Freddie Roach opened his Wild Card Gym, despite Eddie Futch advising him against it due to the hard work involved. Freddie believed that you never know when the next Muhammad Ali might walk through the door.

Everything was going well for Freddie until he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. He didn’t know much about it at the time, other than it was caused by a lack of dopamine, and that he experienced tremors when nervous or under stress. Despite the diagnosis, Freddie discovered that his tremors would stop when he was working with fighters or hitting mitts.

This led to a conversation with Muhammad Ali, who visited his gym one day in 1999. Ali, also suffering from Parkinson’s, came in to train and shared a similar experience, stating that his tremors disappeared while he was boxing. Ali spent hours at the gym, entertaining everyone, and it became one of the greatest days in the gym’s history.

Two years later, in 2001, a young fighter named Manny Pacquiao walked into Wild Card Gym.

Freddie didn’t know who he was but agreed to work with him. After one round of mitt work, Freddie realized Pacquiao was special, possessing both speed and power—rarely found together, especially in such a small fighter.

Pacquiao had been turned down by other gyms across the country, but Freddie saw his potential. Freddie called Bob Arum at Top Rank, telling him Pacquiao was a great fighter, but Arum wasn’t convinced due to Pacquiao’s weight class. However, an opportunity arose when a fighter named Lehlo Ledwaba, a world champion, needed a replacement opponent.

Pacquiao stepped in as a massive 60-to-1 underdog. Freddie was confident and told everyone at Top Rank to bet on Pacquiao, who ended up dominating Ledwaba and winning by TKO. From that point on, Manny Pacquiao became a sensation, and for Freddie, he became the next Muhammad Ali.

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