Ariza wants Amir Khan to destroy Malignaggi for his disrespect to Pacquiao

Now that he’s mission to get pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao ready to throw over 1,200 punches in a total domination of the often impenetrable defense of Ghana’s Joshua Clottey who was as solid as a rock.

Conditioning expert Alex Ariza says he will commit his entire effort to make sure 23 year old Amir Khan destroys 29 year old Paul Malignaggi on May 15 at New York’s Madison Square Garden.

Ariza who didn’t accompany trainer Freddie Roach for the press conference scheduled in New York on Wednesday, Manila Time, said “I want him to destroy Malignaggi for what he’s said.”

Malignaggi had joined the Mayweather clan headed by Floyd Mayweather Sr in accusing Pacquiao of being on performance enhancing drugs without providing a shred of evidence and Aruza said he wants Malignaggi to pay for it in the ring against the young British WBA junior welterweight champion.

Ariza told us that Khan would be back in training camp at the Wild Card Gym in Los Angeles on Thursday, Friday in Manila.

The conditioning expert said he was confident Khan would whip Malignaggi. “I know he will, he will. I know so. He’s got a full eight weeks for the camp and I’m going to put him through hell” so he would be in superb condition and could rip the soft-punching Malignaggi.

Khan won the WBA 140 pound title with an impressive unanimous twelve round decision over Andriy Kotelnik last July and then gave Dmitry Salita a brutal beating, knocking him down twice in the opening round before finishing off the New York based Israeli in a mere 76 seconds last December.

Khan who had earlier signed up with Golden Boy Promotions has always praised Pacquiao and thanked him for his advice and his inputs on how to first beat Mexican legend Marco Antonio Barrera which he did in five rounds and then in the title fight against Kotelnik. On occasions Khan has sparred with Pacquiao during the Filipinos preparation for past fights.

Ariza said that when youngsters like Khan and Vanes Matirosyan train alongside Pacquiao and watched his systematic demolition of Miguel Cotto they were “inspired and their confidence boosted” because they had a model to not merely look up but to try and emulate.

BBC Sport quoted Khan as saying “I’m just going to go in there and do what I normally do and I really think Malignaggi has a style which is going to make me look good. He’s not at my level. He has a few good wins in America, but its another fight for and I’ll go there and do what I have to do.”

Malignaggi took a bad beating at the hands of IBO light welterweight champion Ricky “The Hitman” Hatton in 2008 before Pacquiao separate Hatton from his senses in a brutal second round knockout in May 2009.

Malignaggi who lost a hugely questionable decision to Golden Boy Promotions Juan Diaz in Houston, Texas came back to avenge that loss and effectively re-established himself as a title contender.

Source: Ronnie Nathanielsz  | PhilBoxing.com

Roach: I'll Be Disappointed if Khan Doesn't Stop Malignaggi

Trainer Freddie Roach was very upset during a recent appearance on the Leave it in The Ring Radio Show. When the subject of Paul Malignaggi came up, Roach went off. Malignaggi is going to fight WBA junior welterweight champion Amir Khan on May 15.

Roach became upset over Malignaggi's recent comments where he disclosed his his thoughts about Khan and performance enhancing drugs. Malignaggi thinks Khan is clean but admits the thought crossed his mind because Khan trains under the same team as Manny Pacquiao, who Malignaggi suspects is on performance enhancing drugs.

"I don't think we really want fight Paulie though cause he's such an assh**e. I used to respect this guy and like him, but he opens his mouth and says Amir is on steroids now because he trains with Freddie Roach. I might smack him when I see him, I might, I'm pissed off about that with him," Roach said.

"I feel like pulling Amir out of the fight and telling him [Malignaggi] go get a payday somewhere else because there's no payday here. You've knocked out five guys in your career, it must've been five girls. If Amir doesn't knock him out I'll be very dissapointed."

Source: Mark Vester  | BoxingScene.com

Malignaggi: If Pacquiao takes the test, I'll become his #1 fan

GL: Lots of talk about you fighting Pacquiao if the Mayweather fight collapses. Can you give us your thoughts on this and how it came about? "I just got some phone calls and I started hearing some things and it's an exciting prospect."

GL: It's no secret that you've said some things about Pacquiao. Do you have a new position on Pacquiao? What is your opinion on the legitimacy of Manny Pacquiao fights?

Paul Malignaggi: "I gave my opinion, it's my opinion an I feel the same way. That being said, I have full confidence in the drug testing procedures of the Nevada Commission and that they will conduct the proper testing. At the end of the day, they were my observations and my opinions. Let's keep in mind that Manny Pacquiao has never failed a drug test. But there are certain things I have observed him that have led me to my opinions."

GL: Yet you're still willing to fight him, under the full jurisdiction of Vegas.

PM: "Yeah. But I just can't see how over a drug test Manny Pacquiao is going to turn down a fight with Mayweather and $40M. It's cool to have my name in the mix, but at the end of the day, how do you not fight a fight like this over a test? Look, if they can't make it happen, Manny Pacquiao will have his hands full with me. Let's not forget, I possess a style that he hasn't had to deal with yet. I can box, I can match his speed, I'm not flat-footed, and I'm a constantly improving fighter each time I fight with Sherif Younan. But if he's on something how do you catch him if you don't do the proper testing? Listen, at the end of the day a lot of evidence shows you he could be on something. The only way you can know for sure if he gets the proper testing. The fact that he's willing to risk it all and leave a fight like this on the table makes it more fishy. I'm a pro-athlete. I'm going to put it to you like this, if I worked that hard and achieved all that in my career and people questioned the integrity that I have an how I achieved, I'd be willing to take those tests because I would want to leave no doubt that I did all this naturally. As an athlete I would be in a rush to clear my name and the fact that he's avoiding it, is the opposite of how any athlete should have reacted. Any athlete who was probably guilty would act that way in my opinion, it seems a little strange to me. It's seems a little strange to me."

GL: Strager than a 40 year old Bernard Hopkins dominating light heavyweight after 21 middleweight defenses?

PM: "But Bernard Hopkins doesn't get hit clean against monster punchers moving up in weight. Manny Pacquiao is going up in weight and he's literally walking through people. He's not a defensive specialist...

GL: (cutting in) "Other than Cotto, who did he walk though? What did he do that was so unusual?

PM: "Do you see the way the guy does anything against these big men?"

GL: De La Hoya was supposedly a dead man in the ring because he didn't gain any weight from the weigh-in.

PM: How do you know? The year before he gave Mayweather a very tough fight."

GL: That was 54 and he wasn't bone dry.

PM: "Even the David Diaz fight. Diaz is not an elite fighter, but that was a fight that Diaz fought back in. Pacquiao didn't show any extra skills, he's just walked through a bigger guy. Roy Jones kept going up in weight and outskilled guys. If he was outskilling them, to me it would be different. It's just my opinion based on what I'm seeing. This is the first guy I've ever seen been able to walk through bigger men and it seems strange to me."