Freddie Roach and Alex Ariza trading words in Macau (Photo: Chris Farina – Top Rank)
By Chris Robinson
As reported by various outlets online, a near brawl took place in Macau, China mere hours ago between Manny Pacquiao’s trainer Freddie Roach and members from the team of Brandon Rios, including trainer Robert Garcia and brazen strength and conditioning coach Alex Ariza.
Pacquiao faces off with Rios on Saturday night, Nov. 23 in Macau, China on HBO pay per view.
Upon catching wind of all the drama, I caught up with Top Rank CEO Bob Arum to get his reaction on the ordeal.
“We had a camera,” Arum revealed. “Freddie and Robert Garcia got into a shoving match and allegedly, some writers who were there claimed that Ariza threw a sucker punch at Freddie.”
“This is ok in an event in the United States,” Arum continued. “But we’re going to throw huge security around this, because this is not something that is appreciated by the Chinese.”
Arum added that Rios was about ten minutes late with his training inside of the gym that the teams were sharing. Roach came into the building and was apparently upset that the gym had been cleared out.
From there, things spiraled out of control.
Arum feels that all of the mayhem will add to the intrigue of the Pacquiao-Rios fight by the time the bell rings.
“I think, that with all this undercurrent that’s going on, it’s going to be like Hagler-Hearns,” Arum stated.
“They’re going to go out and try to kill each other.”
*** FOR A FULL recap of the near brawl via video, please check the link below and also hit up bonus Pacquiao-Rios coverage
Near brawl in Macau as Freddie Roach confronts Team Rios and gets kicked by Alex Ariza
Manny Pacquiao showing off his speed and power in Macau ahead of showdown with Rios
Manny Pacquiao full core workout in Macau, China days before clash with Brandon Rios
Manny Pacquiao opens up on his training for Rios, Brandon’s power, the Typhoon in the Philippines, and more
Freddie Roach calls Brandon Rios a ‘pretender’ and eyes Floyd Mayweather for Manny Pacquiao
Shawn Porter feels the old Manny Pacquiao will return against Brandon Rios
Brandon Rios believes that his pressure will negate Manny Pacquiao’s speed
Miguel Diaz says Pacquiao’s knockout loss to Marquez ‘means nothing’; favors him over Rios
Juan Manuel Marquez favors Pacquiao over Brandon Rios but shoots down a fifth fight with Manny
Brandon Rios says people in China don’t like Manny Pacquiao
Gennady Golovkin feels Brandon Rios could suffer the same fate as Margarito did against Pacquiao
Robert Garcia opens up on Alex Ariza joining Team Rios; insists he won’t take any drama in camp
Chris Robinson can be reached at Trimond@aol.com