Khan: I Will Accomplish Ariza's Mission, Destroy Malignaggi
By Rick Reeno
A few days, strength and conditioning coach Alex Ariza told BoxingScene.com's Ronnie Nathanielsz that his mission was to prepare junior welterweight Amir Khan to destroy Paulie Malignaggi on May 15 at the WaMu Theater in New York's Madison Square Garden.
Ariza, who works with numerous fighters at the Wild Card Gym in Hollywood, California, is very upset with some of Malignaggi's statements regarding possible steroid use by some of the Wild Card fighters like Manny Pacquiao.“I want him to destroy Malignaggi for what he’s said,” Ariza said.
When BoxingScene.com spoke with Khan, the WBA champion told us he will do everything in his power to accomplish that mission for Ariza and trainer Freddie Roach.
"That's right. When Manny trains, not many people can keep up with Manny when he trains. I think I'm the only fighter who can keep up with Manny with sparring, boxing, everything - and I have to say that he is disrespectful when he says [that]. When another fighter tells a trainer 'your fighter is on drugs or on steroids,' [it's disrespectful] because of the hard work Freddie and Alex Ariza put into our training," Khan told BoxingScene.com.
"You have to give him credit for it. If I was training a guy and fighter came up to me and said 'your fighter is on drugs,' - it's not a nice thing to say. Once I shut up Paulie after beating him, I'm sure Alex will be happy with the performance and so will Freddie."
