MACAU ? Freddie Roach said Manny Pacquiao won?t let the ?bad guys? get away with their shenanigans and promised ?I?ll take care of it,? alluding to the punishment he intends to inflict on Brandon Rios when they face off in a 12-round bout for the vacant WBO International welterweight crown at the Cotai Arena inside the Venetial Resort Hotel here this morning.
Rios, trainer Robert Garcia and conditioning coach Alex Ariza were caught on video badmouthing Roach during an altercation about time allocations in the use of the gym a few days ago. Ariza kicked Roach and ridiculed his Parkinson?s affliction by mimicking his stutter and tremors. Rios also mocked Roach in a video three years ago but apologized for the lack of decency.
Roach never got to retaliate. Conditioning coach Gavin McMillan said he dared Ariza to step up and fight in the heat of the confrontation. ?Ariza backed off,? said McMillan. Roach said the kick had no impact. ?He hit me on the chest but he was like on the retreat at the same time,? said Roach. ?I can?t believe he did that. Now, he?s claiming he did nothing wrong and he stands by his story even if the video shows otherwise. These are bad guys. Rios, for instance, has no discipline. He always has problems making weight. He?s fighting at 147 and that shouldn?t be hard for him because he?s moving up in weight. But why is he all wrapped up in a sauna suit? I?ve also heard things about Robert. I understand he and a brother aren?t in good terms and one day, his brother went to his house to patch up and Robert pulled a gun on him. I don?t know if that?s true but if it is, that?s terrible. I?ve heard more things about Robert but I?d rather not say anything more. I respect his father Eduardo ? I haven?t seen him around so far. He?s the guy his sons should emulate.?
Roach said he wasn?t the first to fire Ariza. His executive assistant Marie Spivey made a list of employers who got rid of Ariza ? Diego Corrales, Erik Morales, Amir Khan, Top Rank, Jorge Linares, Julio Cesar Chavez, Jr. and now Pacquiao. ?I fired Ariza from working with Manny and he said I can?t and I said yes I can because I hired you and I will fire you,? Roach told Boxing News editor Tris Dixon. ?Because his head got too big. It seemed he wanted to be the cutman, he was yelling instructions from the corner and I thought, ?Jesus Christ, one day, I?ll lose my job, too.? Roach said Chavez was recently quoted in media defending him against Ariza?s tirades.
Roach said he doesn?t expect the fight to last long. ?First, I thought Manny should be able to take him out in six rounds,? he said. ?But last Monday in General Santos City before we left for Macau, Manny hit the mitts harder than he?s ever hit. Honestly, I?d never felt him hit as hard. If that?s the power Manny will bring against Rios, I think it?ll end in four. When Manny heard I went from six to four, he looked at me and held up two fingers, meaning two rounds. He?s never done that before. Manny wants to take Rios out badly.? Freddie Roach with (from left) Muslim bodyguard Val Dalid Jr., training assistant Marvin Somodio and conditioning coach Gavin McMillan.
Roach said one of Pacquiao?s victims and now a stablemate, Miguel Cotto, is in town to watch the fight. Another is WBO lightwelterweight champion Ruslan Provodnikov who won his title via a 10th round stoppage of Mike Alvarado in Denver last month with Roach?s training assistant Marvin Somodio and McMillan in his corner. Dean’s Corner ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1
Roach said Pacquiao?s knockout loss to Juan Manuel Marquez last December is just a thing of the past. ?He has definitely put the knockout behind him,? said Roach quoted by Ron Borges of the Boston Herald. ?Manny knows that the knockout is part of the sport. He realizes that it you aren?t able to handle the knockout, you picked the wrong sport. He is totally recovered and is brave as ever in the ring. Manny was fighting one of the best fights he has fought in a long time at the time he fell into the punch. Those things happen. If Manny had waited one second more, he was going to win that fight by knockout. Nothing carried over. Manny has looked great in training. I know people are skeptical about him but knockouts are what they are. Manny Pacquiao is a realist. He understands it?s part of the sport. I know everybody doesn?t think the same way but since he accepts it, it doesn?t bother him. But we probably won?t know for sure until the fight.?
Since arriving in General Santos City to train Pacquiao over a month ago, Roach has found a close friend in Muslim bodyguard Val Liamsa Dalid, Jr. who follows him wherever he goes. When Ariza kicked Roach, Dalid said he could?ve moved in and done some real damage. ?I will do anything to protect coach Freddie,? said Dalid. ?If that happened in General Santos City, I don?t know how Ariza would?ve ended up. I was restrained from stepping in. I?ll guard coach Freddie with my life.?
