Garcia does not regret hiring Ariza after ugly brawl with Roach
By Rich Mazon
PhilBoxing.com
Fri, 22 Nov 2013
Macao, China - Trainer Robert Garcia expressed no regret in bringing in conditioning coach Alex Ariza to look after Brandon Rios's conditioning regimen in preparation for his mega fight with Manny Pacquiao this weekend.
This even after a melee that occurred in the gym here at The Venetian Hotel last Tuesday where Ariza was seen kicking Garcia's rival trainer Freddie Roach in the chest after a heated altercation between the two head trainers.
"Why would I regret it? Not at all," Garcia replied when Philboxing.com popped the question.
"That is something besides the work that he is able to do. He works good and he has done a great job with many other fighters. Now, he is doing it with my fighters. Not at all," he stressed.
Ariza used to be a member of Team Pacquiao since 2008 until he was let go this year by both Roach and Pacquiao. He also did work with Roach's former fighters, stars and champions like Amir Khan and Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.
Both Ariza and Roach traded accusations in the past and more so after the split. That erupted into a brawl this week here at the fight venue with Ariza assaulting Roach as shown in various video footages of the incident.
Garcia has expressed confidence in the work that Ariza has contributed to his fighters, most recently on his younger brother, newly minted WBO super featherweight champ, Mikey Garcia.
Garcia dominated former champ Roman Martinez earlier this month en-route to his second world title.
"We asked Mikey, give us your honest opinion. What do you think?" recalled Garcia, and his younger brother replied, "I feel great. I feel so good and comfortable with the weight."
"It is not like we are testing him. Now, we've already tested him with Mikey and Mikey felt great," says Garcia who revealed that Ariza offered him info on Pacquiao, which he declined.
"None at all," on any tips that he might have received from the former Team Pacquiao member.
"I don't want any information. I don't need any information. Alex told me that he had a lot of sparring on video, I don't want to see none of it. I don't want to see it. Because, that was then. That was when he was working there," Garcia emphasized
In the past, Roach had complained of Ariza taking on too many roles in the camp of Pacquiao and his other fighters. That was one of the cause of their heated arguments and the split.
Garcia has heard of those incidents and he made things clear what Ariza's role is in camp when they first talked about the union.
"I don't need him to give me any advice, he does his work, he is not in the corner, he is not in the sparring matches, he is not giving advice. That is my job."
Garcia and Rios has confidence in Ariza's contribution, calling his split with Team Pacquiao "a blessing for us" and in return, the trainer dismissed doubts from some, that Ariza might be acting in Pacquiao's behalf when he decided to come in.
"We never thought about what kind of problems they had or what we could learn from him. We never even asked him any questions. He is here working with us now and that his job now. He doesn't have to tell us things about the past or present. it is fight by fight."
Ariza's split with Pacquiao and his entry to the Rios team provided one of this fight's most intriguing angle.
The brawl last Tuesday is by no means the end of all of this drama, the final test is one that will be decided this Sunday morning in a ring here in Macao, China, where Ariza's contributions will once again be put in a test.
And that is all what Garcia is concern of.
You can reach the author at rrmaze24@aol.com and on Twitter @Freemazon910.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Rich Mazon .
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