If you saw last night's episode of "24/7 Road to Pacquiao vs. Bradley", you got a close look at some of the tension that's been brewing between Hall of Fame trainer Freddie Roach and world-class strength and conditioning coach Alex Ariza. The first signs of trouble appeared in late April, when Ariza asked Pacquiao for his permission to leave their Baguio training camp to return to the United State and begin working with middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. Although Pacquiao had no issue with granting the request, mainly because Ariza would be reuniting with him just 2 weeks later at the Wild Card Boxing Club in California, the decision did not sit too well with Roach. In fact, Roach accused Ariza of being "unprofessional", suggesting that he was simply motivated by money. Since then, the usually outspoken Ariza has been relatively silent, with only an occasional response on Twitter.
As previously stated, last night's episode of 24/7 gave us a little more insight. "Well, you know, the thing is, I had Amir Khan and Manny Pacquiao, my top 2 fighters, there and Alex wanted to go work with Chavez Jr., and I told him, I said, 'I think it's a bad move.' People make decisions and I think it was the wrong one, but he's a grown man and he'll have to live with his decision, not me," Roach commented, reflecting on Ariza's decision to depart camp for 2 weeks. Ariza, however, would make it clear that he first sought Pacquiao's permission to leave camp. "You know, when I spoke to Manny and we had our conversation, he just said, 'You're only going to be gone really, you know, a couple of weeks.' It's not like I left in the heart of training, or 2 weeks before, or I left for a whole camp," Ariza explained, perhaps reminding Roach that he once left Pacquiao for an entire camp so he could work with Oscar De La Hoya prior to his 2007 Cinco de Mayo clash with Floyd Mayweather. "He [Pacquiao] just gave me the green light and said, 'Yeah, go help him. I'll see you in LA. It's okay.'"
Pacquiao seemed to back Ariza's version of the story, seemingly unconcerned about the matter and suggesting it was being blown out proportion. "The media, they're making a big issue of that, but Alex asked permission to me if I'm okay if he goes back to LA and wait here. If I don't agree, he's not going to leave, but I gave him permission to leave," stated the welterweight champion. Pacquiao's adviser, Michael Koncz, seemed unfazed as well, though it was clear he also didn't really care too much if Ariza was still around. "Freddie is not very happy about it and you could see there's tension in the gym right now after we got back and Alex joined us, but, you know, frankly, from my point of view, I don't give 2 hoots if Alex is training Manny or is not training Manny," Koncz added, likely still remembering the day when Ariza literally slapped him around a couple of times a few years ago.
Nevertheless, for whatever reason, Roach still appears to be upset about the situation, going so far as to say that he's going to tell Pacquiao to get rid of Ariza. "The one thing about Alex, he's very good at what he does, but he just over did it, you know? He's a great training coach, but he wants to be the trainer, the cutman, and everything else. His head's gotten too big and we need to calm him down a little bit," Roach continued. "I think he's bullshittin' a little bit and I don't appreciate that and I'm going to suggest to Manny that we maybe get rid of him or I get a new strength coach." Truth be told, this isn't the first time that Roach has suggested that Ariza's services may no longer be needed. In fact, in an interview with Ring Magazine's Lem Satterfield, Roach hinted that Chavez Jr. had already severed ties with the strength and conditioning coach, despite the fact that Ariza was actually spotted in Las Vegas with the middleweight champion hours before Roach's interview went public.
So what gives? Who's in? Who's out? Is there really that much tension between Roach and Ariza, or is this just a sub-plot to help sell the upcoming June 9th clash between Pacquiao and Bradley? Check back soon for more details, as our sources tell us there's much more to the story than you may think.
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