Macao Madness: Pacquiao-Rios Camp Feud, None of this Surprises
Doghouse Boxing
Doghouse Boxing's Home Page On The Ropes Radio - Home Page Dog Pound Message Boards Boxing Interviews Today's Boxing Press Archives by Chee Team Contact & Advertising Info
Macao Madness: Pacquiao-Rios Camp Feud, None of this Surprises
By Steve Kim, MaxBoxing on Doghouse Boxing (Nov 21, 2013)

L-R: Zou Shiming, Manny Pacquiao, Brandon Rios
L-R: Zou Shiming, Manny Pacquiao, Brandon Rios
(Photo © Chris Farina / Top Rank)
Ariza & Roach brouhaha - Video by Radio Rahim
I'm sure by now you've seen or heard about the brouhaha that took place between the camps of Manny Pacquiao and Brandon Rios on Tuesday that centered around a front kick launched by Alex Ariza toward Freddie Roach (just in case you haven't, our own Radio Rahim was live on the scene with footage: (Click play on video player embedded to the left).
 
All I can say is: none of this surprises me. There's no doubt that Roach was itching for a confrontation and understandably has lingering ill will toward Robert Garcia that stems from his camp and Antonio Margarito mocking his Parkinson's Disease back in 2010. But really what took place between Roach and his former strength-and-conditioning coach could be seen coming from a mile away. Bottom line, these guys loathe each other and I'm guessing it's the first time they've been in the same room since they parted ways.
 
I can vividly recall during the last few Pacquiao camps when Ariza would walk into the Wild Card Boxing Club and there would immediately be a palpable tension. Ariza would immediately put his stuff down near the ring and usually sit near the fall wall of the gym near the double-end and speed bags and wait for Manny to arrive. Freddie and everyone in the gym would basically keep their distance from him. There was very little interaction until Mr. Pacquiao would come through those doors.
 
Once training started, everyone would do their respective jobs but there was very little in the way of communication between the two. Think of parents on the verge of a divorce who keep the peace on behalf of the children. Now, that the union is broken up, all niceties are thrown out the window.
 
Let's be honest; nobody came out of this looking good (admittedly, it was amusing nonetheless). Viewing this cynically (which is part of our jobs, I guess), perhaps this was all engineered - if not planned - by Top Rank. Seriously, there is only one gym in this city for both camps to use? They couldn't set up a ballroom in one of the hotels to use as a makeshift workout area for one of the fighters?
 
Oh, that dastardly Bob Arum, he's good. He's really, really good (at selling).
 
RADIO RAHIM RIDES AGAIN
 
As Maxboxing’s very own video vanguard, Radio Rahim makes his way toward Macao to cover the goings-on leading up to and including Pacquiao-Rios, please check out his YouTube preview here:

 
TNR
 
Here's the latest edition of “The Next Round” with Gabe Montoya and Yours Truly (with a full preview of Pacquiao-Rios and a look back at Andre Ward's return to the ring):
 
 
 
FINAL FLURRIES
 
The Andre Ward-Edwin Rodriguez fight on HBO averaged 1.029 million viewers and peaked at 1.2 million, which, considering the fact that HBO paid over $3 million for that broadcast, is downright mediocre...I got a press release announcing the return of Jeff “Left Hook” Lacy on November 30th in Baton Rouge. Good grief...It was officially announced that on December 13th from the Fantasy Springs Casino, “Golden Boy Live” on Fox Sports 1 will have Josesito Lopez facing Mike Arnaoutis and Francisco Vargas taking on Jerry Belmontes...So that story involving Jameis Winston isn't going away gently into the night; is it?...So Prince Fielder's homecoming to Detroit was a bit short-lived, huh?...If Jon Taffer of “Bar Rescue” ran for public office, I'd vote for the man...

I can be reached at k9kim@yahoo.com and I tweet at www.twitter.com/stevemaxboxing. We also have a Facebook fan page at www.facebook.com/MaxBoxing, where you can discuss our content with Maxboxing readers as well as chime in via our fully interactive article comments sections.

© Copyright / All Rights reserved: Doghouse Boxing Inc. 1998-2013