Alex Ariza hits back at Mayweather Sr. steroid accusations

November 11, 2:40 AMPittsburgh Fight Sports ExaminerScott Heritage

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Ariza helped Manny achieve his physique (AP Photo)

Manny Pacquiao's strength and conditioning coach Alex Ariza has hit back at Floyd Mayweather Sr. and his accusations of steroid use by the fighter.

The accusations came out of the blue from the father of Floyd Jr. and sometime trainer, and were not received warmly by Pacquiao or his supporters.

The kind of boxers who tend to use steroids are usually those who are all about the money, or those who are scared of losing, and Manny Pacquiao is neither of those. Cutting a swathe through no less than six divisions, Manny is known for his humility and timid nature outside the ring. By all accounts Manny does what he is told in training, and while it might be difficult for other fighters to swallow, the results speak for themselves. Ariza said of Manny's training regimen and multiple weight classes:

“When you go up or down, you lose something either way, sometimes in terms of speed or power. Your body has to make the adjustments right away and that’s where nutrition comes in. With Manny, it’s not a problem. We let him eat what he wants, even high calorie food sometimes because he needs about 5,000 calories a day anyway. He’s a workhorse. What he does in training for six weeks is probably what a normal fighter does in training for a year. That’s how hard he works.”

This high tech and micro management approach also goes to show that Pacquiao, who started out with the most basic training regime imaginable, is spending at least some of his money in the right places.

Ariza also took the time to hit back at Mayweather Sr and his puzzling steroid accusations:

“We want Manny to be explosive and we want him to build up muscle in moving up to 145 pounds,” he said. “We use supplements, not steroids. Someone who never finished high school, like Floyd Mayweather Sr., wouldn’t understand the difference and that’s why they make dumb comments.”

Of course, like every other fighter, Manny is tested before and after fights, and has always come up clean. The accusations were probably a case of sour grapes over the fact that Manny beat Ricky Hatton so easily, who at the time was being trained by Mayweather Sr. If anything, the fact that Manny and Roach could find such as obvious hole in Hatton's defense only shows Mayweather to be a poor trainer. I'm inclined to believe that Freddie Roach working with Hatton would have plugged that hole on day one of training.