Arrival of Freddie Roach should settle confusion in Pacquiao’s training camp

While Manny Pacquiao is working unbelievably hard to get into shape for his crucial showdown with Brandon “Bam Bam” Rios for the WBO International welterweight title at the plush Cotai Arena at the Venetian Hotel and Casino in Macau and tells us he wants to regain his stature as an elite fighter, there’s confusion in his camp that isn’t helping him any.

Unlike in the past there are no real distractions as Pacquiao trains in his Pacman Wild Card Gym in his hometown of General Santos City, but the inability to get former strength and conditioning coach Justin Fortune to replace Alex Ariza and confusing statements emanating from Pacquiao’s adviser Michael Koncz about the status of Fortune has been a cause for concern

In addition the inexplicably poor quality of early sparring partners in the first week was a disservice to Pacquiao who needs someone to approximate the come-forward fighting style of the aggressive Rios.

Rios ‘doing very well’

On the other side of the Pacific at 2012 “Trainer of the Year” Robert Garcia’s Oxnard Gym everything appears to be going according to plan and if what Robert and Pacquiao’s former strength and conditioning coach Alex Ariza tells us is true – and there is no reason to doubt them – then Manny may well be in for the fight of his life.

Garcia said Rios is “coming on great” and has been “doing very well in sparring” at the Oxnard Gym on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

Garcia said he is bringing in “two more guys who are all southpaws.” He identified the sparring partners as light welterweights Kareem Martinez who has a record of 12-1 with 6 knockouts and Giovanni Santillan who is undefeated with 10 wins including 6 knockouts.

At the same time Garcia praised the work of strength and conditioning coach Alex Ariza. He told us Ariza’s work was “beautiful, very, very good. He’s doing a great job and works the guys (Rios and Mike Garcia) very hard.”

Ariza out, Fortune in…and out again?

The decision to fire Ariza was apparently reached during a meeting in Macau where the Pacquiao-Rios media tour kicked off.

Koncz told Yahoo Philippines that the discussion on the firing of Ariza involved Roach, Pacquiao and himself with Roach apparently the prime mover behind the fire-Ariza campaign with the obvious help of Koncz who was once roughed up by Ariza in Baguio City.

When Ariza learned he had been fired by Roach only through an internet chat he told us he doesn’t work for Roach so there’s no way he can fire him. But Koncz said he was there when Pacquiao and Roach met in Macau to discuss his preparation for the showdown with Rios and Pacquiao agreed that Freddie “is in charge of the training camp and whatever Freddie wants Manny is in support of.”

RELATED: Ex-Pacquiao strength coach Ariza on joining Rios: 'I had no choice'

After the firing of Ariza, Koncz publicly stated Manny didn’t need a strength and conditioning coach and that between Pacquiao’s childhood friend and Filipino trainer Buboy Fernandez and assistant Nonoy Neri, they could handle the task.

Before long, Pacquiao probably felt he needed a qualified and experienced strength and conditioning coach and turned to the man who handled the job in his early years at the Wild Card Gym, Justin Fortune, the former heavyweight who once fought champion Lennox Lewis but who parted ways with Roach and set up his own Fortune Gym in Los Angeles.

In an overseas telephone conversation with Yahoo Philippines Fortune said he was “coming over to help Manny, help Freddie put everything into harness. My job will be to help Manny beat (Brandon) Rios.”

Fortune revealed it was Manny and Koncz who contacted him and said “ they went through Freddie first.” He said “everything is fine and we want to get back to where we were. Freddie will do the boxing training, I will do the conditioning and Manny will do the fighting.”

Fortune indicated he is looking forward to working alongside Roach and Buboy Fernandez and “we’ll be like we used to be with Manny.”

Fortune played down whatever differences he had in the past with Roach telling us that he had been with Roach for some 20 years and they had gotten over their little difficulties “absolutely” and added he couldn’t allow “something silly” to get between us.

While looking forward to teaming up once again with Pacquiao and Roach as well as Buboy Fernandez, Fortune stressed that Pacquiao “needs to get back to where he was” pointing out that Rios “is beatable if Manny is fit.”

He noted that Rios “is a very credible fighter who can punch and take a punch although he is one dimensional.” Fortune said the fight “is not a walk in the park but we’ll do our best to help Manny win.”

Fortune told us he was waiting for his ticket and planned to be here last Sunday. When he didn’t show up we checked with Koncz who claimed Fortune had some commitments and business affairs to settle, including making sure his gym functioned in his absence and that his ticket was ready whenever he was ready to come.

RELATED: Pacquiao brings back old strength coach Justin Fortune

One day later Top Rank promoter Bob Arum gave us the real score. He said “Justin definitely wants to come but he’s not coming because he’s having a real visa problem.” Fortune is the holder of an Australian passport.

Arum said “right now it looks like he won’t come not because he doesn’t want to come or people don’t want him to come because Freddie Roach wants him to come, its just the problem of adjusting his visa which is a little complicated.” Arum said he couldn’t get into the details and pleaded, “just trust me.”

Sparring partner problems

What is causing concern among staunch and loyal Pacquiao supporters both here and in the United States who have reached out to us, is the lack of quality opponents in Manny’s first week of sparring who approximate the come forward, aggressive style of Rios.

Whoever got light middleweight Marlon Alta, a GenSan fighter, didn’t do Pacquiao a favor. Alta was overweight, out of condition and when Pacquiao nailed him with a solid blow in the second round of their sparring last Saturday, turned his back and quit.

The undefeated Ghana welterweight Fredrick Lawson (21-0, 19 KO’s) who Koncz was ready to sign up for MP Promotions, failed to live up to his reputation and his record. While he has a good jab and moves well, he wasn’t aggressive and was an easy target for Pacquiao, although in fairness to Lawson he quickly picked up, knowing what Pacquiao wanted and did so much better in subsequent sparring sessions.

With Alta sent home, welterweight Dan Nazareno, a fighter from the stable of Rommel Nazario, was brought in and although he was not in top condition at least gave Manny a decent workout.

Following his second three-round sparring session, Nazareno indicated that with the arrival of Roach, Pacquiao who has trained unbelievably diligently and with the fire of old, stepped up his training a notch.

He went six rounds under the watchful eye of Roach and away from the prying eyes of media and fans at the Pacman Wild Card Gym which is something the veteran trainer demands even at his own Wild Card Gym.

Nazareno told us after the workout that Manny was sharp and demonstrated both speed and power.

Nazareno admitted that in his first sparring session with Pacquiao in which he went two rounds, he wasn’t in great physical shape but after a couple of days jogging with Pacquiao every morning and being inspired by the eight division world champion’s passion and work ethic, he put on a much-improved performance on Thursday.

He said Pacquiao was in tremendous shape and training with a fighter of his caliber was “a great experience.”

Well-known boxing writer Nick Giongco spoke to Roach and said the trainer was pleased with the workout during which he kept telling Manny he needs to win impressively against Rios in their WBO International welterweight title fight on November 24.

What's next for Pacquiao

There are two opportunities open to Pacquiao.

Should Timothy “Desert Storm” Bradley beat Juan Manuel Marquez on Sunday, Manila Time, he has made it clear he would want to prove his controversial and highly criticized split decision win over Pacquiao in June last year was no fluke and not a bad decision as many had claimed.

The second possibility is a fifth fight with Marquez no matter his posturing that he’s through with Pacquiao.

WBO president Francisco “Paco” Valcarcel has made it clear that should both Pacquiao and Marquez win then Manny would emerge as the top contender for Marquez’ WBO welterweight title and he would have to fight Pacquiao or possibly be stripped of his title if he doesn’t retire.

If he does, then Pacquiao will be in line for a title shot.

The arrival of Roach is expected to put things in order within the Pacquiao training camp although the absence of a strength and conditioning coach may be a problem.

Roach arrived with British light middleweight Liam “Punch” Vaughn (8-1, 2 KO’s) who is an aggressive banger and is expected to begin sparring on Saturday. Arum tells us Roach is bringing in two more sparring partners to really push Pacquiao within the next few weeks.

Two division world champion Gerry Penalosa has watched Pacquiao train and told us that Manny is in superb form and looking exceptionally fast and strong. But, like others, Penalosa is worried about the lack of quality sparring partners who can imitate the style of Rios. Hopefully, the fighters Roach brings in will fit the bill.

Editor's note: The blogger's views do not represent Yahoo! Southeast Asia's position on the topic or issue being discussed in this post.