Ariza says Bradley won't run away

MANILA, Philippines - WBO welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao’s strength and conditioning coach Alex Ariza said yesterday he doesn’t expect Tim Bradley to run when the unbeaten California fighter called “Desert Storm” takes on the Filipino icon in a scheduled 12-round title bout at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on June 9.

“He’s a high-volume puncher who’ll come forward,” said Ariza who’s in town to train former WBA/IBF lightwelterweight king Amir Khan of England and Pacquiao. “Bradley’s not a technical guy like (Juan Manuel) Marquez. He fights somewhat like Manny. That’s why I think it’ll be an explosive fight. It’s up to Manny how to prepare for Bradley. We used to work out a specific training regimen for each opponent and Manny followed it strictly for the fights against David Diaz, Oscar de la Hoya, Ricky Hatton, Miguel Cotto, Antonio Margarito and Joshua Clottey because he was challenged by the move up in weight. But against Sugar Shane Mosley and Marquez, I don’t think Manny was challenged so he did things his own way.”

The day after the third Marquez fight last November, Ariza said he watched a video replay with Pacquiao and they noticed a drop in his workrate. “Manny wasn’t the same, just like he wasn’t the same against Mosley,” said Ariza. “In both fights, he suffered leg cramps. What did he do differently in camp before those two fights? The equation is clear. He didn’t train for Mosley and Marquez like he did before. The results were evident – he was explosive in knocking out Diaz, De la Hoya, Hatton and Cotto and convincingly beat Margarito and Clottey. He wasn’t explosive against Mosley and Marquez. Manny now realizes he’s got to do the kind of scientific training I lay out for him every fight if he wants to do better than his last fight. And against Bradley, he wants to prove something. His competitive spirit will take over. How he trains will impact on how he does against Bradley. If he trains properly, Manny could blow that guy away in less than five rounds.”

Ariza said the approach to strength and conditioning in training athletes has become increasingly scientific. “As more and more athletes embrace the science and technology of training, you’ll see the evolution of sports to a highly explosive level,” he said. “Strength and conditioning is 80 percent of sports and the rest is technique. If you’re not physically in shape, you won’t be able to execute and your mind is affected which leads to demoralization. Science addresses this issue of compliance of mind and body. You train hard and you get what you put in. Unfortunately, boxing is the only sport that hasn’t evolved because of old-school and archaic traditions. Guys with no degrees, no educational background, become cutmen by profession or managers or promoters in boxing and when science is introduced, they resist change because of fear. They’re threatened by change. There’s a reason why mixed martial arts is becoming more popular than boxing. That’s because the fighters are being trained scientifically so they’re in better condition to perform. They hardly have problems making weight and their bodies are primed for battle.”

Ariza, 36, takes care of three marquee fighters – Pacquiao, Khan and Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. “Amir and Julio appreciate the scientific approach and they do exactly what I lay out for them in terms of strength and conditioning,” he said. “Manny is an exception but I think if he compares how he performed when he took my program seriously and when he didn’t, he’ll know what to do – he’s intelligent and he always wants to perform at the highest level. I’m now Julio’s cutman, too. The golden secret of being a good cutman is just medicine. In Manny’s last fight against Marquez, I noticed a cut in between the 10th and 11th rounds. Manny didn’t even know he was cut. A butt did it and I worked on it with a cotton swab and some adrenaline. It didn’t even bleed in the next round.  Some cutmen don’t want to be out of pocket and use crude coagulants. For instance, a bottle of vasoconstrictor sets you back about $1,200 and the potency is gone after you open it.”

Ariza said he guarantees that working with an athlete for eight weeks, there will be a positive difference. “I’ve worked with mixed martial arts fighters and Los Angeles Lakers center Andrew Bynum,” he said. “Fans can see how they’ve progressed. I worked with Bynum for five months during the offseason and it’s no coincidence that he made the All-Star Game for the first time and he’s producing career numbers. With Bynum’s size, we did some adjustments. We studied his biomechanics. We did unconventional weightlifting and did a little bit of boxing work. I taught him how to swim and from starting out as a sinker, he ended up doing seven laps under three minutes. With swimming, you can’t stop once you start to go for the other end or else you’ll sink. We knew his physical limitations and also knew what he’s capable of. We transformed him into a dominant and explosive athlete in the NBA.”

Ariza earned an exercise and nutritional science degree at San Diego State and attended the Health Science College of Medicine in Syracuse to advance his knowledge of kinesiology, biochemistry and nutrition. He works closely with associates Teri Tom, a registered dietician, and Henry Merchena, a registered nurse, in the team that he formed and heads to mold champion athletes.