Conditioning coach Alex Ariza said the eight months of inactivity that Manny Pacquiao will have will actually be good for the Filipino pound-for-pound king.
“That’s going to be exactly what the doctor is going to say to him,” said Ariza in an interview from Los Angeles last Sunday.
Ariza said the amount of work that Pacquiao does during training camp puts a tremendous strain on his body and the way Pacquiao has fought the last two outings is enough for him to take a break from all the bruising and banging.
“Manny went 12 hard rounds in his last two fights so the body, the muscle needs time to recover,” said Ariza, who began working with Pacquiao in 2008, replacing former Australian heavyweight contender Justin Fortune.
“I don’t worry about him being inactive for eight months. It would do more good to him because of the amount of work that he does during camp and during the actual fights,” said Ariza.
Pacquiao will be away from the ring for eight months by the time he gets back to active duty some time in November but Ariza said it would only make Pacquiao stronger when he makes his much-awaited return.
Ariza said Pacquiao’s next fight should be at welterweight–where he is at his best–and that there are other fighters out there who could fill in for Floyd Mayweather Jr.
“I just don’t think that the Mayweather fight is going to happen,” said Ariza.
In place of Mayweather, there are other marquee names like Edwin Valero, “who is trying to make a name for himself;” Andre Berto, Shane Mosley and even Juan Manuel Marquez.
“What happened at 130 (super featherweight), won’t happen here at welter,” said Ariza, stressing that if Pacquiao gets his hands on Marquez for the third time, “it’ll be a knockout win for Manny.”
“I want to see that (third) fight (with Marquez) happen because I don’t want to see Marquez cry over and over again,” said Ariza, noting that Marquez has acted like a cry-baby each time Pacquiao dealt with him.
Ariza said Pacquiao will continue to strut his stuff at welterweight where the megabuck matches happen.
