A verbal and physical altercation erupted between Freddie Roach, Robert Garcia, and several other members of both Manny Pacquiao and Brandon Rios' teams on Wednesday. Roach was kicked in the chest by Rios' conditioning coach Alex Ariza, and multiple people involved in the scuffle exchanged profanities before members of the media and camera crews.
'[Ariza] physically assaulted me,' Roach said. 'And I'm calling the police right now.'
'The first thing he said was, 'Get out of here you piece of [expletive],' Garcia said. 'That was the first thing he told me. I was like, 'What?' He was like, 'Get the [expletive] out of here.' He called me a piece of [expletive]. Then he called my friend 'a [expletive] Mexican,' and he called [reporter] Elie [Seckbach], 'a [expletive] Jew.' What the [expletive] is that?'
Ariza, who previously served as Pacquiao's strength and conditioning coach before being fired by Roach, claimed he had been attacked first.
'[Roach] was going to hit Robert [Garcia] ... He looked at me, cocked his fist back and I kicked him in the chest. ... When you raise your fist at somebody, the other person has the right to defend themselves and that's what I was doing.'
When asked by a reporter if he regretted kicking Roach in the chest, Ariza did not back down.
'Regret what? I regret that he couldn't act like a professional and come over and have some dignity and class.'
(WARNING: The video contains strong and profane language)
You can watch the footage of the entire scene below.
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