Alex Ariza with Manny Pacquiao in 2011
Filipino world boxing champion Manny Pacquiao lands a punch on his conditioning coach Alex Ariza as he joked him before the start of his training in northern Philippine resort city of Baguio March 23, 2011. Pacquiao is in Baguio on a month-long training programme for his May 7 WBO welterweight fight with Shane Mosley of the U.S. REUTERS/Erik de Castro

Alex Ariza was one of the pessimists who believed that the Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Manny Pacquiao will not push through owing to the presence of Bob Arum, whom the strength and conditioning coach described as the culprit why the fight did not happen in the past. Now that Mayweather and Pacquiao have signed on the dotted lines, Ariza is shifting his attention to talking trash against Pacquiao saying that the Filipino is not the same fighter as when he was still part of his team some years back.

“You know, if you talk to the trainers and fighters who know this sport, there's a reason why they're all picking Floyd to win. For me, the guy that I trained five years ago, the guy that was walking through walls and that was literally breaking bones with shots and comatizing people with single shots, the opponent that we have now is a shell of that guy,” Ariza told Ben Thompson of Fight Hype. “When you look at both fighters and you add up the names of the opponents that one fighter has had in his last three or four fights and then you look at our fighter, just look a the level of competition that they had. I mean, it's just very hard for me to see where our weaknesses are in this fight versus our opponent's weaknesses.”

In the interview, Ariza mentioned the likes of former fighters Julio Cesar Sr. and Mikey Garcia, trainer Robert Garcia plus current contenders Amir Khan and Marcos Maidana as the boxing personalities who believe that Mayweather Jr. will win the fight against Pacquiao when the pair meets on top of the squared ring later this year.

Ariza, who is the former strength and conditioning coach of Pacquiao but was fired by trainer Freddie Roach in late 2013, is considered one of the most controversial figures in the sport. During the days leading up to the Pacquiao vs. Brandon Rios fight in Macau, Ariza kicked his former boss in the chest and then mocked Roach’s Parkinson’s Disease.

"I know he has a new strength coach and I don't get along with the guy, and one of the reasons why he doesn't work for me anymore is because I think he's a little shady, you know. He used to give Manny a drink every day before we worked out and I asked him, 'What's in that drink,' and he would never tell me,” Roach shared in another Fight Hype article last January. “And I said, 'I need to know what's in that drink because, you know, you're giving it to my fighter and if something goes wrong, I'm gonna get the blame.' In my opinion, he's a little shady, so he's with that camp now and it doesn't surprise me that happened.”

Roach hired Ariza in 2008 and helped Pacquiao win multiple titles in different divisions during his time with the Pacquiao team. Ariza then moved to becoming the Mayweather Jr. in September 2014 working with the undefeated American in his fights against Canelo Alvarez and Maidana.

The Floyd Mayweather Jr. (48-0-0, 26 KOs) vs. Manny Pacquiao (57-5-2, 38 KOs) super fight is scheduled on May 2, 2015 at the MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada in the United States.

To contact author of this article, email j.quizon@IBTimes.com.au.

RELATED STORIES