No matter how hard you work towards your goals in life, everybody needs a little bit of luck from time to time and such was the case for Alex Ariza. The mild-mannered strength and conditioning coach picked up a passion for the sport of boxing and found himself committed to his craft while living in Las Vegas, Nevada before a chance of a lifetime opportunity came about to work with world renown trainer Freddie Roach.
As a staple of the famed Wild Card Gym Ariza is constantly in an atmosphere unlike any other while working with some of the sport?s most promising athletes. Ariza?s name has come to the surface in recent years due to his connection to WBO welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao, who has had a tremendous ride of success in the past year and half since moving up from the lightweight division.
In talking to Ariza you sense a man who is fully aware of the fortunes that have come his way and all of the hard work that is going to be necessary for him to stay on course. Ariza?s job is one that doesn?t come without its share of tireless commitment but at the end of the day the rewards he reaps are beyond gratifying.
In the first part of my interview with Ariza I touched based with the Bogota, Columbia native on his early connection with trainer Freddie Roach and his first memories of the Wild Card Gym. The minute Ariza linked up with the Massachusetts native he was soon to be immersing himself in a completely new world filled with much drama, excitement, and surreal encounters.
In his own words this is what Ariza had to say?
Getting into boxing? ?If you look at sports today, whether it is football, basketball, hockey, there are tons of trainers. There are a lot of us. Most of us have been there for years. I didn?t want to start off in a sport where I had my own program and my own theories that I knew of. I thought that boxing was one of those sports in general where the training and conditioning is just hard. There are certain things that you just don?t do. You had to find a trainer who was open to what you wanted to do and Freddie was one of those trainers. He was old school but he was open to new methods. He just didn?t know the intricate details of it.?
Linking up with trainer Freddie Roach? ?It was about three years ago. I had a friend who was a stunt coordinator and I had done a couple of movies with him. He worked out at Freddie Roach?s gym and I was in Vegas getting ready to get Diego Corrales back after his loss to Joshua Clottey. He had told me that there was a parting between the core strength guy there and Freddie. He told me that Freddie was the type of trainer who was open to the new kind of strength and conditioning and stuff like that. I pretty much called Freddie on the phone. He said that he didn?t know where he was going to be at but asked if I could fax him my resume and put my name on it. He said should anything come up that he would get in touch. I sent the resume and a couple of months later I was out here in L.A.?
The atmosphere inside the Wild Card Gym? ?When I first walked in there was this overwhelming gym presence. People were just working and sweating. It was just a very overwhelming feeling to walk in there at that time. I had worked with private gyms but I was never really exposed to something like that. It was a little bit of a shock. All of the competition that was in there.?
Learning from Freddie? ?When I first started working with Freddie and observing him it was like I was back in school all over again. I had been with other trainers at other gyms and I had never experienced anything like that before. I felt like all of a sudden I didn?t have any experience to be honest with you. I didn?t know anything about the sport. I?m being 100% honest with you. I had been with Erik Morales, and Diego [Corrales] and Angel Manfredy and I had been in some gyms in Chicago and Vegas and Mexico and stuff like that. I was just watching Freddie and how he watching teaching. I had done some amateur boxing when I was younger and it was like school all over again. I said that the only way I was going to learn anything was to watch Freddie Roach and just shadow him. Just watch his moves and watch how he talks to trainers and I think in the three years I have been there I have tried to implement the same thing in the strength and conditioning that he had taught. My approach to boxing and learning is on another level.?
A once in a lifetime opportunity? ?It?s surreal. Sometimes he will be in the ring and will be talking and every now and then I will glance in the mirror and I will see myself standing next to him and say to myself ?Holy s***! I?m standing next to Freddie Roach?. It?s like being an actor that comes to Hollywood and ends working with Brian De Palma or any big director out there. I am working for the biggest guy in the sport. It?s a surreal moment but at the same time I have to put things into perspective. Everything he says, everything he does, I wish I could videotape it and watch it because there is just so much to learn.?
More than a dream? ?The biggest thing which is the best part is when they are sparring and come to the corner and Freddie says ?Listen, double jab, step to the right, throw the right hand and it will be there?. The guys goes out there, he double jabs, steps to the right and it happens. He will say all of these things and they will happen. And you sit there and say to yourself ?How did he see that??. Sometimes you want to see the things he does but maybe he is just really the best at that. He can just break a fight apart. It?s like with Paulie Malignaggi who said that Freddie Roach knew more about him than he did. It?s more than a dream. It is what it is. I don?t know if it?s luck or whatever but it?s the greatest thing I could be involved in.?
The best job in the world? ?To be honest every day, every morning, even though I sometimes have to wake up at 5 in the morning, I just sit there and think to myself ?I have the best job in the world?. I work with the most phenomenal athletes. There is no business like the boxing business. It?s the best sport in the world. I get up the morning and my responsibility is to the fighters. I get up, plan my schedule for the day, and I always motivated myself and it comes down that way whether I am on the track or in the gym. I try to get them motivated into what we are doing. In some camps I will do the cooking and sometimes just relax and watch movies. It?s one of those regimens where you are just eating and sleeping, eating and sleeping. You train, come back home, and get ready for the next day. I tell you what, 5 o?clock comes very early.?
Early days in the gym? ?I first started working with other fighters in the gym. I shadowed [Freddie] and he put me with these sparring partners, these average guys, but it didn?t really matter to me. I just wanted to work and I told him to just put me with anybody. I told him that if I didn?t bring something to the table that I would pack my stuff and leave because I didn?t want to be a headache to them. The first guy was Andrei Arlovski and I tell you I thought it was some kind of hazing or something. I?m not joking man. I think he was here for two or three weeks and he didn?t talk to me the first week we were together. We were training at 5 in the morning, come back for his boxing session at 11, and then come back at 6. I said either this is some kind of hazing or it was Freddie trying to get me out. He was just an odd individual.?
Stay tuned in the coming days for part 2 of my interview with Alex Ariza where he discusses meeting Manny Pacquiao, learning more about the Filipino icon, and speaks on a potential bout with Floyd Mayweather?
For more images of Alex Ariza please check out the slideshow below?
