ARIZA ABANDONS PACQUIAO, KHAN TRAINING CAMP, CLAIMS HE GOT PACQUIAO?S PERMISSION TO LEAVE
By Ronnie Nathanielsz
PhilBoxing.com
Sun, 22 Apr 2012
Strength and conditioning coach Alex Ariza who suddenly left the training camp of pound for pound king Manny Pacquiao and former WBA light welterweight champion Amir Khan and returned to Los Angeles claims that he and Pacquiao had agreed that he could leave.
However, trainer Freddie Roach was surprised at the move of Ariza to abandon both Pacquiao and Khan in the middle of training camp in order to train WBC middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. who defends his title against Andy Lee in El Psso, Texas on June 16.
As a result of Ariza leaving training camp Roach had to turn to a former amateur fighter Marvin Somodio who has impressed Roach as a trainer and fitness instructor, to fill in.
In an interview with the Manila Standard after his arrival in Los Angeles, Ariza said ?nothing went wrong. Manny and I will meet again here in a couple of weeks.?
When asked about the suddenness of his departure in the midst of training camp of both Pacquiao and Khan who have been training with Ariza and Roach in the Philippine summer capital of Baguio City, Ariza replied ?Manny asked me not to talk about it and just say hey, you know, he knows and I know and its just between us.?
Ariza added Pacquiao told him ?see you in LA and to just make sure that I?m waiting for him there.?
Pressed for comment on Khan, Ariza said the former world champion who faces Lamont Peterson in a rematch on May 19 at the Mandalay Bay Resort Hotel and Casino said, ?he?ll be coming back with Manny (May 5 being the scheduled date).
Questioned as to who is going to take care of Khan now, Ariza said ?I don?t know? and when we suggested Roach he said ?yeah, Freddie.?
As the Standard pursued the question on what happens to the strength and conditioning program for Pacquiao, Ariza begged off saying ?I?m in a meeting right now? and we cut short the conversation.
Team Pacquiao insiders said Ariza had made known his plan to leave the training camp weeks ago in an interview with boxing writer Ben Thompson but didn?t tell Pacquiao until last Friday while Roach only learned about it when he was looking for his driver to take him to the Cooyesan Gym last Saturday and called, only to find out that he was with Ariza in Manila forcing Roach to take a taxi to the gym.
Pacquiao?s adviser Michael Koncz refuted claims made by Ariza on boxing websites that Pacquiao was late for training camp and disrespected Roach who was here two weeks ago. Koncz said Pacquiao, Roach and he sat down in New York during the press launch for the Timothy Bradley showdown and worked out the schedule. He said ? we were to come to Baguio on April14. Freddie authorized the two day delay to April 16 and Roach said it was no problem.?
Roach had also made it clear that Pacquiao was never late in starting training and they had agreed to push back the start of the Baguio training camp from April 14 to 16. Roach was here two weeks earlier with Ariza because they were getting Amir Khan ready for his title rematch with Peterson on May 19 and not to begin training Pacquiao although Ariza had complained about Pacquiao training in GenSan.
Roach himself was pleasantly surprised that Pacquiao was in such excellent condition when they kicked off training in Baguio and indicated, according to Koncz, that he was ?very impressed? with Filipino trainers Buboy Fernandez and Nonoy Neri who had done well to get Manny in shape while training in his hometown of General Santos City and Manila and that ?everything was right on schedule.?
The Standard learned that Khan?s uncle who is with him in Baguio had requested Pacquiao to allow Khan to do roadwork along with him since he had been going it alone and Pacquiao readily agreed. Pacquiao also offered Khan the use of all the plyometric material that he had purchased for flyweight contender Rodel Mayol and that if he wished , trainers Fernandez and Neri could help.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ronnie Nathanielsz.
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