By Jason Kim: The drama continues in the Manny Pacquiao camp, as strength trainer Alex Ariza could be on the chopping block, according to the latest boxing news. The Manila Bulletin is reporting that Pacquiao’s trainer Freddie Roach is talking about being able to get Pacquiao in shape himself, which leaves you to wonder what will happen to Ariza should Pacquiao opt to use only Roach instead of Ariza. As it is, Ariza was already let go recently by WBA Super World light welterweight champion Amir Khan for an unknown reason.
Pacquiao’s adviser Michael Koncz is saying that the decision about what happens with Ariza rests with Pacquiao. Roach said this: “I know how to get him [Pacquiao] in shape and Manny knows how to get in shape.” Could it be that Pacquiao is looking to cut costs by letting Ariza go and just letting Road do the conditioning? There’s some confusion about whether Ariza did a good job in getting Pacquiao ready for his last opponent Antonio Margarito.
Pacquiao was putting on size under Ariza’s training and Pacquiao didn’t like the fact that he was slowed down. He then chose to take weight off and come in lighter. This might not have been a good thing for Ariza that Pacquiao wasn’t pleased with the weight that he was putting on and spoke up about it by changing his conditioning himself.
Pacquiao is getting ready for a May 7th fight against Shane Mosley a the MGM Grand, in Las Vegas, Nevada. This is an important fight and it would be surprising that Pacquiao would make a major change in his training by letting Ariza go at this juncture. My guess is Pacquiao won’t want to rock the boat and will keep Ariza. Hopefully, this will be the end of talk about letting Ariza go.
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