ARIZA CLAIMS CONCEPCION IS TO BLAME FOR HIS LOSS, NOT KONCZ
By Ronnie Nathanielsz
PhilBoxing.com
Fri, 23 Jul 2010
Pound-for-pound king and ?Fighter of the Decade? Manny Pacquiao?s elite conditioning trainer Alex Ariza, despite his well-known differences with Pacquiao adviser Michael Koncz says that in fairness to Koncz he was not to blame for the crushing second round defeat of Bernabe Concepcion in his title fight against WBO featherweight champion Juan Manuel ?Juanma? Lopez last July 10.
Ariza said that he had been ?hired by Manny (Pacquiao) to train Concepcion in his preparation for a previous fight but that ?he doesn?t get up in the morning (to do his roadwork), comes late to the gym? despite being as talented as he is. Ariza stressed that ?without the work ethics you won?t get the results? pointing to Julio Cesar Chavez as another young fighter who worked hard and reaped the results of his sacrifices, confounding the critics who said he was lazy and wouldn?t take in the hard grind under trainer Freddie Roach and Ariza.
Ariza said ?we cannot be too hard on Michael (Koncz). Believe it or not I don?t blame him because he can?t force it on him (Concepcion). Either they are willing to train hard or they?re not. You want to be a champion or you don?t? even as he made the same observation regarding the training habits of Rodel Mayol who lost his WBC light flyweight title to Omar Nino Romero after fading in the so-called championship rounds.
Ariza indicated that it seemed difficult for these guys who are not used to getting up at 5 o'clock in the morning and going working that hard at 5:30. It's very difficult unless you are totally open to it. People come here with the idea that they walk in through the door and become a world champion. But the reality is its hard work.?
He pointed to Pacquiao as the finest example of someone ?who is great but is not afraid of hard work. Manny takes hard work to a totally different level.?
Ariza indicated that if Pacquiao asked Roach and him who are on the same page when it comes to preparing a fighter to work with Concepcion it could be done provided Pacquiao makes it absolutely clear to the fighter that he has to follow their regimen.?
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