Coach Freddie Roach gives his thoughts on Aaron Pico’s loss
Rising phenom, Aaron Pico was set to have his toughest challenge to date when he took on Henry Corrales at Bellator 214. However, in the first 30 seconds, Pico looked good and even dropped Corrales.
Ultimately, when he dropped Corrales, that was the beginning of the end for Pico. Instead of being patient, he rushed in to try and score the knockout. Corrales then got up. As they were in the clinch, Pico had his hands down as he was attacking the body and Corrales landed a punch that knocked him out cold.
It was Pico’s second loss of his career. Ultimately, according to his coach, Freddie Roach, he believes it was just a mistake that had costed Pico the fight.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9A82d5yME8
“We spoke and the thing is, he made a mistake, he’s a very good puncher and even a better wrestler,” Roach said to Fightful MMA. “He made the choice to just go in and bang him out of there. He should’ve made a choice to go wrestle and do what he does best. e 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. He should’ve finished the fight with wrestling, in the heat of the moment…things happen.”
Although it is Pico’s second loss of his career, make no mistake Roach is confident Aaron will learn from this.
“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.”
