On November 13 former world champion Antonio Margarito will fight for the WBC Super Welterweight title against one of boxing’s fiercest warriors and heavily favored multi-division champion, Manny Pacquiao live from Cowboy’s Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
Pacquiao is looking to dispatch Margarito and win a record eight championships in as many weight divisions while Margarito has an eye on derailing the Pacquiao Express by late stoppage, thus becoming only the third man in Pacquiao’s career to do so.
“ Pacquiao won’t stand up to my punches,” said Margarito, “he’s been shook by smaller fighters than me and he will find out the hard way that his punches won’t hurt me.”
With an overwhelming majority of people having already discounted Margarito’s chances of winning much less stopping Pacquiao this fight, one would think there’s no reason to pay the asking price for this HBO PPV event.
Why tune into a fight that the public has already deemed an automatic victory for the Filipino Bomber?
Robert Garcia, Margarito’s trainer, has an answer.
“I know what I’ve got in Antonio Margarito. He’s a fighter’s fighter. He comes to not just work, but to improve on what he has been learning since training camp has started.”
“Antonio isn’t going to be the same pressure fighter from before; he’s going to be a pressure fighter that applies his will smarter and with more patience and defense.”
After recently speaking with Antonio, I now believe that his goal of not just beating Manny Pacquiao, but stopping Manny is a high probability that may come to fruition.
Margarito is training like a demon possessed, but not overly tense. He is seemingly calm and relaxed, but more importantly unphased by the taunts from the naysayers, including Pacquiao’s famed coach, Freddie Roach.
“I know that everyone’s saying that I’m going to lose and get knocked out and that I’m no match for him (Pacquiao),” Margarito continued, “I heard that Roach even said I was going to be just like a punching bag and that Manny would stop me early.”
“I think that’s fine to let people say what they want, but they have to remember that there’s only two of us getting into that ring and fighting for that title.”
“Manny’s not going to have everyone’s help in there (ring); he’s going to fight me and me only. He won’t have anywhere to go once I start to apply the pressure and throw my punches at him. I will knock out him out because of this.”
“And as far as what Roach says….I don’t have much to say about him except for thinking that he needs to keep his f**king mouth shut and that because he talks too much that his fighter’s going to pay the price by getting a serious beating by me. His career is over; he needs to be a trainer instead of talking too much. I’m going to shut his f**king mouth by stopping Manny in eleven rounds.”
Garcia and Margarito both believe that Manny has had trouble with fighters that pressure him and believe that the uppercut is a major key to Margarito’s victory.
Said Garcia, “we’re not going to just get in there and throw punches in volume; we’re going to set it up with jabs, angles, and then go in for the attack.”
Margarito added, “ I’ve seen other guys hit him and give him pressure, but then they don’t continue their attack. I am going to go nonstop if I see or think he’s hurt and I’m not going to stop until he’s on the floor.”
“The way he (Pacquiao) fights, he is open to uppercuts. He’s going to be eating mine and when he does, he won’t want to come inside.”
Garcia and Margarito are so confident in their victory over Manny Pacquiao that Antonio told me that he agreed to let Pacquiao come in under the initially approved weight of 149-150 pounds.
Margarito stated, “he wanted to come in lighter than what was agreed on and so I said, ‘OK’, because it’s not going to matter in the end when I’m weighing in and with the game plan I have . I think he’s going to weigh probably around 145, 146(lbs.) I know what he’s doing, but it’s not going to work.”
If you think that Margarito is fighting for redemption, you’re wrong.
According to Antonio, he doesn’t feel any added pressure to dispel the stain of being caught with his hands illegally wrapped prior to his bout with Shane Mosley in January ’09 which led to a lengthy suspension that he was forced to serve.
“I don’t feel like I have to prove anything extra to everyone because of my suspension. I know that I’m a great fighter and a good boxer. People will see that again when I beat Manny Pacquiao. My fans have been behind me through all of this and this victory will be for them.”
Though Antonio says he feels no pressure in wooing the audience, he is a tad concerned about the judges.
“I know that Jerry Jones, Bob Arum, HBO, and everyone else wants Pacquiao to win. They have their ideas on future plans so I do feel that going to the scorecards is not good for me. I can’t chance a bad decision so I’m making it my job to knock him out before there’s any chance of a controversy happening.”
So as the media frenzy continues to descend on Team Pacquiao, Antonio Margarito and his trainer, Robert Garcia, quietly go about their business of honing Antonio’s skills and biding their time until November 13 when they plan to deliver a Texas sized upset to Top Rank and Jerry Jones and win the WBC Super Welterweight title and effectively end Manny Pacquiao’s status as the “Mexican Assassin.”
Source: boxscorenews.com
