From what they're saying about each other, nasty words and invective, I just don't see Manny Pacquiao/Amir Khan strength, conditioning, nutrition guru Alex Ariza inviting cutman/trainer Miguel Diaz over to the Casa Ariza for any holiday protein shakes.
And neither will Diaz beckon Ariza to his home for some good red wine and a Gaucho style steak.
They might not even swap Christmas cards this year.
I'm still laughing after reading that Ariza, who once clocked Pacman agent Michael Koncz with his hands, took this verbal shot at my longtime pal, ther Argentina native and Las Vegas resident Diaz:"Table for four!"
That reference was to Diaz's past as a waiter or maitre'd in one of the big hotel-casino showroom on the Strip.
I go so far back with Miguel, an amateur singer with an operatic voice, that I remember when he was slinging sandwiches at a small bodega near the long gone Main Street in Las Vegas.
This feud seems striclty a sticks and stones will break my bones but names will never hurt me incident and I hope the two honorable and respected principals will now squash the beef.
Ariza is accomplished in what he does and so is Diaz as a trainer, a cutman and, while it's often overlooked, as one of best handwrappers extant.
Good news from the Nevada State Athletic Commission, which licenses Diaz and Ariza to work fighters' corners, is that no disciplinary action is contemplated, mainly because no punches were landed after Khan and Marcos Maidana concluded their hard-fought 12 round scrap.
"Credit should go to three of our NSAC inspectors--Alex Aragonez, Alex Ybarra and Andy Montoya--for how they interceded between the two camps and prevented any postfight violence," Keith Kizer, attorney and executive director told me Wednesday.
"This thing could have gotten out of hand but it didn't and the inspectors did their jobs. I'm just sorry if this took anything away from what a great fight Marcos and Amir staged. From what I heard, Ariza went over to congratulate Maidana on his effort and then the words went back and forth," Kizer said.
"I think the fault here lies with the Maidana camp. They were quite emotional. They had six guys in their corner and we disallowed that (the limit on cornermen is four). We don't plan to take any disciplinary action, I don't want to do that but I thought it was heating up so I almost got into the ring which normally I would never do."
One of the more infamous NSAC disciplinary cases involving a second came when Johnny Tapia's brother in law, a fellow named Rob Gutierrez, punched out Top Rank's Todd duBoef after Tapia lost a close decision in a rematch agsinst Paulie Ayala (their first was 199's Fight of the Year) on Oct. 7, 2000.
Tapia had left Top Rank in a bitter breakup.
"This is all your fault," Tapia supposedly said (according to Steve Springer, writing in the LA Times). Tapia then shoved duboef.
Then Gutierrez uncorked a right hand to the promoter's jaw which split his lip
DuBoef hit the deck and Gutierrez left the arena wearing a new bracelet. Stepfather Bob Arum rushed over to see if duBoef was allright and the "Toddster" shook it off.
"Best chin of of any promoter," Top Rank's veteran matchmaker Bruce Trampler said of former prep hockey star duBoef.
Oh, the bracelet?
Over at Central Booking, they're known as handcuffs.
Judges favored Top Rank boxer Paulie Ayala on scores of 115-113 and 116-111 with a dissenting 115-113 vote for the colorful and controversial Tapia.
"We wound up taking away Gutierrez's license and then, about five years ago, he died in a car crash. There was a lot of emotion and bad blood because Tapia had left Top Rank. Todd made a remark to Tapia, the brother in law took offense and Todd got decked."
More accurately, Gutierrez, 36, and Tapia nephew Ben Garcia, only 23, died March 13, 2007,when their car flipped over while going at an excessive speed near Albuquerque. Gutierrez and Garcia were rushing to hospital to see the boxer after he was found unconscious in a motel after what police called a cocaine overdose.
At that time of the seconds license suspension, Kizer was the legal guru for the boxing board and Marc Ratner, now a big wheel over at the UFC
, was the executive director.
, was the executive director.As Coach Freddie Roach told me Wednesday morning by phone from Manila, "both guys acted like two little kids" in this incident.
The message for Diaz and Ariza, both of whom have real tempers, is clear, time to cool your jets, gents.
(mlcmarley@aol.com)
Source: examiner.com
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