Michael Marley
8/17/2009

Coach Freddie Roach was chomping at the bit in the wake of his and Manny Pacquiao’s protégé Bernabe Concepcion’s shocking DQ loss for hitting world champion Steven Luevano after the bell sounded ending the seventh round.

Asked on the PPV TV telecast if he sought a rematch of the title bout which was surprisingly close on the scorecards (two judges 67-66 for Luevano, the third had the same tally but for the Filipino boxer), Roach fairly snarled into the microphone and glared at the camera.

“Tomorrow!” Roach said unhesitatingly.

I’ve got news for Coach Freddie, his opposite number, 34 year old rising trainer and former IBF 130 pound champion Robert Garcia is just as eager for “Pinoy Power 3” to come around so Luevano and Concepcion can tangle a second time.

Don’t take this the wrong way. Garcia, who works with his father Eduardo out of home base in Oxnard, Ca., is unstinting in his high praise for Roach and his prize pupil, Pacman.

But just as the Pinoy and the Mexican American are anxious to fight again with a more definitive conclusion, so is Garcia eager to match his corner skills against perennial Trainer of the Year Roach.

“I respect what Freddie has done. He’s like a once in 100 years kind of trainer with what he’s accomplished with Manny. He even predicted that Manny would smash Oscar and then Hatton. With Hatton, he said it wouldn’t go three rounds and it didn’t.

“Manny himself is just out of this world,” Garcia said. “Lots of credit goes to Freddie Roach. But Freddie was talking the impossible. He knew there wouldn’t be a rematch that quick but we’re fine with Bob Arum putting on a December show.

“If Freddie really wants a fight that quick for Bernabe, I would put him up against my bother, Mikey, who is 17-0 with 14 KOs, but we can wait.”

Luevano retained the WBO featherweight crown with the disqualification correctly ruled by referee Jay Nady.

Garcia’s view is that, at the finish, Roach was as frustrated as Concepcion by Luevano’s long distance tactics which virtually made the Pinoy harmless offensively.

“I think Freddie was mad about the ref saying it was done on purpose. Hey, this is boxing and it does happen. I had a couple of times where Victor Ortiz punched a guy when the guy was already down and it cost us points. I think Freddie was all frustrated because he said before the fight the first three rounds might be difficult but then Concepcion would take over, that he would then walk over Stevie.

“That didn’t happen. I felt we were well on our way to a good win and I told Stevie don’t concern yourself with the crowd. Stevie got hit a couple of right hands in the first two rounds but then he settled in and boxed the way we told him to. I think those two punches Concepcion threw after the bell were thrown out of desperation and frustration.”

Garcia thinks the scoring of the bout at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino was skewed and he thinks the Pinoy theme and majority Filipino crowd influenced it.

“”It was like fighting the guy in the Philippines, really. The crowd and the name of the show had to sway the judges a bit. All of the crowd seemed to be Filipinos and they made a lot of noise.”

Garcia revealed that a Nevada ring doctor insisted Luevano go to a hospital for a checkup after the “knockout” but the California boxer didn’t stay there long.

“Stevie’s not mad at Concepcion. You never see Stevie mad. He did not even mention what happened but I think he was going to to tap Concepcion’s glove just when Concepcion fired those punches. The bell rang three times at that point.”

Garcia, now prepping Pinoy world champion Brian “Hawaiian Punch” Viloria for an Aug. 30 title bout in Honolulu, said Luevano looks forward to the rematch and to a higher purse as promised by Arum.

And Garcia wants his personal rematch as well.

“I want to beat Freddie,” Garcia said. “You always want to test yourself, to try to beat the best and right now Freddie is the best.”

(mlcmarley@aol.com)