Freddie Roach Brings Extra Element of Intrigue to Pacquiao vs. Rios

Legendary boxing trainer Freddie Roach has been making headlines for years, but now he's making waves on YouTube heading into Saturday's showdown in Macau, China, between his fighter Manny Pacquiao and Brandon Rios.

It's no secret that the two camps between Pacquiao and Rios have bad blood. It came to a boil on Wednesday when Roach got into a heated confrontation with Rios' head trainer, Robert Garcia, and strength and conditioning coach, Alex Ariza.

By no coincidence, there were plenty of cameras on hand to capture the action. Video of the incident has since surfaced on YouTube, via SecondsOut.

WARNING: Language in video is explicit and NSFW

Roach, a five-time Trainer of the Year, has been at odds with Rios since at least 2010, when he and fellow boxer Antonio Margarito made fun of the trainer's speech, which is affected by Parkinson's disease. Lawrence Donegan of The Guardian reported that Roach has felt the effects of the disease since four years after his retirement as a boxer in 1986.

Ariza used to work alongside Roach as a strength and conditioning coach for Pacquiao, but the two have had a bad falling out, according to Kevin Iole of Yahoo! Sports. Per Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated, Ariza also made derogatory comments toward Roach about his speech after kicking him in Wednesday's fracas:

It's not like Pacquiao needed any more motivation for this fight, but it appears he has some. Pacquiao wasn't in the gym to see the scuffle with his own eyes, but expressed his feelings to Roach after seeing the taunts from Rios on video, per the Associated Press:

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"(Pacquiao) said to me, 'Are those the guys that made fun of you?' and I said yes, and he said, 'That's all I need to know,' and he walked away," Roach said on Thursday.

"He told me he's going to take care of this guy quickly."

"

This adds another personal aspect to the fight that is viewed largely viewed as a one-sided affair, as Pacquiao is the overwhelming favorite to win, per VegasInsider.com

Drumming up hype for a boxing match isn't anything new, but it's a shame that Roach's disease has become a major topic of discussion. Parkinson's is the same disease that is affecting boxing great Muhammad Ali and shouldn't be brought up, even in an intense war of words like this.

But from the reports coming from Macau, it appears Roach was the aggressor in the latest display of this feud. Iole reported Roach was irate that Rios' camp was still in the gym past its scheduled time at 11 a.m., when Pacquiao was supposed to begin his workout, so he aggressively approached the other trainers and sparks flew.

While the scene was certainly heated in the gym, it appears Roach had a sense of humor about the situation afterward. According to the Associated Press, Roach told reporters, "What (Ariza) doesn't realize is that Manny hits me 10 times harder every day. It was like a girl kicking me."

In the end, this sounds like just another boxing promotion by way of a YouTube video. It's a shame that Rios' camp has brought Roach's disability into the mess, but if the trainer wanted publicity, he has it.