By Duncan Mackay

Freddie_Roach_head_and_shouldersMay 7 - America's boxers are to receive help from Freddie Roach, the world's top trainer, in the build-up to the London 2012 Olympics, it was announced today.


The United States Olympic Committee (USOC), USA Boxing and Freddie Roach Training, Inc. have formed a unique partnership which will give America's elite amateur boxers access to the world class services of Roach, who coaches world champion Manny Pacquiao from the Philipines and Amir Khan from Britain.

Roach turned down the opportunity to work with the Philippine Olympic team and instead help the US.

"I'd like to thank Freddie and his team for their willingness to help our boxers achieve their highest potential," said Scott Blackmun, the chief executive of the USOC.

"I'm thrilled that we were able to make this happen and can't wait to see the results."

A former amateur and professional boxer himself and one of the most sought after trainers in the world, Roach has been training elite boxers for more than 20 years and has been in the corner of 17 world champions at the professional level.

"An Olympic medal is one of the greatest accomplishments in all of sport, and I promise to do all I can to ensure that these young men and women are fully prepared to go to London to proudly represent our country," said Roach, who made the announcement prior to the much-hyped showdown between Pacquiao and Shane Mosley showdown at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

"This partnership is an exciting new chapter in my career and I can't wait to get started."

The programme being instituted by this new partnership is designed to act as a resource for up to ten medal-potential athletes to attend multi-day training sessions at the Wild Card Gym with their personal coaches and USA Boxing's national coach Joe Zanders.

American boxers have won only one gold medal at the last three Olympics - Andre Ward at light heavyweight in Athens in 2004 - and had to settle for a bronze at Beijing in 2008, thanks to Deontay Wilder in the heavyweight division.

"President Harold Adonis and the USA Boxing Board of Directors fully support and thank the USOC and Scott Blackmun for facilitating these efforts as well as Freddie Roach for the generous gift of his time," said USA Boxing executive director Anthony Bartkowski.

"The addition of Freddie Roach to the USA Boxing high performance and national coaching structure is an innovative concept that will aid in our mission of winning Olympic medals. Freddie's extensive expertise will augment our high performance and training plans, and we look forward to working with him to build international success in London and beyond."

Roach's work with USA Boxing will begin later this month as he joins their coaching team at a high performance retreat at the US Olympic Training Centre in Colorado Springs and will continue at additional key events throughout the summer.

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