Alex Ariza sounds off on Freddie Roach defamation lawsuit [Interview]

[Nubia]

"Manny told me he has not talked to Freddie Roach since he lost to Floyd, so he for sure has no idea that this is going on. He had zero idea. He had zero idea that he had legal representation in the United States...Let me tell you, dude, there is so much stuff that is going to come out in this trial. For me, it's not even about money. It's about finally having a forum where the things that have been happening for so many years, the injustice and blatant political bull****, now gets to come to light. It'll all get out there, bro," stated world-class Strength & Conditioning coach Alex Ariza, who had a lot to say about his lawsuit against Freddie Roach after visiting Manny Pacquiao in the Philippines. You don't want to miss what he had to say. Check it out!

BT: Alex, you're a hard man to get a hold of these days, brotha, but I finally caught up with you. I know there's been some developments regarding your lawsuit against Freddie Roach. Are you able to clarify some things or give any kind of update on that?

AA: Obviously I saw your story on that. Actually, I'm here in the Philippines now. I'd like to say I'm here on vacation, but unfortunately, I'm here on, I wouldn't even call it business; it's an unrelated note. Basically, I really came out here to hear from Manny Pacquiao. Like I said, I wish I was here on vacation, but that's what I'm really here for.

BT: I assume you're hoping to find out why he didn't appear for his deposition. Considering how adamant he was about clearing his name during the whole saga with Floyd, I would think it would be pretty simple for him to just deny Freddie's claim about the mystery drinks. Did you get a chance to talk to him and ask him why he didn't do that?

AA: You know (laughing), you would think it's that simple. I think everybody should know this already, but it's not Manny's fault at all, to be honest with you. Actually, I spoke with Manny in-depth about this and he has no idea that this is going on. He had no idea that he had a law firm representing him. He had no idea that he actually had depositions to appear to and he adamantly denied the fact that he ever said that he would not show up and testify or give a deposition. This has kind of put us all in a spin right now. It's really a bizarre situation. As we start to dig deeper and deeper and more people are coming forward, it's like this thing is starting to seem like some kind of conspiracy or cover-up. Why would you not inform Manny Pacquiao that not only does he have a law team representing him, but more importantly, do you not have enough respect for him to allow him to defend himself against the allegations that were obviously made about him thanks to Freddie's comments? I mean, it's the most bizarre thing that I've ever seen or heard. Manny told me he has not talked to Freddie Roach since he lost to Floyd, so he for sure has no idea that this is going on. He had zero idea. He had zero idea that he had legal representation in the United States. Do you know what an insult and a slap in the face that is? He's got lawyers over here going, "How the **** do you have legal representation and we don't know about it?"

BT: Wait! Are you saying that not only does Manny not know he's being represented by lawyers for this case, but those lawyers are also claiming that he informed them that he didn't want to show up for the deposition, which isn't true at all?

AA: I'm saying that Manny has lawyers that he didn't even know about. Obviously, old Bob must've hired them. He's doing the same old thing, hiring attorneys for fighters without them even knowing it or knowing that they're being billed and charged for it. Manny had no idea. He did know something about it, but he said, "I never heard anything else about it. I thought it was something that was done and over with. I didn't know that this was something that was ongoing." He says, quote unquote, "In fear of the Lord, I would never not tell the truth. This is something that has to be told and I will tell the truth."

BT: Manny said that?

AA: Yeah! He said that to me. Like I said, he was adamant about the fact that he had no idea, that nobody contacted him, or that he had depositions. Nobody contacted him to say this was an ongoing situation and, more importantly, he told me that he never refused to show up to depositions or to testify, which is contrary to what his supposed legal team has said, claiming Manny doesn't want to come to the U.S. because he's not a resident here and that it would be an inconvenience. Manny denied all of those things that were said.

BT: Wow!

AA: Yeah, wow! My lawyers are just dumbfounded by the fact that somebody could hire a law team and then the law team does not confer with the client and let them know what's going on. It just goes to show you either the absolute lack of respect that they have for Manny, a congressman in the Philippines, or they think he's so dumb, just a dumb boxer, so they're going to speak for him whether he likes it or not. My lawyers said they never encountered something like this; it's so unusual. The funny thing is that we were getting motions to squash this and motions for Manny not to show up, and the appearance was to make it look like Manny didn't want to show up. This makes me think, are they trying to make Manny look bad? You never know with those guys, Arum and them, because if you do something that they don't like, they'll try to ruin your life and ruin your career. That's how he is. Look at Mikey Garcia, 2013 Fighter of the Year. He didn't want to be with Arum anymore, so he shelved him and now one of the best talents in the sport, we probably won't hear from again. So I thought to myself, "Let me call Manny myself. Let me get over there and see if I can see him." And that's exactly what I did. We spoke and then spoke again regarding all of this. It's just all of these things are now starting to come out. This is one of those things that's going to snowball into more and more and more. To be honest with you, I'm really looking forward to going to court for this thing.

[Nubia]

BT: Freddie's comments focus on the time you were working with him and Pacquiao. Is the plan to have several fighters from the gym during that timeframe testify?

AA: There's a long list that's becoming even longer now. I think everybody, especially in the sport, knows that Freddie has a very big mouth and Bob has a big mouth too. These guys are dinosaurs in an age of technology with social media. They forget that they say one thing not realizing that it's recorded and pretty much reprinted in everything. Doing all the research that we're having to do into the videos, the comments, and the statements that Freddie and Bob have made over the years, it's becoming a bigger and bigger thing. I was reading something that you wrote about us trying to settle this thing. There was really nothing to settle. I mean, we went in there and it was kind of funny; they tried to pull that Rainmaker thing. One judge is supposed to be mitigating this thing and he says, "Oh, there's really not a case here. You can't put too much confidence in jurors." Basically, he was calling them dumb by saying they won't be able to figure out the difference between somebody trying to slander someone and having an agenda to hurt them and demean them versus someone just having an opinion. I said, "Fine, no problem. Have a nice day!" Next thing you know, they kept me there for 5 hours. I'm like, "Wait a minute! Why are you keeping me here? I thought we didn't have a case." What people sometimes fail to believe is that this isn't about money. This is about the work that myself, Teri Tom, Christa Pryor and other people that helped did. More importantly, Teri Tom and I, who started with Manny in the very beginning six years ago, the work that we did moving him up from division to division, from weight class to weight class the way that we did, now it's going to be called into question because of Freddie, for whatever reason, now wanting to send out these allegations regarding what Manny may or may not have been doing. Did you know that it wasn't even Manny Pacquiao's idea to sue Floyd Mayweather?

BT: Are you serious? Why does that not surprise me?

AA: I'm dead serious. It wasn't his idea. He didn't even know that he was suing Floyd.

BT: I take it was all Bob's idea then?

AA: Well, whatever lawyers that are representing him now I'm sure we're doing that lawsuit.

BT: I think you're right. If memory serves me correctly, I think it was Daniel Petrocelli, who also represents Top Rank.

AA: Okay, well, Manny had no idea. Manny's intentions were never to sue Floyd. Manny has said a lot of things regarding the way that Bob has handled this situation from the time that we were supposed to fight Floyd after the Cotto fight until now. It's one of those things, dude. Freddie opened up a can and now the beans are going to come out. All because of his own ego, his own arrogance, and his hatred for me, he can't keep his mouth shut. He can't help himself. That's exactly what Manny said. He said, "He hates you; doesn't like you. It's all personal." As this thing goes on, more and more things will start to come out. Manny knows myself, Manny knows Teri Tom, Manny knew Aundrea, Manny knew a lot of the people that worked with him in the very beginning who formulated and put this plan together; he knows that we all had integrity, we all did our very best, and we worked within the rules. We never talked about those things the way that Freddie talked about them. Again, all these things will come out in trial; the way he was always inquiring about these things and his speculations and what he said about this fighter and that fighter. I'm looking forward to it so people can really see what this guy is all about and see the truth. But more importantly, all of us who put in the real work and did it with passion and integrity, we didn't deserve that. We went our separate ways and I never said anything about him, but he just couldn't stop; always blaming me or Memo Heredia or saying Marquez is juicing or that guy is juicing. It was just always something. He's just a bully. He really is. The way he treats people inside of the sport or outside of the sport, he's just like Bob; he's just another bully that's constantly demeaning or talking derogatory about either trainers or fighters for no reason. He's just a bitter, old man.

BT: I have to admit, when I originally watched that video of Freddie making those comments, it seemed like he was just being bitter over a personal beef. I mean, I don't think he meant to throw Manny under the bus when he said it, but that's exactly what happened, and now, all the work that you did over the years is under the microscope. Do you think there's any other reason why he said what he said?

AA: I can't figure out why. I mean, we can come up with all kinds of scenarios and assumptions. Maybe there is something to all of this and maybe he's trying to get it out before it comes out. Most people don't know that I've been working with fighters since 1996. Diego Corrales, Erik Morales; I worked with Castillo, I worked with Manfredy, and I worked with a lot of world-class fighters and we've never ever had anything even remotely regarding performance-enhancing drugs. but if you look and the Wild Card gym, even before I got there, there were allegations and failed drug tests way before I got there. Freddie's been tied to this kind of stuff way before I even got there. Maybe he had some kind of elaborate system and I just didn't know. Trust me, in court, this will all come out.

BT: To be fair though, when you left Freddie and were working with Brandon Rios, he got popped for something after you guys fought Manny in China, so a lot of people will look at that and say, "Maybe Freddie's got a point." Actually, I think Freddie was being asked a question about that when he made those comments.

AA: The fact of the matter is that I didn't get caught by VADA. What they did was probably the most incompetent thing that I've ever seen done. In my personal opinion, it was absolutely a setup to burn Robert Garcia, to burn myself, and to burn Brandon Rios. To me, this was done by Bob Arum. They tested us 13 times throughout that camp. They tested Manny once in Macau, China and we were told that by VADA technicians themselves. Not to mention, they had Brandon Rios piss in a glass, and by the way, I would never go to Macau, China and stay at the Venetian ever again and drink out of one of their glasses. That aside, they had Brandon Rios piss in a drinking glass and then had two kids, 16 or 17-year-old kids, cart it across the casino to the laboratory so it could be transferred into a cup. I mean, seriously, you can't make **** like that up. You can't make that up. And then the A or B sample, I think it was the A sample, was negative and then they tested the B sample and it had a trace amount of some stimulant that they put in energy drinks. Bob tells Brandon that he tested positive for steroids. Knowing what it really was and the trace amount that it was, do you think that they appealed it? Absolutely not because Bob was looking to fry our whole academy. Robert was winning so much, Robert was getting bigger and bigger in the sport, and Robert and Mikey were obviously against the business tactics that Bob was trying to do, so I believe that was Bob's way to try to fry Robert and put him in his place. What kind of promotional company doesn't defend their fighter? You can't put anything past this guy when it comes to what he's capable of doing out of spite. I mean, we see what he did to Chavez Jr.

The bottom line is that Freddie Roach and Wild Card is synonymous with losing now. It really is. When I was there, we went like 24 consecutive wins in a row. He had 12 losses in the first year I was out of there. Now he's trying to point the finger at something else, making insinuations and trying to paint us in a bad light because he was too incompetent to do by himself what my team was able to do. Now fighters will speak up for themselves, fighters that aren't going to be in fear of Bob Arum or Freddie, and we'll find out exactly what this guy's character is really about.

It's so funny; it's like everything is literally coming to fruition. I had somebody a long time ago tell me to write down and document everything I possibly can when it comes to Freddie and Bob. He said, "Trust me, bro, Freddie will eventually turn on you. That's what he does. He's always done it and he has a history of doing it." He wasn't lying. With Bob, we've been documenting stuff on everything I've seen from way back to Morales. With Julio, I got to see the accounting and the way that they did it and the way they charged him. I mean, there's so many things I've been waiting to spill on this thing and finally, eventually this is going to come out. Let me tell you, dude, there is so much stuff that is going to come out in this trial. For me, it's not even about money. It's about finally having a forum where the things that have been happening for so many years, the injustice and blatant political bull****, now gets to come to light. It'll all get out there, bro.

[Redd Foxx]

Only read about half but my main take-away was that Ariza speaks like an absolute moron. His inability to articulate a thought makes this unreadable. Someone please interview his lawyers instead.

[hectari]

Ariza is speaking the truth here bout Arum and Roach, Manny really had no clue, which is true, Arum pretty much uses him like a lap dog and a slave, he loves that Pac is a naive happy go lucy aloof obedient fighter.

If you dont believe Pac is naive, watch his early fights, Murad Muhammad his black promoter at the time used to whisper in Mannys ear and tell him to call out Barrera, and Morales and Hamed or whoever. Pac basically reminds me of the old school fighters who were naive like Henry Armstrong and Joe Louis loyal and obedient fighters who did what their mangers and promoters told them having blind faith in them and being clueless to any type of legal matter and wound up broke and screwed over.

Ariza is also correct on Roach, Roach will turn on you quickly, he only kisses up to Manny now because of the money coming in, but if Manny were broke he would ignore him like he did Marlon Starling who has to work cabs now.

Roach is one of the coldest mofos around, he broke up a good thing when it was Him, Ariza and Moorer, first to go was Moorer because Manny was listening to him more than Roach, next Ariza because Manny was getting too close to him and Roach got jealous, and the press was praising Ariza for Mannys rise in weight.

Roach and Arum have both screwed over Manny. They wouldn't let Manny testify because he would say that Ariza was a good guy and stuff, it would make Roach look bad so Arum and Roachs lawyers knew having Manny at the court would be bad so they just hired some lawyers to represent Manny and say that Manny didnt want to show up.

If Manny left Roach, Roach would talk so much **** about him so would Arum. Look how Arum used to kiss Floyds ass when he promoted him, same with Oscar, Arum used to kiss Oscars ass and praise him, but when Oscar left he would call Oscar a dumb guy, an idiot, and all these insults, if Pac left Arum, Arum would call Pacquiao a moron and a ****** idiot with a third grade education, etc. He called Nonito an idiot and called his wife a Harlot when they were settling some financial issues with Top Rank, Nonito wanted to go to Golden boy.

[aldo5408]

Ariza is speaking the truth here bout Arum and Roach, Manny really had no clue, which is true, Arum pretty much uses him like a lap dog and a slave, he loves that Pac is a naive happy go lucy aloof obedient fighter.

If you dont believe Pac is naive, watch his early fights, Murad Muhammad his black promoter at the time used to whisper in Mannys ear and tell him to call out Barrera, and Morales and Hamed or whoever. Pac basically reminds me of the old school fighters who were naive like Henry Armstrong and Joe Louis loyal and obedient fighters who did what their mangers and promoters told them having blind faith in them and being clueless to any type of legal matter and wound up broke and screwed over.

Ariza is also correct on Roach, Roach will turn on you quickly, he only kisses up to Manny now because of the money coming in, but if Manny were broke he would ignore him like he did Marlon Starling who has to work cabs now.

Roach is one of the coldest mofos around, he broke up a good thing when it was Him, Ariza and Moorer, first to go was Moorer because Manny was listening to him more than Roach, next Ariza because Manny was getting too close to him and Roach got jealous, and the press was praising Ariza for Mannys rise in weight.

Roach and Arum have both screwed over Manny. They wouldn't let Manny testify because he would say that Ariza was a good guy and stuff, it would make Roach look bad so Arum and Roachs lawyers knew having Manny at the court would be bad so they just hired some lawyers to represent Manny and say that Manny didnt want to show up.

If Manny left Roach, Roach would talk so much **** about him so would Arum.

It's actually kind of sad that manny didn't know that arum hired lawyers to represent him. And them arum is going to charge him for it

[ShoulderRoll]

By the sound of it Bob Arum is an evil, vindictive SOB.

If I were Ariza I'd watch my back.

[Zaroku]

Big Bob bending lil PAC over. Parting PAC's axx cheeks and charging him for it!

So many fighters getting shafted by Big Bob! No reach around Bob!

[RetroSpeed05]

Manny doesn't seem the brightest. But you'd be a fool to think what Floyd did in leaving Arum wasn't the best decision he made in his life.

[about.thousands]

By the sound of it Bob Arum is an evil, vindictive SOB.

If I were Ariza I'd watch my back.

In the Philippines in order to be elected you have to buy votes. They don't care how famous you are. If you not buying votes they aint voting for you. It's illegal but everybody does it. A few years back some people from Manny's camp got arrested for a fight about buying votes. Arum has said Manny will retire if he's elected Senator. Suddenly Bob comes out and says he won't say this is Manny's last fight. I wouldn't put it past Bob to buy votes for the other candidates so that Manny will lose.

[Rich2123]

I'm not saying he's lying, but in the scumbag filled world of boxing, Ariza seems slimier than just about anyone. He had a falling out with Roach, and then had a falling out with Robert Garcia too. I am looking forward as to what happens when he falls out with the always well behaved Mayweather boxing gym.