Roach On How To Get Rid of Drugs in Boxing: Get Rid Of Strength Coaches

Freddie says Manny has had a good camp, with less Bible study and less Ariza. (Chris Farina-Top Rank)

Now, apparently, we know how Freddie Roach REALLY feels about strength and training coach Alex Ariza.

In a video interview with Marcos Villegas of the Boxing Channel, Roach said that if we removed all strength and conditioning coaches from the mix, that would remove PED use from the sport. If you had an inkling that maybe Dedham Freddie and Loose Cannon Alex would get patched up, and back on the same page, well…it’s not looking like they’re vibing on each other right now.

Roach paused a bit when asked what he thought of this bulked up Marquez. “I hate to, like…everyone said we’re on steroids, now he’s way bigger than us…it doesn’t look natural, he built that muscle quite quickly, he has a controversial strength and conditioning coach. I think if we got rid of all the strength and conditioning coaches in the world, they’re all way overrated and b——t, if we got rid of every one of them, we’d have no drugs in boxing….it’s true.”

Villegas, who by the way is a unheralded young gun who does a superb jab as a true journalist, asking probing questions in a humble manner, then asked about Alex Ariza, who has done S & C work with Manny. Roach made sure to emphasize that Ariza has a diminished role with Team Pacquiao. “Manny only trained with him once since he’s been here, so he doesn’t really use him, he just stretches him. Just stretching that’s it, every day stretch..he’s only ran with him once this entire camp. Manny knows how to get in shape.” Roach said Pacman knows his body, knows how to get himself in shape.

The trainer said he has loved Manny’s work in camp. “I think Marquez is going to have a lot of problems with this Manny Pacquiao. We cut down on the Bible study a little bit and we had more focus on the training…now he’s giving me the fire I want.”

Pacman has been knocking sparring partners down, four times thus far, and Roach hasn’t seen that since he fought Miguel Cotto, he said.

Roach was asked if he picked up anything new on Marquez in the last fight, their third. No, the trainer said; he watched the first three fights, and looked for moments when Manny excelled. When he used his speed and aggressiveness, he did well, so Roach wants more of that from Manny.

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