Australian Justin Fortune, who is Manny Pacquiao’s conditioning coach, lashed out at Alex Ariza, the Filipino fighter’s former fitness guide, saying he (Ariza) is a jinx to every training camp.
Fortune, who made a comeback to Pacquiao’s camp last year after a five-year stint, remains angry and mad over what Ariza did to Roach when they had a run-in in Macau during the Brandon Rios fight in 2013.
Ariza kicked Roach, who has Parkinson’s Disease, creating a big commotion in the leadup to the fight that Pacquiao handily won on points.
“(Ariza’s a) spineless bastard,” Fortune told boxingscene, adding that the Los Angeles-bred Colombian is like “cancer’ and “bad karma.”
Robert Garcia, who trains Rios, then let go of Ariza, wound up getting employed by Floyd Mayweather.
There is also another former Team Pacquiao member who has switched sides.
James Dayap, Pacquiao’s former videographer, is likewise now with Mayweather and the young Fil-Am travels around the famed fighter wherever he goes.
PPV record-breaker
Oscar De La Hoya, who has figured in countless pay-per-view record-breakers, predicts a smash hit for the May 2 welterweight title clash between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao.
The standing record of 2.4 million will be easy to shatter, according to De La Hoya, who heads Golden Boy Promotions, a chief rival of Bob Arum’s Top Rank Inc. and Mayweather Promotions.
Speaking to boxingscene, De La Hoya, who retired in early-2009 after being forced to quit on his stool against Pacquiao, believes that the May 2 event has all the trappings of a big success.
“It’s the fight of the industry, which will generate 3 million purchases on PPV,” said De la Hoya, who is staging another big card in San Antonio the weekend after the Mayweather-Pacquiao show.
De La Hoya says that Pacquiao has to put the pressure all night long so the fight can become exciting.
If Mayweather decides to stick to safety-first approach, the fight won’t live up to the hype.
$1.6-M Floyd wager
Rapper 50 Cent has made a whopping $1.6 million bet on a Floyd Mayweather victory over Manny Pacquiao on May 2 in Las Vegas. The artist told SI.com that Mayweather “can’t lose” against the Filipino eight-division titlist, who is a live 3-1 underdog in their welterweight collision at the MGM Grand.
Mayweather is good friends with the master rapper.