Alex Ariza, strength and condition coach of WBO welterweight champ Manny Pacquiao, agrees with UFC President Dana White‘s assertion that boxing promoter Bob Arum is a “greedy pig.”
In a recent interview with Fight Hype, Ariza absolutely tore Arum apart. For starters, Ariza said Arum will be solely responsible for “Pac-Man” never having a super fight with Floyd Mayweather Jr.
“I think that’s the fight that everybody wants to see,” Ariza said, in regards to Pacquiao vs. Mayweather.
“Here’s the thing, Dana White is 100 percent absolutely correct. Bob Arum is a greedy pig. Now I see. That’s exactly why Dana White has been so successful and Bob Arum sees him as such a threat, because he puts the fights together that the people want to see. It’s about putting the best fights on,” Ariza added.
Ariza went on to praise White for his business savvy and matchmaking skills, while he slammed Arum for allowing personal bias to get in the way.
“Even though he had the biggest fight with Nick Diaz and they went back and forth at each other, Dana did the right thing by the sport and he still put him and B.J. Penn together and made them fight,” Ariza said.
“Arum hates Floyd Mayweather, can’t stand him, doesn’t want to see him make a dollar, can’t stand Golden Boy, doesn’t want to do business with them, but instead of doing what’s best for the sport, what’s best for the fans, and what’s best for the fighters because they’ll get the payday of a lifetime, no, it’s all about him.”
As angry as Ariza seemed up to this point, he really began to lose his cool after further thinking about boxing’s fantasy showdown that may never be.
“‘I don’t like him, so f**k him!’ I mean, right or wrong?,” Ariza said, talking about Arum’s attitude towards Mayweather.
“Unless you can tell me and convince me otherwise, because I’m thoroughly convinced and believe that Floyd really does want to have this fight. I think he really wants to have this fight. As far as he knows, he’s right. He’s right. Bob is the one interfering and f**king s**t up,” Ariza noted.
All this hate for Arum is a little puzzling, considering that Ariza was calling for a fourth bout between Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez just two days after the controversial Pac-Man victory.
So fight fans: did Ariza hit the nail on the head? Or is he oversimplifying the matter at hand?
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