“He’s not a pro. What Alex had done is very unprofessional. He signed a contract to do a job and he practically rescinded that deal unilaterally. How can he do that? Worse, he made the decision because of money. That to me is unacceptable.” Freddie Roach on Alex Ariza departure as quoted by Yahoo.com Advertisement
* * *
Baguio City, Philippines – A Team Pacquiao insider once told me, it takes thick skin to penetrate Manny Pacquiao’s inner circle. In his own words, “Makakapal ang mukha ng mga nakakapasok jan sa circle na yan.”
Of course, you have those who truly serve their purpose like Hall of Fame trainer Freddie Roach, and assistant trainers like Buboy Fernandez and Nonoy Neri to name a few, who have been with the Pac Mac even before his meteoric rise to success.
And then you have the leeches, self-promoters and the clowns that hang-on to further their personal agendas.
Not too long ago, I had a brush in with one of those types. Remember that ex-convict who threatened to take over Dong Secuya’s MannyPacquiao.ph website? The guy that preached all he ever wanted was to make Pacquiao some money, and threatened this scribe when I exposed some of his practices.
Now that same guy is being talked about in Baguio by his former employees as gone like the devil from the Pacquiao camp. “Like Satan, he has been banished from this camp,” said a videographer that used to work for him when we spoke at the Shape-Up Gym. “He never paid me,” he added.
(CLICK HERE to watch Pacquiao do mitt work with Roach)
Incidentally, this banished Pacquiao hanger-on is good friends with Pacquiao’s strength and conditioning coach Alex Ariza, who recently bolted from Baguio to join Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.’s camp. Reading quotes from Roach’s reaction to Ariza’s sudden departure, it’s safe to say that the move didn’t sit all too well with him.
Despite getting approval from Pacquiao, Ariza’s move is disturbing, and it’s not as if it comes without precedence.
A little over a year ago, Ariza’s name was involved in some controversy with Amir Khan’s camp, after he reportedly had asked Khan to sign a contract before a fight, which later on he claimed was stolen from him by members of Team Khan who broke into his hotel room during the Khan-Maidana fight. The incident led to Ariza’s firing, only to be re-hired a few months later.
Ariza, who has blasted members of the Philippine media and prefers to only give his profanity-laced interviews with a known Mayweather “pom-pom boy” blogger, has also been active in publicly questioning Pacquiao’s promoter Bob Arum in the media and throughout the social media outlets, which has caused more distractions to the Pacquiao camp than it has brought any good.
A few Team Pacquiao members in Baguio also shared to us that several Team Pacquiao members have become exasperated with Ariza’s antics. Before the Marquez fight, Ariza ran his mouth about how inferior Marquez’s strength-and-conditioning coach is compared to him, and that not even God can help thwart his ward, only to wash his hands clean from any responsibility from Pacquiao’s underwhelming performance, claiming that the 8-Division Champion does not adhere to his regimen.
Also, Pacquiao has been complaining about cramps in at least his past 3-4 fights, something that falls under Ariza’s list of responsibilites. Instead of correcting the said problem, Ariza has been more concerned with Pacquiao’s financial situation with his promoter, often insinuating how much Arum and Top Rank have been making a killing off Pacquiao and screwing him off his money.
Wouldn’t it be ironic that Ariza would abandon the man that made him his name in boxing in the middle of camp for the same reason, after being fired by the likes of Erik Morales and Diego Corrales in the past?
