Freddie Roach is the boxing coach for Aaron Pico, who suffered a first round knockout loss to Henry Corrales at Bellator 214.
The famed boxing coach believes that simple mistakes lead to Pico being finished on Saturday Night.
“We spoke and the thing is…he made a mistake, he’s a very good puncher and even a better wrestler. He made the choice to just go in and bang him out of there, when he should’ve made a choice to go wrestle and do what he does best. He had the guy out, its just a young man decision…they rush into it. With a little more experience and (if he) takes his time, he’s gotta realize he has more than just one game. He has very good hands…yes, but he has a lot more than that. He’s one of the best wrestlers in the world and he should’ve finished the fight with wrestling, in the heat of the moment…things happen,” says Roach in an exclusive interview with Fightful’s James Lynch.
Pico has now suffered two losses as a professional MMA fighter, with the other coming to Zach Freeman at Bellator 180.
Roach says it’s the wins and losses the make or break a fighter, but Roach also says a person who was truly devastated by a loss at Bellator 214.
“I’m a firm believer in this (losing) makes or breaks you, the thing is he’s a good enough boxer to be Miguel Cotto’s sparring partner for his last two fights. He has a lot of skills…yes, but he’s an even better wrestler than boxer. I told him that I want to see the wrestler one day, I’ve only seen the puncher. So the thing is, we just made a bad decision at the wrong time. He got caught, he’s crying after this saying ‘I’m embarrassed that I’m crying.’ I told him ‘this (the crying) means you care, if you didn’t cry, I would be worried,’” says Roach.
There is no word when Pico will return to the Bellator cage, but maybe his next appearance will show Roach the wrestler that the boxing coach has been wanting to see.
