Freddie Roach, Famed Boxing Trainer, Ridiculed By Antonio Margarito

Prior to his recent brutal pummeling by opponent Manny Pacquiao, boxer Antonio Margarito was caught on video mocking Pacquiao's famed trainer, Freddie Roach.

Roach, a former boxer who achieved much more success as trainer than as a boxer, now 50 , has suffered from Parkinson's since 1990. As chronicled in the HBO series Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel, Roach is able to actively control the disease through medication, injections and training boxers.

Roach's doctors feel that his active in-ring training routines with his fighters and tremendous hand-eye coordination that he needs to maintain during these routines has made it possible to slow the progress of the incurable disease. Nevertheless, as demonstrated here, the misunderstandings and indignities regarding Parkinson's disease abound even among professional athletes.

Pacquiao challenger Antonio Margarito along with another boxer, Brandon Rios, were caught parading around mockingly imitating the dystonic movements that afflict Roach because of his Parkinson's. The video which originated on AOL, was placed on YouTube and then removed by ES News who claims ownership. Since its removal, ES has refused to repost it out of respect to Mr. Roach. Other staff in Margarito’s locker room, including Margarito's trainer, Robert Garcia, were all laughing while Margarito was mimicking Roach’s gestures. 

Garcia explained that Margarito and Rios were "joking around," and that Rios was actually unaware Roach was suffering from Parkinson's disease. In the video, Rios explains that it was a response to Freddie Roach's trash talking. This rather thin rationalization hardly excuses such heinously unprofessional behavior.

It was rumored that the incident motivated Pacquiao to deliver an even more punishing performance to Margarito, which he did. By the final round of the fight, the 8th title win for Pacquio, Margarito's eyes were so swollen he could barely see.

This incident demonstrates an example of the type of derision often experienced by PD sufferers to the point that many retreat into social isolation rather than having to be mimicked, mistaken for drunks or drug addicts, or be rushed as they try to carry bags, wallets and change in everyday situations.

Another Dopadoc article describes how Actress Helen Mirren has taken a stance that better public education about the symptoms of PD could bring about a better understanding and more sensitivity to the challenges faced by sufferers in their everyday lives.

Ironically, the Margarito video ordeal and the negative public response to it may have actually done a service to the PD community by raising awareness and sensitivity, as the losing contender's unprofessional antics were widely condemned.