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Renowned strength and conditioning coach Alex Ariza sees a bright future for unbeaten prospect Kenneth Llover ahead of the latter’s upcoming bout against former two-division champion Luis Concepcion on August 17 at Winford Resort and Casino in Manila.
Ariza, who made his name by training world champions such as Manny Pacquiao, Floyd Mayweather Jr., Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., and Amir Khan in the past, recently revealed he had retired in the Philippines and was out of the sport until he received a call to work with Llover.
“He is good. He is young and raw; he only got 14 fights. Obviously, we can see the Pacquiao influence on him. The movement, the speed, and he has great power,” said Ariza.
“It is going to be a road ahead of us, but there is a lot of potential. A lot of people are drawn to him; they like his style of fighting, and he is exciting. He has a fan favorite style.”
Llover has caught the attention of international boxing heads following back-to-back first-round stoppages in Japan. With offers coming from all sides, his promoter, Gerry Peñalosa of Gerrypens Promotions, eventually linked up with Japan’s Kameda Promotions for a three-fight deal.
The deal, which runs for fifteen months, guarantees a world title fight for Llover. As big plans are in place for Llover, Ariza committed that he would turn his focus on the young prospect until he reaches his dream of becoming a world champion.
“He is young right now, so he does not complain about anything,” Ariza said.
“He does not mind getting up early and does not mind what we feed him. The whole team is here. We are all going to put all of our focus in the same way back we did with Manny when we started moving him up in weight. The same team is here.”
—JMB, GMA Integrated News
