Sports

FORMER TRAINER TRASHING DE LA HOYA

Freddie Roach shouldn’t expect any work from Golden Boy Promotions anytime soon. Not with the way he’s been trash-talking Oscar De La Hoya.

Roach trained De La Hoya for his split decision loss to Floyd Mayweather in May 2007. But he’ll be in Manny Pacquiao’s corner when Pacman fights De La Hoya on Dec. 6 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Roach predicts Pacquiao will win by knockout.

“We’re going to put pressure on this guy because I know Oscar tends to get tired late in rounds in slow-paced fights,” Roach said. “We’re going to fight the whole time and just burn him out.”

Roach is miffed De La Hoya has said the “wrong strategy” was devised for the Mayweather fight.

“The game plan we had for the fight was working well in the early rounds,” Roach said, “and I thought we were winning the fight. And then (De La Hoya) abandoned the game plan and then we end up losing the decision. I guess about a month ago, he started blaming me for the loss. But he’s always blaming somebody.”

De La Hoya also may have a problem with Roach’s explanation for rumors Victor Ortiz “beat up” the Golden Boy during sparring.

“Just reports from 24/7 actually,” Roach said of the HBO show. “One of the guys told me that Victor beat him up; they have it on film. They said it would be on the first episode.”

The first episode of “De La Hoya/Pacquiao 24/7” will premiere Sunday at 8:30 p.m. on HBO.

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Once considered the future superstars of boxing, Jermain Taylor (27-2-1, 17 KOs) and Jeff Lacy (24-1, 17 KOs) are looking to re-energize their careers when the two former Olympic teammates meet Saturday night in Nashville, Tenn. HBO will televise.

Taylor, the former middleweight champion, is coming off back-to-back losses to Kelly Pavlik. Lacy, a former super middleweight champ, hasn’t fully overcome getting whipped by Joe Calzaghe in 2006.

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Monte Barrett (34-6, 20 KOs) of Queens is in London today where he’ll face former cruiserweight champion David Haye (21-1, 20 KOs) of London in a heavyweight bout at the O2 Arena. … The economy is delivering a blow to boxing. In a cost cutting move, Telefutura is ending “Solo Boxeo” in December. ESPN2’s “Wednesday Nights Fights” also has been canceled. a Mixed martial arts fans should circle Jan. 31. That’s when Georges St-Pierre will defend his UFC welterweight title against lightweight champion B.J. Penn at UFC 94 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. The two met in 2006 with St-Pierre winning a three-round split decision when neither man held a title. Tickets go on sale tomorrow. a Tickets remain available for the first world championship boxing match to be held in Newark in 48 years. IBF cruiserweight champ Steve Cunningham (21-1, 11 KOs) defends his title against Tomasz Adamek (35-1, 24 KOs) at the Prudential Center on Dec. 11.