Roach still with Chavez Jr; Ariza out

By Boxing News - 05/17/2012 - Comments

Image: Roach still with Chavez Jr; Ariza outBy Chris Williams: Contrary to the rumors floating around about trainer Freddie Roach having been canned by WBC middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., Roach is still with him according to RingTV. However, strength and conditioning coach Alex Ariza won’t be working with Chavez Jr. for his current training camp to get ready for Andy Lee on June 16th. It’s unclear if Ariza is out permanently or what.

Roach told RingTV “Chavez has asked me to come in for the last two weeks after I’m done with Manny [Pacquiao] to help him out with the fight…Alex Ariza hasn’t been allowed into his training camp…I’ve also heard that Chavez has hired a new strength trainer.”

There it is, folks. Ariza is out, although it may not be permanently. I can imagine Ariza will be back in if Chavez Jr. fails to make weight for the Andy Lee fight or if he struggles and looks bloated. Chavez Jr. has been ballooning up in weight after making weight in his last three fights and coming in at around 180lbs each time. When you have a fighter bloated up that much each time they fight it’s only so long before they eventually can’t make the weight.

Chavez Jr. will be out of his league if he’s forced to fight at super middleweight, because there’s no soft touches for him to pick up an easy title and milk it for a couple of years. He’d have to settle for one of the interim belts, and I’m not so sure that Chavez Jr. could even pick up one of those titles in that division.



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