By Scoop Malinowski

One of boxing’s top trainers right now is Freddie Roach. His first world champion came at the youthful age of 27 when Virgil Hill KOed Leslie Steward for the WBA Light Heavyweight title in 1987.

Today, Roach is a much sought-after trainer. He’s presently guiding the careers of many up and comers while also operating the famous Wild Card Gym in Hollywood, CA. Roach also trained Mike Tyson to his first-round KO of Clifford Etienne earlier this year. Now, much of Roach’s time is devoted to James Toney and his most recent addition - Wladimir Klitschko. Both have important fights upcoming - Toney takes on Evander Holyfield in a major heavyweight battle in October. And late next month, Klitschko makes his return to the ring after suffering the stunning upset loss of his WBO Heavyweight title to South African Corrie Sanders.

I spoke with Freddie Roach and here’s the latest from the Wild Card Gym:

BoxingInsider.com: How are things going with your new guy Wladimir Klitschko?

Freddie Roach: “Pretty good. I’ve been working with him since his brother came here. He definitely has a lot of tools. My biggest thing with Wladimir is he needs work on his balance.”

BoxingInsider.com: What do you think happened with Wladimir against Corrie Sanders?

Freddie Roach: “I can’t really put my finger on exactly why he lost. For that fight against Sanders, he might have been undermotivated. It seems like when he came to the ring after they (mistakenly) announced his brother’s name that it took something out of him, though he says that it didn’t. But he came into the ring with no bounce, no warm-up, almost flat. Like he took the fight for granted, that he’d definitely beat the guy. But Corrie Sanders can punch with anyone for the first three rounds.”

BoxingInsider.com: How is Wladimir’s mental spirit…has he recovered from the loss?

Freddie Roach: “The gym will never tell you that. We won’t know until August 30th (when Klitschko takes on Fabio Moli in Germany). The gym and the ring are two different places.”

BoxingInsider.com: Were you surprised at how well James Toney did against Jirov?

Freddie Roach: “No. He prepared for the fight. He did all the work. For the first time in a long time. It was the first time he really prepared for a fight since the Roy Jones fight. I kind of expected it. My hat’s off to Jirov, he’s one tough guy. For five or six years there, I wasn’t sure if it would be possible for James. After the Jones loss he kind of wasted his talent for a while. I am so happy to see him back where he’s supposed to be.”

BoxingInsider.com: Next up for you guys is the fight with Holyfield on October 4th in Las Vegas. That’s another very tough fight. How do you see James pulling it out?

Freddie Roach: “I see James using his speed. And being smarter than Holyfield in the fight. I think James can go in at 195 and use his speed to beat Holyfield like Chris Byrd did. We’ve all counted Holyfield out so many times before. But you can’t count him out…we saw how he did with Hasim Rahman last year. You have to count on going 12 rounds with Holyfield. It’s going to be very interesting. How do you see it going?”

BoxingInsider.com: It’s going to be a great fight. But I’ve always been a believer in Toney. I picked him to beat Jones! I like the way he sounded at the press conference. He sounds confident but not overconfident, and the way he’s talking, it’s sounds like he’s already made it up in his mind he is going to beat Holyfield, no matter what. Just like the way he sounded before the Jirov fight.

Freddie Roach: “You could be right. Yes, James is doing all the work. He’s preparing and training like he has to for this fight.”