Ariza gets Manny, Amir OK to leave camp
By Joaquin Henson
PhilBoxing.com
Sun, 22 Apr 2012
MANILA, Philippines - Strength and conditioning coach Alex Ariza left Manila for Los Angeles last night to hook up with WBC middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez, Jr. who defends his crown against Andy Lee in El Paso, Texas, on June 16. Ariza was in the country for a month working with former WBA/IBF lightwelterweight champion Amir Khan and welcomed Manny Pacquiao to training camp in Baguio City last Tuesday.
Pacquiao is set to stake his WBO welterweight crown against unbeaten Timothy Bradley in Las Vegas on June 9 while Khan battles Lamont Peterson on May 19, also in Las Vegas, in a bid to regain the WBA/IBF crown the American wrested under dubious conditions last December.
?I spoke with Manny and Amir about Julio last Friday night and got their okay to leave,? said Ariza. ?I then spoke on the phone with Julio?s father (Julio Cesar Chavez Sr.) who?ll meet me with Julio in Los Angeles on Sunday (today). Julio will train with Freddie (Roach) in Los Angeles, not Las Vegas. Manny?s the most understanding athlete in the world. When I asked his permission, he immediately told me no problem, to do what I had to do. He gave me his blessing. I?ll be waiting for Manny when he gets to Los Angeles in two weeks.?
Ariza said Pacquiao advised him to be patient, forgiving and follow the Lord?s teachings. ?Manny?s devotion to God is very inspiring,? said Ariza. ?Reading the Bible has given him peace. There?s an aura about Manny now. I don?t sense any stress. He focuses on his roadwork and training in the gym without distractions. It has made a positive difference.?
Ariza, 36, said down the road, he hopes Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather, Jr. will face off in a fight the world wants to see. Mayweather has offered Pacquiao a $40 Million guaranteed purse without sharing in the pay-per-view revenues if they meet. Pacquiao, through adviser Michael Koncz, countered with a $50 Million guarantee plus a 55-45 share in the overage ? or upside ? of the pay-per-view income with the winner getting the bigger slice. Pacquiao?s counter-offer appears fair and more than reasonable, said boxing observers. The issue remains unsettled.
?My take is it?ll be a 50-50 fight,? said Ariza. ?Mayweather rolls those shoulders like he was born doing it, like Manny was born to do his footwork. Mayweather?s hard to hit but he doesn?t have Manny?s power. It?ll be a close fight and I see Manny winning in the end.?
Ariza said Pacquiao?s optimal weight division is the 147-pound welterweight class although he fought Antonio Margarito for the WBC superwelterweight title at a catchweight limit of 150. Pacquiao faced Oscar de la Hoya and Miguel Cotto at a limit of 145, Juan Manuel Marquez (for the third fight) at 144 and Joshua Clottey and Sugar Shane Mosley at 147.
?It?s almost like a freak show in a circus when Manny fights bigger guys like he did against Margarito,? said Ariza. ?It reminds me of David against Goliath. But what some people don?t understand and appreciate is the science that goes into taking Manny from one weight division to another without losing his speed or power.?
Ariza said nutrition plays a major role in preparing an athlete to achieve peak performance. ?That?s 80 percent of an athlete?s performance,? said Ariza, a San Diego State graduate who took up kinesiology, biochemistry and nutrition in sports at the Health Science College of Medicine in Syracuse. ?It?s like a car. No matter how well-made it is, if you don?t put the right high-octane fuel, it won?t go the way you want it to. We don?t deprive Manny of what he likes to eat but we do a balanced diet. I?ve got a team that tracks his nutrients, body fat composition and weight. My team includes Teri Tom, a certified dietician, and Henry Merchena. I employ the same approach with Amir and Julio who are both open to this scientific technology even if they?re old school when it comes to training in the gym.?
Ariza, the youngest of three children, migrated to the US from Colombia when he was 13 with his mother Rosalba and a brother and sister who are twins and 13 years older. His father abandoned the family when he was five. ?I owe a lot to my mom who worked hard to put us kids to school,? he said. ?She used to clean homes for a living. What I am now is because of my mom. In school, I played varsity baseball until I hurt my shoulder. The injury got me interested in strength and conditioning. I became a personal trainer at the Omni Health Club in Los Angeles and also did stunts in movies. I did several movies but got credits only in three. I was a stunt double and stunt driver. While at the health club in 1996, the bodyguard of Diego Corrales asked if I could help out Diego who was finding it difficult to make weight for a fight. I worked with Diego four days before the weigh-in and he made it. He knocked out his opponent. Then, my friend Ray Siegle introduced me to Freddie. Ray works out at the Wild Card and does stunts in movies, too. Freddie was looking for a strength and conditioning guy to replace Justin Fortune and I applied for the job. I had worked with Erik Morales and Angel Manfredy by then so I knew about boxing. I worked with Manny in preparing for his fight against David Diaz in 2008 and I?ve been with his team ever since.?
Ariza said he has no immediate plans of settling down but he?s dating a Filipina Ria Garcia, a popular singer in the hotel circuit. He took Garcia to watch Pacquiao?s fight against Marquez in Las Vegas last November.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Joaquin Henson.
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