Roach on Ariza: Nobody Really Gets Along With This Guy

By Chris Robinson

Over the past few weeks, trainer Freddie Roach was able to reconnect with his star fighter Manny Pacquiao during a seven-city international press tour ahead of the Filipino icon’s forthcoming clash with Brandon Rios.

Roach was ringside inside of the MGM Grand in Las Vegas this past December when Pacquiao was knocked out in brutal fashion from a picturesque right hand delivered by Juan Manuel Marquez in the sixth round of their welterweight encounter.

So chilling was Pacquiao’s knockout loss, that everyone seems to be wondering how the 34-year old will recover.

We will find out when Pacquiao faces Rios in Macau, China on Nov. 23 and Roach insists he still sees the Manny of old when around his fighter and friend.

“Well, he’s still playing basketball,” Roach would quip when asked of Pacquiao’s recent demeanor. “He’s still pretty good at that. He’s a great guy, as always. I see no changes in Manny at all.”

The subplots heading into the Pacquiao-Rios fight are already surfacing, as it was recently revealed that Roach had fired Pacquiao’s strength and conditioning coach, the always outspoken Alex Ariza.

Despite appearing to have done an excellent job in helping prepare Pacquiao in recent years, as he officially joined the team following Manny's March 2008 rematch with Marquez, the Columbian-born Ariza was never one to bite his tongue or hide his feelings.

Roach insists that Ariza’s brazen nature simply led to too much confusion on the team.

“I thought it was disruptive to be in camp with him,” said Roach. “He was starting to do my job. Miguel Diaz, he wouldn’t let him do his job as a cut man. I told Manny ‘He’s too disruptive right now’ and nobody in camp really gets along with this guy. I wanted a camp where we’re all together.”

“I said ‘Let’s get back to basics; the way we used to do it,’” Roach added. “Me and Buboy [Fernandez], we’re going to do our job and we’ll do it correctly.”