing wide decision.

The 60-year-old has also had successful stints with Cotto, James Toney and Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. On top of this, Roach has worked with a core of British fighters - the biggest name being Khan.

Together, Khan became a two-time world champion at 140-pounds and won Ring Magazine's 2010 Fight of the Year for his points win over Marcus Maidana. Elsewhere, he worked alongside former two-division champion Gary Stretch and was in his corner when he fell short to Chris Eubank for the WBA middleweight world title.

His most recent fighter from UK shores was Scott Quigg, who put on a brave display against Oscar Valdes for the featherweight world title.

Roach has also lent his knowledge to the art of mixed martial arts with the UFC. Perhaps most notably, he once trained the former heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski for his victory over Ben Rothwell in July 2019.

MMA great Anderson Silva, Tito Ortiz, BJ Penn and Georges St-Pierre are other names he has collaborated with.

Freddie Roach and Manny Pacquiao

One of the greatest partnerships in the history of the sport is between Roach and Pacquiao.

Having taken over from Marty Elorde as Pacquaio's head trainer, Roach has helped elevate 'Pacman' to unprecedented success with the Filipino being the only boxer to have won world titles in eight weight classes - Roach has been involved in all but one.

After winning the lineal title at featherweight, Pacquiao's first crisis came via defeat to Hall of Famer Erik Morales in 2005.

After going back to the drawing board with Roach, Pacquiao got back to winning ways before avenging the defeat one year later with an emphatic third round knockout.

Pacquiao would then snare the WBC super featherweight title from Juan Manuel Marquez, a fighter whom he shared an incredible four-fight rivalry with.

By the time Roach had orchestrated Pacquiao's move up to the money divisions, the Filipino was in a league of his own with devastating wins over Ricky Hatton, De La Hoya and Cotto at 140 and 147-pounds.

That run came to an end in 2012, with a controversial split-decision defeat to the hands of Timothy Bradley Jr before a brutal defeat to Marquez in their final instalment. After regrouping once again, Roach was involved in the most lucrative fight of all time between Pacquiao and Mayweather.

After a brief split, Roach returned to the corner in Pacquiao's last two wins over Adrien Broner and Keith Thurman. Pacquiao retired in 2021 after a points defeat to Yordenis Ugas.

Roach's highlight reels

Roach is one of the most decorated boxing trainers of all time and has been mentioned in the same bracket as Angelo Dundee, Cus D'Amato and Futch. One of his biggest accomplishments is being able to achieve so much whilst battling Parkinson’s Disease, something he has shrugged off despite receiving acclaim.

"Some people look at me and feel sorry for me and I can’t understand it. I love my life," said Roach when asked about his fight with the illness.

His Wild Card Gym has received acclaim and it sees many high profile boxers train there, including Tyson Fury, who added Roach to his team and trained in LA ahead of his first heavyweight encounter with Deontay Wilder.

Freddie Roach awards

Roach is a seven-time winner of the Boxing Writers Association of America "Eddie Futch Award" for the trainer of the year.

The last time he scooped the award was for his efforts in 2014 for the previous 12 months of success, which included leading Pacquiao to wins over Bradley and Brandon Rios while also guiding Cotto to middleweight glory over Sergio Martinez.

After collecting the award, Roach told HBO: "Words cannot express how much winning an award with Eddie Futch's name on it means to me. I'd like to thank the BWAA for this honour.

"My name may be on the plaque, but I am just a representative of the collective hard work and dedication from the most talented and hardest-working fighters and assistant trainers in the world. It is a privilege to work with them."

In addition to this he was inducted into the World Boxing Hall of Fame, 'Expanded Category' (Managers & Trainers), a 2006 inductee of the California Boxing Hall of Fame (Non-Boxer) and World Boxing Council (WBC) 'Lifetime Achievement Award' in 2008.

Freddie Roach's net worth

As of 2020, according to Celebrity Net Worth, Roach's net worth stands over $20million. He has accumulated all his wealth from his many years in the sport mainly from being a trainer.

As a professional, his highest payday was an estimated $7,500 before he went off and worked as a busboy at the Golden Nugget. Roach was involved in the 'Fight of the Century' which saw Pacquiao earn a reported $150million.

Aside from being in the corner for fighters, Roach's Wild Card Gym generates money with top fighters renting out his facilities for upcoming fights. Before the coronavirus pandemic, the gym was available to the general public with it costing around $5 to work out for the day.