Manny Pacquiao Next Fight: Freddie Roach Blasts Alex Ariza Anew; Calls Conditioning Guru ‘Shady’

Legendary boxing trainer Freddie Roach said that there's something "shady" about his former strength and conditioning coach Alex Ariza, who has been under scrutiny for the failure of Brandon Rios to pass drug test following his loss to Manny Pacquiao on Nov. 23.

Roach, who recently won another Trainer of the Year award, explained the reason behind his breakup with Ariza, who used to work with eight-time division world champion Manny Pacquiao during his fights.

Roach said he was quite suspicious of the water he used to give to Pacquiao before the start of training sessions. He added Rios' failed drug test did not surprise him at all.

"I know he [Robert Garcia] has a new strength coach and I don't get along with the guy, and one of the reasons why he doesn't work for me anymore is because I think he's a little shady, you know," Roach told Fight Hype.  

"He used to give Manny a drink every day before we worked out and I asked him, 'What's in that drink?' and he would never tell me. And I said, 'I need to know what's in that drink because, you know, you're giving it to my fighter and if something goes wrong, I'm gonna get the blame.' In my opinion, he's a little shady, so he's with that camp now and it doesn't surprise me that happened," he added.

Roach, who used to have Ariza alongside him in several Pacquiao fights, openly question the conditioning coach's presence in Marcos Maidana's corner during his title-clinching showdown with Adrien Broner.

"Everyone has their suspicions there because it's very unusual for the strength coach to be that close to the fighter. I mean, usually a cutman will work on a cut; that's a possibility. But he's very forceful. I was surprised Robert Garcia let him in the corner actually, because in Macau, he didn't even let him work the corner," Roach said.

The Hall of Fame trainer added that there's an ongoing investigation as to whether or not Ariza used smelling salts in between rounds during Maidana's latest fight.

"They say there's an investigation going on and so forth. He has Dr. Recta (sp), who gives him prescriptions all the time. They're looking up the wrong tree if they're looking at Alex Ariza. They need to find out where that came from because I believe, in my opinion, it was something illegal because smelling salts are illegal in boxing. Was it maybe that or something stronger?" said Roach, who will train Pacquiao for his upcoming welterweight showdown against a still-unnamed opponent on April 12.