Victor Conte and Alex Ariza Spar...WOODS

Written by Michael Woods

Friday, 21 October 2011 09:18

victor-conte-steroids The competition among fighters is fierce, that's a no brainer. But the competition among strength and conditioning gurus can get pretty down and dirty as well.

Alex Ariza, the man who oversees S & C for Manny Pacquiao and Amir Khan, and Victor Conte, who advises Nonito Donaire and Andre Berto on proper training methods and supplement intake, got at each other pretty good a couple days ago. I wrote a lengthy look at Conte's status as a hot S & C guy in boxing for ESPN.com. Check that out here http://es.pn/n237WY.

I was interested in Conte's interest in Ariza, as I'd noticed that the ex BALCO badboy tweaked Ariza regularly on Twitter. He insinuated that maybe Ariza took shortcuts to help prep his fighters. Conte, who said he thinks illegal PED use in boxing is "rampant," said he is indeed skeptical of Ariza, because of Pacquiao's late-age performance spike and ability to jump weight classes. "It doesn't mean it can't be done," Conte told me. "I expect Nonito to move up in class. It can be done." But...

Conte said that many boxers are blood doping, essentially getting blood extracted, having their red blood cells concentrated, and then getting the red blood cell re-infused into their body. Red blood cells carry oxygen from the lungs to the muscles, so having more of them will increase aerobic capacity and endurance. "Basically, the guys that are out there throwing punches for 12 rounds non-stop, I'm suspicious," Conte told me.

Conte said he's been told by sparring partners of big name fighters that EPO, a hormone which spurs red blood cell production, is a favorite of fighters. "I'm not going to talk names," he said.

Conte cast a doubting eye on any boxer who protests that the testing protocol they agree to is what the athletic commissions call for. "That position is suspect," he said. "I'm trying to say, around the camps, there are a lot of dead bodies. As soon as accusations start, the defamation suits start to fly. It costs money, and they're trying to muzzle people."

Speaking of suspect. Ariza is clearly no fan of Conte. Reached on the phone Wednesday night, the Californian who started in the game about six years ago working with Diego Corrales, dismissed Conte as a phony.

"I don't think he's a conditioning coach," Ariza scoffed. "I don't know where he went to school. We all have education and credentials."

Ariza says that because fighters often aren't in structured systems, they aren't subject to the same level of education that say college football players are. That leaves them open, he says, to people who prey on their ignorance. "Conte can sell stuff, say 'take this pill, this powder.' I don't train fighters like that. I go to hard work. Victor's a salesman."

Ariza says he takes Conte's slams as a compliment, because his fighter's are excelling to the point where people think they must be cheating. "Is it jealousy? Absolutely. He should go back to playing guitar and leave the real work to the real people. I and and my fighters are clean. I have nothing to hide."

Damn, I'd like to see that level of heat and fire in some of the fighters we've seen stink out the joint in marquee bouts as of late.

Comment on this article

Radam G says:

Conte is a drug-pushing clown, who has never been able to get down. Dude is also a fake. And he'd serve and sell you a steriod-poison cake. It looks like someone has dumped his arse in a lake. Dude is all wet. Not a penny on this sucka being honest, can you bet. He is in self denial yet. And would bite the hand that feeds him like a deadly pet. For certain, the scum chump is a snake. And down the drain, your career he will take. Da sucka is rotten to da core for goodness SAKE! Sooner before longer, a ride every athlete should tell this con man to TAKE! Holla!

FighterforJC says:

PED's or whatever you call it, if they help an athlete become better, I don't see what's wrong with that. If it allows one fighter to be able to throw more punches over 12 rounds, to me that means that fighter's in better shape and the fans get a better fight. If PED's truly made a fighter be able to "walk through bullets," then that's something to be happy about. To me that makes the sport is safer. Legalize these so-called PED's, if they truly had that effect (which they don't). Boxing is desperate for excitement. These same goons who are masquerading as champions of virtue should keep their mouths shut for the sake of the sport. The sport is hurting not because there are too many Pacquiao's out there but because there aren't enough. If legalizing PED's means every fighter will fight like Pacquiao, so be it. And if PED usage was as rampant haters claim it is, then who are all these fighters? It's only logical that if PED's were the miracle drugs that give one fighter an unfair advantage over others, that the champions MUST be the ones using it. Otherwise, if the non-champs are on PED's, that means they are useless. This whole PED thing is a sea of contradictions. It's just a matter of jealousy, and jealousy towards one man that is Pacquiao.

Radam G says:

Danggit! FJC! What has gotten into you? You are comically wildin' ya' arse off, nowadays. Hehehehehe! Maybe you've been in City of Angeles hanging out with Bobby C. October is supposed to be a horror month of the living death or some jive like that. But I thought it was all fun for originally eating with the dead and leaving them treats. All Saints Day is around the corner. OOPS! My BAD! I musta' fo'got! The AmerKanos call it Holloween.

Nonetheless, don't believe the HYPE! If a sucka cannot fight, steroids, PEDs, EEDs, His-mamma Ds and no other Ds will help his arse. Ninety-nine percent of the athletes on Steroids and PEDs ain't Jack, Jill or could climb a molehill. Holla!

amayseng says:

fighterdumbfjc

ever researched peds, or taken an anatomy class?
when you take steroids or hgh then not only do your muscles grow, but also your organs.

and no offense, but i think i trust god and his invention of the body to conduct itself without a foreign substance making organs GROW which do not grow after maturity and adulthood has reached.

also, blood doping is unsafe as well..

READ AND LEARN

FighterforJC says:

Stop pretending to be:

1) a tough guy
2) an expert on PED's when all you've done is probably wikipedia'd

Wait, let me guess, you really are a tough guy who has seen and met PED users. You've witnessed its effects because you're "in the know" and have all this wealth of street knowledge that only real tough guys like you can possibly know, right?

Get over yourself, Pac hater. They have surgery now that can enlarge your anatomy, no need to hate.

amayseng says:

dumbfighterforjc

i am a physical therapist. not a wikipedia guru.

im not acting like a tough guy by calling you out and allowing yourself to look dumber with each post.

lastly, im a huge pac fan.....

but what does that have to do with your ignorance asking for steroids and peds?

FighterforJC says:

Don't you have to know how to read to be a physical therapist? Ask somebody else to read for you then respond when you know what the heck you're talking about.

brownsugar says:

I don't know why Conte gets such a major platform to comment on fighters, trainers, and coaches....while proposing some boxers to move up in weight and others to go down in weight, as if he has the magic key to fulfill thier dreams... The guy is a nutritionalist... not a boxing guru. He's seeking a new audience to peddle his wares to(and there's certainly nothing wrong with that in a capitolist society). Of course a nutritionalist can help fighers...and they have thier place. But it's only 10% of what boxers need to succeed.

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