There was a time in the early 1980s when I covered more of Freddie Roach's fights than of any boxer in the world. I had so many pictures of him from fight publicists that I could have papered the halls of the Review-Journal.

Fourteen of Roach's fights were at the old Showboat. My main memories of the Showboat were of the upstairs cards and Roach's fights.

To say Roach, now one of the world's best trainers, was an exciting fighter and that his bouts were action-packed would be an understatement. His 12-round split-decision loss to Tommy Cordova in 1984 for the ESPN super featherweight title was a classic action fight and one of the most brutal I covered.

"Freddie was 20 pounds of power and 100 pounds of heart," Top Rank matchmaker Bruce Trampler said. "His career wasn't defined by one fight. It was defined by a body of work. You knew a Freddie Roach fight would end in a standing ovation, people would throw money in the ring, and it would probably be a close decision because he wasn't a big banger. There were certain givens in a Roach fight -- one was that you were going to get your money's worth."

Top Rank promoted Roach, a former Las Vegas resident, for 25 bouts, and the company would not have kept bringing Roach back if he did not produce crowd-pleasing fights. His fights consistently drew high ratings on ESPN.

"I think he fought more main events than any other fighter on ESPN," Trampler said.

Roach, trained by Hall of Famer Eddie Futch, retired in 1986 with a 41-13 record. He was best as a super bantamweight, ranked as high as No. 8 in the early 1980s. He lost five of his last six fights, including defeats to Greg Haugen, Hector Camacho and Darryl Tyson.

"I hope people remember me as a tough guy who gave 100 percent," Roach said. "I am happy with that."

He certainly achieved that legacy. He was a courageous fighter, though not a naturally talented one.

"I thought I wasn't the most gifted fighter in the world," Roach said. "I trained real hard. I look back at my career, and if I had ever won a world title, I probably wouldn't be a trainer."

He was the Boxing Writers Association of America Trainer of the Year in 2003 and probably will win the award again. He will be in Manny Pacquiao's corner for his rematch with Erik Morales in their super featherweight showdown Saturday at the Thomas & Mack Center. It is fitting that Roach trains Pacquiao, another aggressive, action fighter.

Roach, 45, has trained 18 world champions and many of the world's most prominent fighters, including Mike Tyson, Michael Moorer, both Klitschko brothers, Johnny Tapia, Marlon Starling, Virgil Hill and Fabrice Benichou.

So many fighters want Roach to train them that he concedes he sometimes spreads himself thin. He owns and operates the Wild Card Gym in Hollywood, Calif., and trains 11 fighters, including heavyweight James Toney, WBC light flyweight champion Brian Viloria and WBC super bantamweight champion Israel Vasquez.

Miguel Diaz, the 1999 Trainer of the Year, said that what makes Roach so good is that he doesn't train his boxers to fight like he did.

"He has a great communication with the fighters," Diaz said. "The fighters believe what he says to them. They don't doubt anything he says. He puts it all together, and that's why he is a successful trainer."

Royce Feour, a longtime sportswriter for the Review-Journal who retired in 2004, writes an occasional column for the R-J. He was inducted into the Nevada Press Association's Hall of Fame in 2005.