The hard work is starting now as Manny Pacquiao and Antonio Margarito hunker down at their respective training camps as they prepare for their vacant junior middleweight title bout Nov. 13 (HBO PPV) at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
Pound-for-pound king Pacquiao is due to begin his sparring this week at his training camp in Baguio City in the Philippines with sparring partners Michael Medina and Glen Tapia, despite a sore left foot.
And after two weeks of mountain road work and preliminary gym work in South El Monte, Calif., Margarito and trainer Robert Garcia have relocated to Garcia's Oxnard, Calif., gym for the remainder of training camp.
"We got a lot done in the first two weeks and Tony looks great," Garcia said. "I love his focus and intensity and our first phase of training camp was an eye opener for him and me. The first two weeks have been really terrific and productive."
Margarito is also scheduled to begin sparring this week.
"I know how important this fight is to my career and to all of Mexico," Margarito said. "That is why I will prepare like never before and will defeat Manny Pacquiao, proving to everyone that I am one of the best fighters in the world. The belt is very important to me, but the most important thing is to give the fans a great fight and one that they will remember for a long time. I love to fight and Manny has proven that he is a warrior. This fight is going to be a war."
HBO's four-part "24/7 Pacquiao/Margarito" series following the buildup to the fight premiers Oct. 23 at 10:30 p.m. ET/PT.
• Mexico's Rafael Marquez is back in full training in preparation for his showdown with featherweight titlist Juan Manuel Lopez (29-0, 26 KOs) of Puerto Rico on Nov. 6 (Showtime) at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Marquez, a former bantamweight and junior featherweight champ, was forced to postpone the fight because he injured his right thumb when he accidentally slammed it in a car door. The fight was supposed to take place Sept. 18. But the thumb has healed and Marquez (39-5, 35 KOs) is training without restrictions in Mexico City. "The injury is totally healed. This will be the best preparation of my career," Marquez said. "I will work very hard so I defeat Juanma when we meet because I know he will also be in top shape. We are going to give the fans the fight they deserve, which will be nothing less than the fight of the year." Marquez knows a thing or two about fights of the year. His second and third fights with Israel Vazquez were named fight of the year in 2007 and 2008, and the only reason the first one wasn't was because it happened in the same year as the rematch.
• Former junior featherweight and junior lightweight titlist Joan Guzman (30-0-1, 17 KOs), 34, is coming back as a junior welterweight. Guzman, of course, was supposed to fight Ali Funeka for a vacant lightweight belt in March but badly missed weight. He came in at 144 pounds for the 135-pound fight and wound up outpointing Funeka (in a rematch of their draw), leaving the title vacant. It was the second time in recent fights that Guzman had missed weight. Now, he'll try things out in the 140-pound division. Guzman meets Chris Fernandez (18-10-1, 11 KOs), loser of three in a row and five of seven, in the main event of Telefutura's "Solo Boxeo Tecate" on Nov. 5 in New York. "I know Chris is going to be a tough opponent but I feel very comfortable fighting at 140 pounds," said Guzman, who lives in Brooklyn. "There are a lot of great fighters in this weight class and I am ready to prove that I am still one of the best out there." Slated for the undercard are Mexican featherweight Salvador Sanchez (19-4-2, 9 KOs), the nephew of the Hall of Famer with the same name, and junior lightweight contender Argenis Mendez, a New York-based Dominican like Guzman.
• Former heavyweight champ Hasim Rahman (48-7-2, 39 KOs), still trying to land another title bout, faces journeyman Marcus McGee (22-17, 11 KOs) in Panama City on Saturday night on the WBA's "KO Drugs" charity card. Rahman has won three low-level fights since being destroyed by champion Wladimir Klitschko in seven rounds in a 2008 title challenge, and goes for No. 4 against McGee in an eight-rounder. "It's Rock's fourth fight in six months. He's keeping busy and getting into better shape," promoter Greg Cohen said. "He's definitely on a mission. He's been working hard with [trainer] Eddie [Mustafa Muhammad]. Rock is only 37. I think he'll get another chance." Headlining the show are a pair of title bouts. Cruiserweight titlist Guillermo Jones of Panama, fighting for the first time in two years, faces Valery Brudov, a long overdue mandatory opponent, and Panama's Luis Concepcion defends his interim flyweight belt against former titlist Denkaosan Kaowichit.
• Welsh light heavyweight contender Nathan Cleverly stopped Karo Murat in the ninth round of their title eliminator last week, and now Cleverly wants his shot at German titleholder Jürgen Braehmer (36-2, 29 KOs). Cleverly (20-0, 10 KOs) has taken exception to Braehmer calling him "feather fisted" and hopes to face him in December. "I've stopped my last seven opponents, and it will be eight if Braehmer plucks up the courage to get in the ring with me," Cleverly said. "My promoter, Frank Warren, will provide the perfect platform for him to back up his claims on Dec. 11 in London. If Braehmer wants the fight, then I will be there in the opposite corner, and I'll do to him what I did to Murat. I changed my style to take on Murat when I could have made it a lot easier and boxed him from the outside all night, but I forced the fight all the way, forced the stoppage and broke his nose. Now I'm a man and I am punching harder with every fight and if Braehmer wants to back up his words then I'm here ready for him. I won the British title with a stoppage, I won the European title with a stoppage, and I will win a world title when I knock Braehmer out."
Source: sports.espn.go.com
