NEW YORK — Former middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik and undefeated welterweight contender Mike Jones joined promoter Bob Arum at the Friars Club on Tuesday to discuss their fights on the Manny Pacquiao-Antonio Margarito undercard Nov. 13 at Cowboys Stadium.
The conversation inevitably turned toward Pacquiao (51-3-2, 38 KOs), specifically Pacquiao’s reported problems preparing for his junior middleweight debut against a big, strong, rugged Mexican attempting to repair his damaged image.
Arum admitted that he was concerned after a recent visit to Pacquiao’s training camp in the Philippines, where Glen Tapia (7-0, 5 KOs), a junior middleweight prospect from Passaic, more than held his own against one of the top two pound-for-pound boxers in the world. Even Freddie Roach, Pacquiao’s primary supporter, admitted on HBO’s "24/7 Pacquiao-Margarito," that he believes Pacquiao’s election to Congress has hindered his preparation for Margarito (38-6, 27 KOs, 1 NC) more than they expected.
Panicking Filipino fans and media members are concerned that their country’s answer to Muhammad Ali cannot continue a dominant run the southpaw superstar started after a split-decision defeat of rival Juan Manuel Marquez (51-5-1, 37 KOs) in March 2008.
"To some extent, it was accurate," Arum said, referring to Filipino media reports regarding Pacquiao’s preparation. "But, you know, there’s plenty of time for him to get ready."
Or so he hopes.
Pacquiao is the flagship fighter for Arum’s promotional company, which also represents junior middleweight champ Miguel Cotto, undefeated featherweight champion Juan Manuel Lopez, Margarito, Pavlik, and about 30 other fighters. With undefeated Floyd Mayweather Jr. entangled in a legal mess stemming from his domestic incident last month in Las Vegas, Pacquiao is boxing’s flagship fighter, too, the only boxer "60 Minutes" profiles and Jimmy Kimmel regularly invites to his late-night talk show on ABC.
A loss to a 5-1 underdog would make Mayweather-Pacquiao pointless, even if the most popular boxer in the world loses in a competitive fight. It would cost everyone involved in the sport, including HBO, tens of millions of dollars.
Source: northjersey.com
