Oakland man has Roach's old phone number

David Beckford says it seems as if he has been inundated with "thousands of texts message and calls" requesting five-time Trainer of the Year Freddie Roach in the past week or so since he switched telephone numbers, he told RingTV.com on Sunday.

Roach, who has been busy preparing Manny Pacquiao for his June 9 fight with Tim Bradley, apparently deactivated the number, which was then picked up by Beckford about a week and a half ago.

"People are still calling me and asking for him," said Beckford, a 24-year-old resident of Oakland, Calif., who is an aspiring rap artist.

"I've been getting calls asking me when I was going to be dealing with Manny Pacquiao's next sparring session. I've been getting text messages and calls, and I've been like, 'damn, I'm not Freddie, man.'"

In fact, RingTV.com became aware of this situation when trying to contact Roach for an interview.

"I've been like, 'man, I don't even work out, so what are you talking about? His bank even called, and I've been telling them the same thing, you know what I'm saying? " said Beckford. "I'm a young rap musician, so this is good for me, you know? Anything that can help to get my name out there, you know what I'm saying?"

Beckford described one of the more bizarre calls, which he believes came from Pacquiao himself.

"The funniest call I got I think I would have to say is that I think that Manny Pacquiao or somebody else tried to call me. This was before I found out that it used to be Freddie Roach's phone. I know they must have thought that it was still Freddie's phone. The reason I say that is because this crazy a--ed, 12-digit number or something just kept popping up. So I'm like, 'who the f--k is this?'" said Beckford. 

"It was some out of state type of s--t, and then come to find out, after I looked up the number, it was some Philippines area code. I figured that it had to be Manny Pacquiao. I mean, who else could it have been, you know what I'm saying? I was like, 'man, I wish I would have answered,' because I would have loved to talk to him. I wanted to talk to him so badly."

What would Beckford say to Pacquiao if he called back?

"I would, first of all, give Manny the respect that he deserves. I would let him know that I think that he's an unbelievable fighter, and I respect him. And then I would probably tell him that I think he would knock out Floyd Mayweather. I'm a sports fan, but I'm a boxing fan, too. I'm a big, big boxing fan," said Beckford.

"Now, I love Mayweather. That's my guy. But I have to keep it real and tell you that if they ever fought, I think that Pacquiao knocks him out. Pacquiao, he's just as fast and I think he's stronger. It would be a good match, but I would let him know that he got him. Then I would ask him for some tickets, man. I would be like, 'man, let me get some tickets to your next fight.'"

Lem Satterfield can be reached at lemuel.satterfield@gmail.com