As the days draw nearer for Brandon Rios and Manny Pacquiao to square off on November 23rd in Macau, China, more underlying stories appear to be developing. One of the biggest ones is that Rios is now working with Pacquiaos former strength and conditioning coach Alex Ariza in preparation for this fight.
Ariza has worked with Pacquiao since 2008 when Pacquiao was preparing for his rematch with Juan Manuel Marquez. Since then, Ariza had been instrumental in preparing Pacquiao for his fights and the constant moves up in weight classes throughout the years. But in a surprising turn of events, Ariza was fired from Team Pacquiao and since then his services are now being used by Rios.
BoxingScene caught up with Brandon in Oxnard and was asked if bringing in Ariza was done to be able to have an advantage over Pacquiao knowing Ariza had worked closely with him for the last 6 years.
?Honestly its just that me and Robert [Garcia] made the decision. I dont make decisions by myself. Robert asked me and I said its up to you Robert, whatever you want, Im down. So Robert said yes and we both made the decision together and decided it would be best for us? said Rios.
?Its not because Oh, he knows Pacquiao very well or stuff like that. Ariza hasnt told us anything about what Pacquiao does wrong or stuff like that. He hasnt said sh*t like that. Were not worrying about that. Were not cheaters. We dont need him [to tell us] his game plan or what Pacquiao does wrong. We dont need that?.
For Rios the hiring of Ariza is strictly to get himself in the best physical shape possible and given how good Ariza has worked with other fighters, it made sense to bring him in. While many might think hiring Ariza will be a mental edge knowing Pacquiao will look across the ring and see his former conditioning coach, thats not the case. According to Rios, Ariza will not be working his corner on fight night as thats not his role in this camp.
