The Wild Card: Hard-Fought Lessons from a Life in the Ring - Hardcover

It May End up Killing You is the inspiring and amusing autobiography of boxing's greatest trainer, Freddie Roach: an ex-pug living with Parkinson's, the most famous white man in the Philippines, a formidable street fighter, and a millionaire who slept for years in a makeshift apartment within his Los Angeles gym, The Wild Card. The book is organized into four parts: Boy, Fighter, Man, and Gray Eminence, beginning with tales of his abusive youth, his own boxing career, and his apprenticeship under legendary trainer Eddie Futch (trainer of Joe Frazier), before moving on to his courageous battle against Parkinson's Disease, his relationship with Hollywood celebrities (Mickey Rourke, Mark Wahlberg), and his rise to the top of his profession as a trainer for world champions like Mike Tyson, Oscar De La Hoya, Bernard Hopkins, Wladimir Klitchko, and his prized pupil, the pound-for-pound #1 fighter in the world, Manny Pacquiao. Roach relates the lessons of his life as he learned them over time and muses over how they can each be integrated and applied to strategies for winning. For each chapter Roach writes, connections are drawn to larger themes or settings, enriched with research, interviews, and other anecdotes. Eventually Roach weaves these various life lessons through his work with his signature fighter, Manny Pacquiao, revealing the difference in simply identifying raw talent versus cultivating it, and how both are equally vital to success. It includes 25 full-color photographs

Freddie Roach is the #1 trainer in boxing today, having been named trainer of the year by the Boxing Writers Association of America in 2003, 2006, and 2008. A former professional fighter himself, he currently trains light welterweight world champion Manny Pacquiao, who is widely regarded as the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world. Other champion boxers Roach has trained include Mike Tyson, Oscar De La Hoya, Bernard Hopkins, and James Toney. He is a 2007 inductee of the World Boxing Hall of Fame and makes his home in Los Angeles, California. Peter Owen Nelson is a writer whose work has appeared in Vanity Fair, Harper's, The Believer, McSweeney's, and other publications. He also serves as a writer for HBO Sports's series 24/7. He lives in Los Angeles, California. Manny Pacquiao is the IBO light welterweight champion and considered the best pound-for-pound boxer/fighter today.