Beef over gym time escalates into physical row with Pacquiao, Rios camps

An argument over gym time turned physical when Alex Ariza kicked Freddie Roach in the chest on Wednesday morning at a gym in Macau, China.

That’s where Manny Pacquiao and Brandon Rios will square off Saturday in the welterweight main event at the Venetian Resort (on HBO pay-per-view).

Roach trains Pacquiao, Robert Garcia trains Rios. As for Ariza, he used to be the strength and conditioning coach for Pacquiao, but now has that role in the Rios camp.

A video shows Roach and Garcia arguing over Team Rios still being in the gym at 11 a.m. (Macau time) even though Pacquiao’s time starts at 11. As the two exchange barbs, a member of Rios’ camp is beside himself and has to be restrained and Ariza and Roach begin to jaw at each other.

Roach took a step toward Ariza, who then kicked Roach in the chest. Roach told security he wanted Ariza arrested.

There is a video out there that can be found on YouTube. We can’t post it here because it contains quite a bit of foul language.

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