It seems there is some deal to keep the promotion of Mayweather-Pacquiao clean and PG-rated. Seven-time trainer of the year Freddie Roach, who is known to speak his mind without a filter, is having some difficulty.
It has been well reported that during the one and only press conference in L.A. on Wednesday, Roach was the only one with a worthwhile quote.
“We’re going to kick his ass,” Roach said. After that comment, he said, “I’m sorry Floyd.”
It is not like Roach to apologize for what he said, let alone to Floyd Mayweather. Mayweather Sr. was not given an opportunity to speak after Roach, and many assume it was out of fear of retaliation from the elder Mayweather.
Luckily Roach did not stop there and dropped two F-bombs during a Q&A after the conference, according to a video posted by FightHype.
When a question arose about Alex Ariza, Pacquiao’s former strength and conditioning coach, Roach explained that Ariza was stepping on toes trying to do cut man Miguel Diaz’s job in the corner. Not only that, but Roach said Ariza was after his job as well.
“And then he started giving Manny advice in the corner,” Roach said, before he dropped the bomb. “And its just like, ‘What the fuck are you doing.’”
The media laughed at the comment, but Pacquiao was the first to react to the statement as he quickly turned to tap Roach and remind him to keep it clean.
“Salary deduction,” Pacquiao joked as he, Roach and promoter Bob Arum laughed about Roach’s debt rising from $20-$25 in the proverbial “swear jar.”
Roach did not stop there and went into full detail as to why he let Ariza go and why he does not mind that Ariza is working in the Mayweather camp.
“I’m really happy that Alex Ariza is in that corner,” Roach said, as he got excited. “Because he can’t fucking spell boxing!”
Again the media chuckled and this time Roach stood up to shake off some steam. His debt climbed to $30, and as he sat down again he said, “I hope I don’t lose my purse.”
Roach explained that there is no threat in Ariza working with Mayweather because according to Roach, Ariza does not know enough about boxing to deliver any useful information.
“What can he help Mayweather with, can he tell him Manny’s fast? Yeah. Can he tell him what moves Manny makes? No,” said Roach.
Evidently Pacquiao was reluctant to let go of the strength and conditioning guru that was with him during his rise to the welterweight division. However, trouble with Ariza in the corner got so bad that Roach offered to pay the eight-division champion to fire Ariza.
“I said Manny, you see that number right there,” Roach said pointing to an imaginary number. “That’s how much you’re going to pay me. I’ll give you half of that money if you fire him. And, we came to an agreement.”
The media was laughing and enjoying every second of Roach since the presser itself was anticlimactic. Roach even joked about how he felt Ariza was getting a little too comfortable with Pacquiao’s stretches.
“You’re an athlete you know how to stretch yourself, you’ve done it your whole life, you don’t need a guy in there like hugging and kissing, it was like he’s making love to Manny. Like he wanted to feel needed.” Roach said before the punch line. “I mean it was a good stretch don’t get me wrong.”
Again everyone in attendance was appreciative that Roach was providing the entertainment we all wanted to see during the press conference. The build-up for this fight has been less than what fans expected. No 24/7, no All ACCESS, no multi-city press tour, no fun for the fans. At least we can still rely on Roach to take any opportunity to speak his mind.
