According to my sources Manny Pacquiao will pick up camp and head back to Los Angeles around October 23rd. If you're a Manny Pacquiao fan, this couldn't happen fast enough. There have been some bumps in the road over in the Philippines with Pacquiao getting sick, and with him tweaking his knee while playing basketball. Trainer Freddie Roach had to slam the doors shut on the gym due to excessive distractions from hundreds of fans that were smothering the gym.
In Los Angeles, Roach always has a much firmer grip on things and can better dictate the rules. Pacquiao is scheduled to square off against Antonio Margarito on November 13th, in Dallas, TX. His opponent, according to reports, is having a monster training camp and is looking quite sharp thus far. He will need every inch of that sharpness on November 13th when he steps into the ring.
The seven division world champion Manny Pacquiao told this writer that the key to his victory will be his speed, "The plan is to use quick movement and to use my speed against Margarito. If I do that, I will win the fight." Pacquiao will need to be wary of Margarito's reach advantage. Margarito is not so much a power puncher and he usually wears down his opponents over time and finishes them off once they are tired and beat down. This will be a much harder task for him to accomplish Vs. Pacquiao though. Manny's speed, and supreme conditioning will be a high mountain to climb over.
I spoke with Stan Nichols, USA Boxing President (Southern Association), based out of Brandon, Mississippi and got his thoughts on this fight. Nichols firmly believes that Pacquiao will win and win convincingly, " Pacquiao will be too fast for him. Margarito doesn't move well enough. Manny will eventually get the better of him, and could even stop him." Nichols is no stranger to boxing himself. He sparred the great Roberto Duran back in the early 80's in Panama.
Roach is looking forward to getting back to Los Angeles. I can assure you of this, and once he is back they will be getting a lot closer to crunch time. The fight will be right around the corner, so the focus level will be higher. I will be in Los Angeles with my team to cover the rest of his camp, so keep it hear at Examiner and at 8countnews.com for fresh updates, and interviews with Pacquiao and the rest of the team.
Source: Examiner.com
