By Lem Satterfield, FanHouse
Bronx, N.Y. -- FanHouse caught up to Alex Ariza during Wednesday's press conference at The Yankee Stadium here, where the strength trainer of seven-division champion and WBO welterweight (147 pounds) king, Manny Paquiao, is supporting junior middleweight (154 pounds) prospect, Vanes Martirosyan, in Saturday night's clash of unbeatens against New York's Joe Greene to be held at Yankee Stadium.
Also the strength trainer for WBA junior welterweight (140 pounds) king, Amir Khan, Ariza is the assistant to Hall of Fame trainer, Freddie Roach, who, on Friday night, will receive his unprecedented fourth straight Trainer Of The Year honors from The Boxing Writers Association of America as will Pacquiao (51-3-2, 38 knockouts), his third consecutive Fighter of the Year award as well as his first honor as Fighter of the Decade.
Ariza shared his thoughts on the implimentation of random blood and urine testing by the United States' Anti-Doping Agency during the buildup to May's Floyd Mayweather-Shane Mosley fight, among other things.
FanHouse: What are your thoughts on the culture of boxing as a result of Floyd Mayweather's assertion that Manny Pacquiao and himself be subject to random drug testing if their fight is to take place?
Alex Ariza: You know, as far as Manny and Floyd, I think that we have a gag order in place on that. But I just want to set a few things straight. Manny isn't really afraid of needles. It's just that he doesn't like to give blood too close to a fight. Manny feels that it takes something out of him, and a lot of these fighters have superstitions like that.
I mean, let's be realistic.
BALCO
[founder Victor Conte] was beating USADA for the past five years. They've probably tested his [Conte's] athletes three hundred times and they never really got caught. I mean, who have they really caught?
So you don't believe, as USADA director Travis Tygart believes, that USADA can work within the sport along with boxing's athletic commissions to improve the drug testing policies in the fight game?
I think that they're giving too much air time to Travis. He needs to go back to doing what he does best, which is to sit behind a desk and try to get other sports to believe that what he's doing is some kind of an extraordinary movement.
Do you believe that USADA was taken aback by the boxing community, and are you surprised that some in the boxing community have scrutinized and criticized the assertion that random drug testing is something that is needed in the sport?
Yeah, of course Travis was surprised. I think that he thought that he was going to come in here and throw a bunch of big words around and that people were going to be 'Wowed' by that. And it just doesn't happen that way. Travis doesn't know this sport. He's never laced up a pair of boxing gloves and put them on.
Travis is not an athlete himself, like that. Travis needs to shut up. He needs to go back and to sit behind a desk and answer phone calls and shut up. This is a real sport. These guys train hard. We don't need these guys and their little kits showing up when these fighters are in the midst of training and making weight and doing the real work.
We don't need these guys showing up and making themselves feel as if they have some type of importance as far as being in the fighters' camps. You know, they don't serve any real purpose.
So you're fine with the drug testing that is already in place, which is mostly based in that of urinalysis?
Sure I am. The athletic commissions of New York, Nevada and Texas are doing a phenomenal job. They've been doing it for years. They've got their top people working on it and they've at least actually caught people. So, you know, we'll do whatever the commissions ask us to do.
We're willing to abide by the commission's rules. The standards that they've set and the rules that they have in place are okay with us and that's all that we're going to follow.
Do you believe that boxing trainers, in general, take offense at the notion that their fighters are on steroids?
You know, to be honest with you, I sort of take that as a compliment. I mean, we know who is on the level, and we know that what we're doing with Manny and all of our other fighters are is all on the level. So, to us, it's a compliment. It means that we're doing something right.
And again, it goes back to the fact that we just have a really good team behind us.
Whom do you mean?
You know, I always like to give credit to Aundrea Macias of San Diego State, who is our research analyst. Terri Tom, who is from UCLA, who is our dietician. I've used both of them since we first started with Manny and with David Diaz. So, you know, this success with Manny has been a long time coming.
This didn't happen over night. It's been two years in the making of putting this formula together.
Is this in place for Vanes Martirosyan and Amir Khan as well?
Yes, and fortunately, Vanes has adapted to it. Amir Khan has adapted to it. And now, we've added Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., and, so, hopefully, Julio will adapt to it as well. Here's the thing. Those are my four guys now.
How do you feel that this program manifests itself in the performance of the fighters?
I think that you see them all making weight without any problems. You see their physiques are all very symmetrically well built. They're defined. And as far as their conditioning, they're second to none. Coming into a fight, they're ready to perform and to give the fans what they want.
Unfortunately in this business, these lackluster fights and these sub-par performances are because there are fighters who don't know what they're doing the week of the fight. They're killing themselves to make weight for a fight. And therefore, all of their fight is left outside of the ring.
My guys come in and they're ready to fight. They're going to give you a show 100 percent. The one thing that you're never going to see is our guy getting tired or getting to the point where he can't throw any more punches. Or when it's time to really get down to business and to get down and dirty, the energy, it's going to be there for them.
And that's what they're there for. They're there to put on big performances, and that's what Manny, and Amir, and, Vanes are able to do in there.
Source:
boxing.fanhouse.com
Glory 3, a night of professional boxing at Civic Auditorium.
Meanwhile, back in the stands, someone began screaming racial comments which really bothered young Martirosyan to the point of near physical altercation. Luckily security was able to contain the situation almost immediately allowing fans to get back to the battle inside the ring.
