By Edward Chaykovsky
Eight division world champion Manny Pacquiao is not planning to make any changes to his team.
Pacquiao's team came under fire in the aftermath of May 2nd, when the Filipino superstar was outpointed by Floyd Mayweather Jr. over twelve rounds at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
Pacquiao's trainer Freddie Roach, and close adviser Michael Koncz, were criticized for allowing their to go forward with the contest despite having suffered a right shoulder injury in early April. He further injured himself during the fourth round and was forced to undergo surgery two weeks. He is now on the shelf until next year.
The former champion was asked if there were any issues with his team or any changes being made, and he told reporters that everything was fine and nothing would change.
"About my team, I believe there is no problem," Pacquiao told radio DZMM.
Pacquiao's former strength and conditioning coach, Alex Ariza, who now works with Mayweather - has been pretty vocal that Pacquiao can become the fighter of old - if he gets rid of his current team and brings new people in.
Ariza told Quinito Henson of The Philippine Star - "We had a gameplan prepared for Manny to be explosive, to be like the Manny of five years ago. It didn’t happen. He had no adjustments. I thought he cramped in the middle rounds. I saw the guys in his corner rubbing his leg in between rounds. The issue should’ve been addressed in training camp. It was all Manny out there, doing what he thought he had to do. Maybe, because of cramps, Manny could’ve move to his right like he should’ve to avoid Floyd’s right straight. He kept moving to his left and was an easy target for Floyd’s right.”
“I think Manny can come back 100 percent. But he’s got to change his team and introduce some science to what he does in training. He’s an elite athlete who deserves the best trainer and conditioning coach. I didn’t see any improvement in Manny’s style from when I was with the team. Floyd knew exactly what he had to do to win. He was prepared for whatever Manny brought to the ring."
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