Fightkings.com boxing analyst Mortz C. Ortigoza recently sat with Columbian-American Alex Areza; Manny Pacquaio’s conditioning coach!
The author (3rd from left) posed for posterity recently with No. 1 Pound-for-Pound pugilist of the world during his training for his rubber match against Mexican Juan Manuel Marquez at the Philippines’ Summer Capital Baguio City. Conditioning coach and Pacquaio’s Assistant Trainer Alex Areza (2nd from left at the background) talked with some foreign journalists.
I asked Areza about Pacquaio not taking the Olympic style drug test set as a pre-condition by and before Junior Welterweight Champ Floyd Mayweather concludes a multi-million dollars contract to fight him in the potentially biggest prize fight in boxing history. I also asked Areza about Pacquaio possibly knocking out former foe and upcoming challenger Juan Manuel Marquez before the sixth round in their upcoming rubber match in November. Areza also reacted to some of the negative statements of Promoter Lou DiBella and boxer Marcos Rene Maidana.
INTERVIEW EXCERPTS:
Mortz C. Ortigoza: Little Floyd Mayweather trainer Roger Mayweather said two days ago that Manny (Pacquaio) should take the drug test before he fights his nephew?
Alex Areza : Who said that?
Roger Mayweather
Oh, Roger Mayweather said that?
He said the fight could not be possible if Manny would not take the 14 days drug test before he fights his nephew.
You know, what’s funny is he always say something about the drug test. We take drug test every time we fight. They have to come-up with different excuses. Secondly, why we do anything that the Mayweathers say? Like I said, they need to stick with the things that they do best. Yapping, fighting another family, embarrassing themselves! Never mind we are professionals. We do whatever the Commission says. Whatever these sanction bodies say. Those are the test we gonna take just to fight Floyd. The test outside, we don’t need too. He (Manny) is the best boxer.
How about the Olympic style of testing the Mayweathers want?
We don’t need, too. He (Manny) is the best boxer in the world. What we do what Manny says. We don’t need that test.
Only the test sanctioned by the Nevada State Athletic Commission?
Exactly? We are passing every test. There is a test for Manny and our fighters. We have Jorge Linares, we have Chavez Jr., we have Amir Khan, and all our fighters are passing test.
Amir Khan is the world anti-doping (model). He did random of testing throughout the whole year. None of our fighters are coming out dirty. So, they need to come-out with a new excuse, no more excuses.
What’s your take on the statement of promoter Lou DiBella that Manny is not on the level of Mayweather?
Lou DiBella said that?
Ya
Who is Lou DiBella? He is out on anybody’s radar. He needs to focus on his fighters. He got one of the best fighters in the world Sergio Martinez. He should focus to promote that guy and sell more than 15 tickets in his fight. Maybe he could be able to get those big fights. Maybe, he’ll be able to be on Pay Per View. He is too old on his years and stuff like that. He do all. He should close his mouth, and learns his stuffs like that. Focus on promoting fighters. Focus on how to become a good promoter. Maybe he’ll have those one of those big fights like that.
He is not on the same level of promoting. Maybe that’s why he thinks on Manny not on the same level of fighters.
What’s your take on (Marcos Rene) Maidana calling your protégée Amir Kahn “Queen Khan” and Eric Morales to fight him?
He barely passes Morales. Maidana is done. He is old news. Y’know this guy can no longer show on Fight Nights. He should shut up. Go to somewhere and do something. Don’t wait until after you loss the big fight, and start talking, talking, talking.
Maidana got this butt, and he came out short. Okay, he got those shots, now he’s already done. He had another shot with Morales, and he did not show up . Morales beating him in my opinion with one eye. So he wants to come back again and got another beating against Khan. Who gonna buy the tickets? Again, he gotta come up with good performances. So good tickets come, and you gonna loss that big fights. Yapping yapping, complaining why you know, he doesn’t got anything.
Manny now much bigger than Marquez. Do you think before the six (6) rounds, Manny can Knocked out Marquez cold?
I think Manny gonna KO Marquez. The way this camp is going Manny is too much for Marquez. So all the beating and the throwing of rocks in the world does not gonna help Marquez.
Gezz man, he is now is bigger than Marquez.
Manny is not just bigger. He’s now a whole different fighter. He is more a complete fighter, athletic, speed, explosions, power, and height. He is ready. He is quite bigger, stronger, and faster. What’s Marquez gonna do. He is smarter, more technical fighter. But you know more precautious. At the end of the day that’s gonna not win the fight. It’s the complete fighter who wins the fight.
(You can send your comments at totomortz@yahoo.com)
As in September, I once again ran out of gas in the 10th & 11th championship rounds of October & November with this column, but I recovered to complete them and will unleash a few more flurries to close out the 12th and final round.
In the first week of October, Hassan N’Dam won a UD over Curtis Stevens in an eliminator for the right to challenge Jermaine Taylor who defeated aging Sam Soliman to regain the IBF Middleweight title. How Taylor even earned this title shot is another story altogether, but it is all irrelevant as he is now the champion. However he will not have too much time to savor his victory as he has assault and battery charges pending against him and an upcoming court fight that may turn out to be the toughest fight of his life, just when things started to look up for him in boxing, we wish him luck.
blood testing is not sanctioned by state commission, plus the blood testing floyd jr is crying for dont really count if you base them on Olympic testing that needs atleast whole year period. what is floyd doing in his 16 month layoff? taking PED to get strong and fast? maybe, no ones seeing what he’s doing inside his garage.
man just think about pac is like a buc fifty 170 at the most and he knockin men bigger than him down the only pwerson that did that is crack heads and pcp heads and wet heads or men that takes stariods
I ain’t understand the stance of Pacquaio. It ain’t wrong he tries testing Olympic style. Floyd Jr. is willing to take it, why ain’t Manny doesn’t like it? If Pacquaio ain’t hiddin’ anythin’ he should submit for that kind of test so we all know whose the best of ’em all in the hurt business
Pacquaio said before he was afraid about needles, but he got a lot of tattoos from multiple needles’ pricks. Then he said he was amenable with Olympic style of testing but asked for a 14 days moratorium. Was Pacquaio procrastinating just to avoid the needle kind of testing? Is he hiding something?