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Roach knows of two of his fighters who tested positive for PEDs
DALLAS – Freddie Roach, the trainer of Manny Pacquiao, said he has worked with two fighters who tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs but takes precautions so it won’t creep into his gym in Hollywood, Calif.
Roach said one of his former fighters, Justin Fortune, was known to have used PEDs and James Toney twice tested positive for steroids, once when he was working with Roach.
“I won’t say I didn’t know,” said Roach, referring to Toney. “I never asked him, though. I never had a conversation. I could see his body structure had signs, his traps and stuff. He was either lifting a lot of weight or he was on (something).
“… I think I had one other fighter on steroids also, Justin Fortune. … I know he’d been there before.”
Roach repeated for the umpteenth time, however, that Pacquiao is clean. He said he talked to Pacquiao after unsubstantiated allegations by Floyd Mayweather Sr. and others became public.
“I said, ‘Manny, do you know what steroids are?’” Roach said. “He knows so little about steroids. He knows less than I do.”
Is there a chance Pacquiao took an illegal substance by accident, perhaps consuming something with which he was unfamiliar?
“Why would you think that?” he said. “Manny gets tested after every fight and has never come up dirty. Without evidence, that’s a bad assumption.”
Roach also has discussed PEDs with strength and conditioning coach Alex Ariza, who works with Pacquiao.
“A hundred percent,” he said. “That’s the first guy I went to. … Alex is a friend of mine and he works with me. My reputation is on the line with him. He assures me 100 percent that there’s nothing out there.”
Pacquiao fights Joshua Clottey on Saturday at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
http://www.ringtv.com/blog/1721/roac...tive_for_peds/
Roach said one of his former fighters, Justin Fortune, was known to have used PEDs and James Toney twice tested positive for steroids, once when he was working with Roach.
“I won’t say I didn’t know,” said Roach, referring to Toney. “I never asked him, though. I never had a conversation. I could see his body structure had signs, his traps and stuff. He was either lifting a lot of weight or he was on (something).
“… I think I had one other fighter on steroids also, Justin Fortune. … I know he’d been there before.”
Roach repeated for the umpteenth time, however, that Pacquiao is clean. He said he talked to Pacquiao after unsubstantiated allegations by Floyd Mayweather Sr. and others became public.
“I said, ‘Manny, do you know what steroids are?’” Roach said. “He knows so little about steroids. He knows less than I do.”
Is there a chance Pacquiao took an illegal substance by accident, perhaps consuming something with which he was unfamiliar?
“Why would you think that?” he said. “Manny gets tested after every fight and has never come up dirty. Without evidence, that’s a bad assumption.”
Roach also has discussed PEDs with strength and conditioning coach Alex Ariza, who works with Pacquiao.
“A hundred percent,” he said. “That’s the first guy I went to. … Alex is a friend of mine and he works with me. My reputation is on the line with him. He assures me 100 percent that there’s nothing out there.”
Pacquiao fights Joshua Clottey on Saturday at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
http://www.ringtv.com/blog/1721/roac...tive_for_peds/
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