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‘The man to bring me to the top’- McKenna brothers hail Freddie Roach link up

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The McKenna brothers believe Freddie Roach is the man to take them to the top.

The Monaghan brothers recently teamed up with the Hall of Fame trainer and are both delighted with the move.

LA based Aaron and Stevie McKenna had been working with former Trainer of the Year Robert Garcia, but have switched to the equally renowned Roach earlier this year.

59-year-old, Roach is considered to be one of the greatest boxing coaches of all time. He is most noted for his work with Manny Pacquiao of late, but has worked with 41 world champions, although some of that number achieved the status post working with Roach.

Among that 41 is former WBO super bantamweight world champion Bernard Dunne, who worked with Roach before returning back to Ireland after 14 fights.

It’s a CV that can’t be argued with and one that excites the latest faces through the door at the Wild Card.

“Everything has been going great working with Freddie Roach,” Stevie McKenna told World Boxing News.

“Freddie is a legendary trainer. He has trained a lot of champions with the likes of Manny Pacquiao and Miguel Cotto

“Myself and Freddie have bonded really quickly, he has a very special gift with being able to connect with his fighters in a unique way, he is the man to bring me to the top.”

The younger of the two, Aaron McKenna claims he already feels like he will be 20 percent better with such a trainer in his corner.

“It is a dream come true to have a legendary coach Freddie Roach training me.” said the Smithsbourough native.

“Growing up I always watched Freddie in the corner in a lot of big fights. Freddie has trained 27 world champions and the experience I am going to gain will be tremendous.

“It is going to bring out an extra 20 percent in me knowing I have Freddie in my corner. He is very inspirational and is going to play an important role in my development. The bond between fighter and coach is very important to me and myself and Freddie have hit it off already.”

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Jonny Stapleton

Irish-boxing.com contributor for 15 years and editor for the past decade. Have been covering boxing for over 16 years and writing about sports for a living for over 20 years. Former Assistant Sports editor for the Gazette News Paper Group and former Tallaght Voice Sports Editor. Have had work published in publications around the world when working as a freelance journalist. Also co-founder of Junior Sports Media and Leinster Rugby PRO of the Year winner. email: editoririshboxing@gmail.com

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