Montreal — Monday, November 16, 2015— Jean Pascal (30-3-1, 17 K.O.) proudly announces that he will now be training under the tutelage of well-known and six-time winner of the Trainer of the Year Award, none other than Freddie Roach.
While in California a few weeks ago, Jean Pascal was able to show his prowess to the famous trainer. Believing in the talent the Quebec-based boxer has, Roach agreed to coach Pascal and to help him prepare for his upcoming challenges.
“Freddie Roach is one of the best trainers of all time. It is an honour to work with Freddie. I've come to the conclusion that in my corner, I needed a new perspective and I thought that Freddie would be the right fit. I realized I need to improve on and correct certain mistakes I made in my loss to Kovalev. I'm quite confident that with Freddie in my corner, I will improve, as did Manny Pacquiao and Miguel Cotto under him,” said Jean Pascal.
According to Pascal's promoter, Jean Bédard, president of InterBox, the fact that Freddie Roach's team has welcomed Jean Pascal marks a new step in the evolution of Jean Pascal's career.
“This is great news for Jean. Roach is one of the best trainers in the world of boxing, if not the best. He's the perfect man for Jean, he will add on to Jean's talent. This will push Jean to a higher level for his upcoming bouts,” said Jean Bédard.
Training camp in the U.S.
As motivated as ever, Jean Pascal will leave the country in a few days to go south of the border, where he will work on perfecting his technique and continue to prepare for his next bout at Wild Card Gym, Roach's gym, located in West Hollywood, California. He will kick off his American stay in Big Bear, one of the training sites Jean Pascal particularly cherishes.
Jean Pascal thanks Marc Ramsay
The boxer from Laval also wants to thank and pay tribute to Marc Ramsay for all the years the latter spent at his side, from the amateur ranks to the professional level.
“Marc is an exceptional human being. He's a great trainer. If I've been able to come this far, it's thanks to Marc. He was able to bring me into the select club made up of the top boxers in the world,” said Jean Pascal.
Freddie Roach: An impressive career
Freddie Roach, a member of the World Boxing Hall of Fame since 2006 and of the International Boxing Hall of Fame since 2012, was named the Trainer of the Year by the Boxing Writers Association of America on 6 occasions (2003, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2013). After his career as a boxer, in which he finished with a 40-13-0 13 K.O. record, Roach made the jump on the other side of the ring by becoming Eddie Futch's assistant. He became a trainer in 1991 after the actor Mickey Rourke asked him. During his career, Roach trained more than 30 boxers and athletes including Oscar De La Hoya (Golden Boy), Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. He currently trains Miguel Cotto, the WBO Welterweight world champion Manny Pacquiao - the only boxer in history to be an eight division world champion; former UFC Welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre and his new addition, Jean Pascal. To this day, Roach has produced 27 world champions. He's also the owner of the Wild Card Gym in West Hollywood, California.
