"As with anything, Ben, you know that everything that comes out of Bob's mouth is completely untrue and it's a lie. The truth of the matter is that Bob put a 2-fight extension in the contract as a condition to Julio fighting on June 16th, and that was supposed to be for free, for nothing; he just threw it in there. Not to mention, it's actually 15 months before his contract with Top Rank is even up. Why would he do something like that just for free? And if he didn't sign that extension, Bob threatened to have Julio sit...this guy is really senile and delusional walking around. He needs to get this clear, he's been exposed. His bullying tactics, his way of doing business, the way he strong-arms these fighters has all come to light...Chavez Sr. and Chavez Jr. know; we've gone over this. We knew that this was going to be a ploy of Bob to make it seem like I wasn't going to be able to make time for Julio. Again, I've talked to Manny about this, of course, first and foremost. Amir knows the situation. Everybody knows the situation...It's Bob that's trying to stall his career, not us," stated world-class strength-and-conditioning coach Alex Ariza, who set the record straight regarding the current status of Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. and his June 16th bout. You do not want to miss what else he had to say in this revealing interview. Check it out!



BT: Alex, what's going on bro?



AA: Not much bro. I started with Amir already this week. Manny's just tightening up some business things and stuff like that here, so we should be starting any time.



BT: Cool, cool. I definitely want to get to that, but before I do, I wanted to touch base with you about Julio [Cesar Chavez Jr.]. I don't know if you heard, but after Julio did that interview with me last week talking about the 2-fight extension they're trying to get him to sign for the June 16th fight, Bob Arum has since come on record blaming you and Billy Keane for holding up the fight. According to him, you're trying to "stall" the fight because you'll be too busy working with Amir and Manny to work with Julio. That didn't make any sense at all to me when 1) you already told me that you informed Manny and Amir that you would be coming back to the States at the end of April to work with Julio, and 2) Julio himself told me that Arum wants him to sign a 2-fight extension, which he has no intentions of doing. What the hell is Bob talking about?



AA: As with anything, Ben, you know that everything that comes out of Bob's mouth is completely untrue and it's a lie. The truth of the matter is that Bob put a 2-fight extension in the contract as a condition to Julio fighting on June 16th, and that was supposed to be for free, for nothing; he just threw it in there. Not to mention, it's actually 15 months before his contract with Top Rank is even up. Why would he do something like that just for free? And if he didn't sign that extension, Bob threatened to have Julio sit. So what happened was, when I did speak to you from Mexico, I had flown to Mexico with Chavez's manager, Billy Keane, and we stayed there for three days where we had a meeting with Julio Cesar Chavez Sr. and Chavez Jr. Trust me, bro, when I tell you the last thing that Arum wants to do is threaten a Chavez. Bob, in his old age, must really be thinking he is what people used to say he is. Is Chavez supposed to sign this extension just to be grateful to be promoted by the great Bob Arum? I mean, this guy is really senile and delusional walking around. He needs to get this clear, he's been exposed. His bullying tactics, his way of doing business, the way he strong-arms these fighters has all come to light. People are now seeing right through his bullshit. Nobody is buying it anymore and it's showing. Over the course of the last few years, guys that used to be with him are jumping ship and moving forward, and it started way back with De La Hoya. From De La Hoya to Mayweather, and from Mayweather now to Cotto. These guys aren't buying it. These young fighters that are coming aren't going to sign with him, because it's just a matter of time before people get to them and start showing them the kind of promoter he really is and what he's doing. It just goes to show you, he's not really doing anything for the sport by having Julio sit.



BT: That's what I don't get. Like what the hell does he mean by saying you're trying to stall and prevent Julio from fighting? That doesn't make any sense whatsoever. I mean, you just did an interview with me explaining how you just left Mexico after meeting with Julio to talk about training camp for the fight.



AA: Exactly. You know, it's kind of one of those things, dude...and I say this absolutely, well, of course I mean to be disrespectful to him because he doesn't deserve any respect, but it just goes to show you that he really may be going senile. Did he just forget I just left Julio? Did he just forget Julio just gave you a one-on-one interview explaining the details of our training camp? Not only does Manny know my situation, Amir knows our situation, Julio knows the situation and knows that I'll be back in time to start training with him. Julio and I have gone not only over this fight, but we've also gone over the future fights with Julio. Bob must understand that this is not the camps that he's used to dealing with where he's just going to start telling people what to do and what not to do. This is a Chavez Jr. team, okay, and that shit doesn't fly. Bob doesn't give the orders. He needs to wake the fuck up. He needs to stop trying to get me kicked out of my fighters' camps. He can't get me kicked out of his favorite restaurant, let alone get me kicked out of a fighter's camp.



BT: (Laughing) He really is starting to sound a little out there. I mean, he said Billy Keane is trying to protect you? What the hell is he talking about? I just don't get it.



AA: You know what's sad, dude? It goes to show you that with the last two fights of Manny Pacquiao being obviously not what they have been in the past, with Chavez's weight issues having continuously gone away, for the first time in years since I've been with him, he has not had problems making weight, he's made weight on time, has not had to go over the allotted time to make weight, has put on the best performances of his career, has become a world champion, has defended his world title twice and now going on a third title defense with a world-class fighter, whether it's the undefeated Vanes Martirosyan or Andy Lee, you want to again attempt to try to have me moved out or try to have him [Julio] move to Las Vegas to have him do the training when Bob knows that's his own agenda to make sure that Freddie nor myself would be with Julio. Just by doing something like that, it just goes to show you that Bob's personal vendettas not only come before the fighter, but he also doesn't care about hurting the sport, he doesn't care about his company, he doesn't care about anything other than whatever his agenda is. He over and over continues to prove that by trying to get me moved out again. Why would you try to have me moved out of Manny's camp when he had two sub-par performances and he knows he needs to go back to doing my things and my ways of training to get back on track? Why would you try to have the one guy who's completely turned around Chavez, by his own admission and by the admission of his father, who's always coming up to me saying if it wasn't for me, not only physically, but conditioning and strength-wise, Chavez is a completely different athlete than they had ever expected; why would you want to take that one person who has made those kind of changes out of that person's life? What purpose does that serve? Only his own, the selfish, greedy, pig that he is, and the only thing that matters to him is that his agenda is moved forward and his little personal vendettas are done. How pathetic is it to be such an accomplished Hall-of-Fame promoter and have to spend your days on trying to get some strength-and-conditioning coach constantly booted out of somebody else's camp? How pathetic is that? I mean, seriously, how big of a threat must I really be? This whole narcissistic, you know, Godfather Bob has really gotten to his head, because the media, managers, fighters, and trainers have all bowed down to his bullshit back in the past. They all lived up to his fears, his threats of not letting you fight, do it my way or else; nobody gives a fuck about you old man, least of all me. You can't bully me into shit. He needs to wake up. I don't work for him and he's not getting me kicked out of anywhere. And if he keeps this shit up, I'll make sure he doesn't see his own fucking fighter. We'll see who really has a say in what these guys do and don't do.



BT: (Laughing) Damn!



AA: I mean, seriously Ben. It used to be cute, you know, the little old man. You know how old people get, dude, if the coffee is not hot enough or if the soup comes back and it doesn't have enough noodles in it, you know, they're fickle and shit, so they flip out over little shit. I used to laugh that shit off, but now, it's just plain pathetic, it really is, that a man so accomplished spends so much time thinking about me. What he needs to do is shut his mouth, stop worry about what I'm doing, and just worry about treating his fighters fair and promoting. Nevermind getting involved in everybody's business. You're just a promoter. He needs to realize, stop getting involved in the personal lives and who's this and who's training what; just promote the fight and let us do the real work.



BT: He definitely needs to stay focused on the promoting aspect, especially with this Pacquiao/Bradley fight coming up.



AA: Yeah, you know what I mean? You know, something else, and this is something he has to realize, Manny is close to retirement. Whether he likes it or not, his empire is crumbling around him, minute by minute. His biggest star right now is Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. He really is, and if he doesn't start to treat this guy like he's not stupid and he and his father don't know what he [Bob] is up to, he's going to lose that guy. You know, I really do feel sorry for Todd and Dena [duBoef], because after he's done running this business into the ground, he's going to leave them with a pile of shit. I mean, why are you trying to bully my guy into signing an extension a year and a half before his contract's even up?



BT: Right? That's what blew my mind. When I asked Julio about it, he said as far as he knew, he still had over a year to go on his current contract, so why are they even talking about contract extensions?



AA: Because in my opinion, this is what he's being doing his whole promoting career and that's how he's been bullying his fighters, that's how he's been keeping his fighters; if you don't do this, I'll make you sit. The same way that he was trying to do to Chavez Jr. The only difference is nobody was speaking up about it. Nobody would say anything to Bob for whatever reason. I'm telling you, he's got us confused. We're not those other fighters that he thinks he has. We're a whole different team and we're not going to let somebody like Bob try to do to him what he's been doing to other fighters his whole career. Stop fucking treating these fighters unfair. Start treating them fair with respect. Stop thinking they're stupid. You're not the boss. Just do your job. That's the only shot you have of keeping Chavez from leaving you. And he really should leave me the fuck alone and let me do my job before I go to Manny and start telling him some shit.



BT: (Laughing) Damn. Honestly, I don't even know why your name was brought up in that conversation when Bob commented on the subject.



AA: You know, I'll tell you. Because once again, it's Bob deflecting what is the truth. He's trying to spin it, trying to make it everybody else's fault but his own. He knows what he did, he knows what he tried to pull, he knows the tactic that he used, and it came to light and it came to the forefront, so now he has to divert that and put it on me. Of course it's always my fault or it's Billy's fault. Again, he wants to deflect it from him and put it on us. The thing is, the credible journalists out there, the real people who know Bob Arum and aren't afraid to write articles about Bob Arum, know that everything that I'm saying is 100% true. They know what I'm saying is the truth. They know. They've heard it before. This is his signature move. Donaire, Gamboa, Cotto, the list is long. In a time when not making weight is almost epidemic, why would you try to get the one person who has stabilized not only Julio's weight loss problem, but his conditioning problem, and has him performing better and better and has taken his level of performance up and up and up, why would you try to get me out?



BT: I don't know, bro.



AA: I'll tell you why. Because it's for pure selfish reasons, because Bob doesn't give a shit about the sport, he doesn't give a shit about his fighter; all he gives a shit about is his agenda and his little personal vendetta against me. You're an old man, Bob. You're a dinosaur. Go spend your money that you've been making off of your fighters. Don't worry about me, okay, and my pickles. Don't worry about me, dude. Move on with your life. Pass the buck on to Dena and to Todd. Let the young, more innovative, normal, rational thinking minds take over.



BT: Well, like I said, I don't understand his whole angle of accusing you and Billy of stalling. Julio made it more than crystal clear to me that he wasn't going to sign any extension, so it seems to me like the hold up is on Bob's end.



AA: Ben, you know, Chavez Sr. and Chavez Jr. know; we've gone over this. We knew that this was going to be a ploy of Bob to make it seem like I wasn't going to be able to make time for Julio. Again, I've talked to Manny about this, of course, first and foremost. Amir knows the situation. Everybody knows the situation and my position as far as where I am with Team Chavez. I mean, this whole little divide and conquer thing with Bob has grown old and tiresome. It really has. Again, it's just another way of deflecting it because if the fight doesn't kick off, then what he thinks is that people will think it was my fault or Billy Keane's fault, when he knows it's his fault. He knows that he's trying to force Julio into doing something that, in my opinion, he's made every other fighter do; stay with him or not fight. Everybody knows that since I've been with Julio, the success where we are today and furthering his career relies on him being more active, and Billy Keane has done everything in his power as far as to even make a fight try to kick off in Mexico to make sure we keep him active. It's Bob that's trying to stall his career, not us. How does stalling him help us? Of course I want Chavez to fight in June. I want Chavez to fight every chance he gets. Here's the thing, and this goes for all the readers, unless you hear it from somebody directly out of our camp, which probably more and more people know that we speak with you personally, you know that when Chavez talks to you personally, when Billy Keane talks to you personally, when I talk to you personally, we're going to tell you straight. It's not going to be any spin. It's not going to be anything like us pushing our own personal agenda. It's what actually, currently, and has happened, and as of right now, Chavez Jr. does not have a contract or an opponent for this fight yet.

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