“It’s obviously something that we have to take serious. Not only does he have Robert Garcia, Trainer of the Year, but he also has Memo [Strength & Conditioning Coach Angel Heredia]. Hopefully Manny plans on going back to what we’ve done in the past. It’s a serious opponent; it’s a serious fight,” stated world-class Strength & Conditioning Coach Alex Ariza, who shared his thoughts on a number of subjects, including Manny Pacquiao’s November showdown with Brandon Rios, the possibility of working with Juan Manuel Lopez, and a future clash between Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. and Andre Ward. Check it out!
BT: What’s up Alex? Glad I finally caught up with you. I know they’re keeping you busy down there in Mexico, but I wanted to ask about Juan Manuel Lopez real quick. Is it true that you might be working with him?
AA: They just reached out to me and said that they were fighting Mikey Garcia and they were wondering if I would be interested in training JuanMa. Honestly, it’s a very difficult decision because I’m friends with obviously those guys and I helped Mikey a little bit in the last camp, but, you know, there’s people that always interfere and trying to disrupt whatever I’m doing with certain people and certain teams, and outside of our control, I wasn’t able to train Mike. They asked me this time and I’m friends with Robert Garcia. I mean, we don’t have each other over for dinner or noting like that, but we’re cordial, we’re professional, and knowing that I have helped Mikey in the past, I just wanted to give him a heads up, you know, and say, “Hey, this is where it’s at.” But it’s contingent upon what’s going on with Julio and his next fight. If Julio doesn’t know what’s going on with the next opponent in the next couple days, he plans on going back on vacation again. He’s thinking about taking more time off until maybe possibly September, so I’m just waiting for Julio to make a decision, and if that’s the case, it’s very likely I’ll be taking off to Puerto Rico.
BT: So you’re basically just waiting to find out if Julio is actually going to be fighting on August 3rd then?
AA: Of course, you know, Julio is my first priority and he does want to make another push and have a big fight with a big opponent, so, as of right now, we don’t know who the opponent is and we don’t have a date, and Julio’s at the point right now that he’s thinking about maybe pushing it off another month because he enjoys relaxing and he’s in no real hurry to get back. He’s been off for 9 months, dude, you know, so we need a good, long 3-month camp. I moved here to Mexico and JuanMa appeared within the last week. Like I said, it’s a hard decision to do because I met the family and everything with the Garcias. It’s business though and I gotta make money too. With Manny being knocked out and on suspension, and Julio being on suspension, I haven’t worked this year that much.
BT: JuanMa is fighting on Mikey on June 15th. Will that be enough time for you to implement the type of program you like to put your athletes through?
AA: I live for this kind of shit, you know, being the underdog. I know what JuanMa is capable of doing. I know what he used to do in the past. We’ve talked in the past. I know what I can do and what I can bring to the table for JuanMa. I think I can make a big difference. It’s just unfortunate it’s against Garcia because, like I said, I really do like those people. They’re really genuine and they’re just good people all around. I like ’em a lot. But it is contingent upon what Julio does and if he decides to go back on vacation and, you know, push the fight further down the road. If that’s the case, I guess I’ll be heading out to Puerto Rico.
BT: Well bro, I know you’re busy down there, so I don’t want to keep you, but real quick, give me your thoughts on a couple of fights. They just announced that Manny is going to be fighting Brandon Rios in November. What do you think about that fight, and more importantly, about Rios as Manny’s next opponent?
AA: It’s obviously something that we have to take serious. Not only does he have Robert Garcia, Trainer of the Year, but he also has Memo [Strength & Conditioning Coach Angel Heredia]. Hopefully Manny plans on going back to what we’ve done in the past. It’s a serious opponent; it’s a serious fight. Never judge a fighter by their last fight, man. You just never know who’s gonna show up. I mean, everybody was saying the same thing, “Manny’s gonna knock out Marquez. I can’t wait to shut them up. I can’t wait to do this, this, and this.” And I kept saying, “We’re not taking these guys serious.” I looked at the way that they’re training; I know what they’re doing. They’re using a lot of the things that we used to do that used to give us the advantage. These fighters are getting smarter and they’re improving, they’re getting better, and again, now you got Memo on their team. Whether you love him or you hate him, you gotta respect him.
BT: Okay, and what about a potential future fight between Chavez Jr. and Andre ward?
AA: I’ve talked to Julio and that ain’t going to happen. Julio’s got no interest in going up in weight. He said there’s a reason why we started 3 months out. He knows what he has to do to get to 160 and stay in the 160-pound division. It’s about starting early, being consistent, and following the program. He’s got no interest in going up, and that coming from him, because I’ve talked to Julio about it personally. He goes, “You know what, bro. You don’t remember, but I remember that there was times with fights that you and I have had where I didn’t have to cut weight. I woke up on weight or a pound over.” He goes, “I know that if I do everything the same way that I used to do, I can make 160 still. When people say I have troubles making weight, I don’t have any more problems than anybody else out there. Why does everybody want to move me out of my weight class. I’m not moving out of my weight class. I like 160. I’m gonna train, I started 3 months out, and people will see how easy it is for me to make weight when I put my mind to it.” So he’s got no interest in moving up to 168. I talked to Julio about it myself.
