Roach says Manny getting better; Arum unconvinced

BAGUIO CITY—Trainer Freddie Roach said Manny Pacquiao is getting better. But don’t tell that to the pound-for-pound king’s promoter Bob Arum.

Roach made the assessment after Pacquiao put up an energetic show yesterday in his workout filmed by a crew from HBO and the country’s major TV networks.

Showing flashes of the Pacquiao of old in training, the Filipino champ went through extra rounds shadow boxing, working with the mitts and blasting the speed balls at the Cooseeyan Sports Complex gym.

Pleased with Pacquiao’s overall performance, Roach said his prized fighter is getting “better and better” in his buildup for next month’s title fight against Antonio Margarito in Arlington, Texas.

But Arum was unconvinced.

“When I saw him train last Saturday, I didn’t see the kind of speed that he would need to beat (Antonio) Margarito,” the 78-year-old Arum told sportswriters yesterday.

“If the fight happened that Saturday, Margarito would win the fight.”

The promoter non pareil said he believes, though, that Pacquiao will be 100 percent ready on Nov. 13, when he fights Margarito for the WBC superwelterweight crown at the Cowboys Stadium.

“He has plenty of time to get into shape and be the old Manny Pacquiao again,” Arum said. “And if he’s the old Manny Pacquiao, he’s too fast and too talented to get beat by Margarito.”

To regain his old, deadly form, Arum said Pacquiao must train harder for the fight.

“He’s skillful and he has a lot of attributes, but without the hard work it’s not gonna be there,” the promoter said.

Also on hand to watch Pacquiao’s 30-round workout were his wife, Jinkee, and Zyrene Parsad, who has been chosen to sing the national anthem in Texas.

Earlier in the morning, Pacquiao spent more than an hour jogging up and down hills near Teachers Camp, interspersed with sprints and lateral runs designed to further improve his footwork.

Conditioning expert Alex Ariza said Pacquiao is peaking at the right time and is where he needs to be at this stage of training.

Later in the afternoon, heavy rains and howling winds brought by supertyphoon Juan battered this city, causing fluctuating current and signal disruptions.

Team Pacquiao is set to go down to Manila on Wednesday and leave for Los Angeles, where he is slated to complete his preparations for Margarito at Roach’s Wild Card Gym, on Saturday. Photo by Mark Giongco

Source: inquirer.net

Manny Pacquiao Too Slow for Beating Antonio Margarito Right Now

The Antonio Margarito vs. Manny Pacquiao fight due to take place on Nov. 13 is starting to look like Margarito may have a chance at the win.

Promoter Bob Arum went to Baguio City to monitor the training of Manny Pacquiao, and he did not like what he saw. According to the Business Insight Sports, "Arum
sounded the alarm bells."

Though Pacquiao is the reported favorite to win this match, according to the LA Times, according to Arum, this might not be as cut and dry as once thought.

Arum said, "The old (Manny Pacquiao) is too fast, too talented to get beaten by Margarito. But this (Manny Pacquiao) is not going to be enough.

"Pacquiao is a seven -weight division champion and if he wins the Margarito fight, he will ad the WBC title to his career and be the first fighter to ever win eight divisions," according to Business Insight.

Pacquiao has a lot riding on this fight, but so does his opponent Margarito. Margarito struck a deal with his sponsor that if he does not win this fight, he will get nothing. His five-figure paycheck only comes to him if he wins.

The non-traditional sponsorship deal was made by Margarito after he was left without a sponsor and the prospects of getting one were looking slim. Plaster was discovered in Margarito's gloves prior to the Shane Mosley fight last year, leaving Margarito not the best bet for someone to sponsor.

Margarito went back to his old sponsor and offered that a deal that was hard for the Affliction punk rock clothes company to pass up, according to the LA times. Margartito will get a five-figure pay check only if he wins this fight. If he loses, the people at Affliction owe him nothing.

Both these boxers have an enormous amount riding on a win for this match. Pacquiao will become the first fighter in history to win eight division titles and go down in the books as a first for the collection of titles he has won.

Margarito will not get one cent unless he wins this match. This boxing match has many more personal reasons at stake than most matches do, making the behind-the-scene stakes just as exciting as winning the prize.

Source: associatedcontent.com

Manny Pacquiao ‘ready for war, 100 percent’

BAGUIO CITY: Super Typhoon Juan was already here but Filipino ring icon and Rep. Manny Pacquiao of Sarangani defied a rainy Monday morning by continuing his usual training and conditioning routines.

Pacquiao went immediately to the Teachers’ Camp training grounds along with conditioning coach Alex Ariza, sparring mate World Boxing Association junior welterweight champion Amir Khan and Buboy Fernandez, among others.

“I’m 100 percent ready,” Pacquiao (51-3-2 win-loss-draw with 38 knockouts) told reporters after a one-and-a-half hour of training that began at 7:30 a.m. “The public has nothing to worry about since I’m feeling very good.”

Ariza, who supervised Pacquiao’s speed training, stamina building and footwork drills, attested to the latest condition of the “People’s Champ,” saying that he was happy with the results of their preparations for the Filipino boxing superstar’s fight with Antonio Margarito on November 13.

“Do you think he’s going to melt? Well I don’t think so,” he told The Manila Times when asked about the current situation of his “trainee” under the rain. “Manny will peak at the exact time of his fight against Antonio Margarito with the way I see it.”

Ariza, who is also confident that cold and fever are not threats to Pacquiao because of the rainy weather, has a bit of worry concerning pain on
Pacquiao’s lower back the past few days that affected his speed.

But the 31-year-old Pacquiao said, “There’s nothing to worry about it, I’m in control.”

Pacquiao guns for eighth world title against Margarito for the World Boxing Council junior middleweight belt.

Ariza believed that Margarito, a Mexican-American, would not be able to keep up with Pacquiao’s pace and movements.

“Everything is absolutely 100 percent [with Pacquiao],” he said.

“We’re behind for a while [in training] but today we’re back to where we want to be,” Ariza added.

Before the Pacquiao-Margarito bout takes place in Dallas Cowboys Stadium in Texas, he said, he was hoping that Pacquiao’s weight would be 150 pounds to make it easy for him to make the 151-lbs catch weight.

Pacquiao’s current weight right is 148lbs.

Ariza said that he was doing everything to make Pacquiao gain weight without sacrificing his trainee’s superb speed.

The cat-quick Khan is expected to spar with Pacquiao for the first time on Tuesday for the Filipino icon to improve his speed.

Source: manilatimes.net

Pacquiao getting sharper, says coach, but promoter wants more

BAGUIO CITY, Philippines — Trainer Freddie Roach said Manny Pacquiao has been getting better. But don’t tell that to the pound-for-pound king’s promoter Bob Arum.

Roach made the assessment after Pacquiao put up an energetic show on Monday in his workout filmed by a crew from HBO and the country’s major TV networks.

Showing flashes of the Pacquiao of old in training, the Filipino champ went through extra rounds shadow boxing, working with the mitts and blasting the speed balls at the Cooseeyan Sports Complex gym.

Pleased with Pacquiao’s overall performance, Roach said his prized fighter has been getting “better and better” in his buildup for next month’s title fight against Antonio Margarito in Arlington, Texas.

But Arum was unconvinced.

“When I saw him train last Saturday, I didn’t see the kind of speed that he would need to beat (Antonio) Margarito,” the 78-year-old Arum told sportswriters on Monday.

“If the fight happened that Saturday, Margarito would win the fight.”

The promoter non pareil said he believed, though, that Pacquiao would be 100 percent ready on November 13, the day of his fight with Margarito for the WBC superwelterweight crown at the Cowboys Stadium.

“He has plenty of time to get into shape and be the old Manny Pacquiao again,” Arum said. “And if he’s the old Manny Pacquiao, he’s too fast and too talented to get beat by Margarito.”

To regain his old, deadly form, Arum said Pacquiao must train harder for the fight.

“He’s skillful and he has a lot of attributes, but without the hard work, it’s not gonna be there,” the promoter said.

Also on hand to watch Pacquiao’s 30-round workout were his wife, Jinkee, and Zyrene Parsad, who has been chosen to sing the national anthem in Texas.

Earlier in the morning, Pacquiao spent more than an hour jogging up and down hills near Teachers Camp, interspersed with sprints and lateral runs designed to further improve his footwork.

Conditioning expert Alex Ariza said Pacquiao was peaking at the right time and was where he needed to be at this stage of training.

Later in the afternoon, heavy rains and howling winds brought by super-typhoon Juan battered this city, causing fluctuating current and signal disruptions.

Team Pacquiao is set to go down to Manila on Wednesday and leave for Los Angeles, where he is slated to complete his preparations for Margarito at Roach’s Wild Card Gym, on Saturday.

Source: sports.inquirer.net

Margarito Sparmates Issue Warning

MANILA, Philippines — The four sparring partners of Antonio Margarito have a message to Manny Pacquiao: Margarito can be hazardous to Pacquiao’s health.

A month before Pacquiao and Margarito get it on at Cowboys Stadium in Dallas, Cleotis Pendarvis, Ricardo Williams, Austin Tour and KC Martinez intimated to the on-line edition of The Ring magazine that Margarito poses serious risks to the Filipino pound-for-pound king.

“He’s definitely not (a) shot (fighter),” said Pendarvis, who has a 10-3-2 record with four KOs, after sparring with Margarito

in Oxnard, California, site of Margarito’s training camp.

“If he was shot, he wouldn’t have been able to do what he did today. He did 10 rounds with four talented young sparring partners. We’re not old journeymen that he can beat up on. We can fight,” said Pendarvis, who also once helped Oscar De La Hoya and Ricky Hatton in their own preparation for Pacquiao.

Williams, a 2000 Sydney Olympics silver medalist, was awed by Margarito’s ability to take a shot.

“He takes a good shot,” said Williams, who has a 16-2 card with nine KOs.

Even the fast-rising Trout, who packs a 21-0 mark with 13 KOs, has seen tremendous inroads in Margarito’s skills.

Having spared with Margarito two years ago, Trout said Margarito has learned how to pick his punches, a trait that is likely to work wonders against somebody as accomplished and gifted like Pacquiao.

But just about everyone sang the same tune when asked about the vaunted pressure that Margarito applies during a fight.

“You start to feel it by the second round. It’s real,” said Trout.

Pendarvis was blunt in his assessment.

“With Margarito you feel the pressure from the first round because he throws eight shots in one combination.”

Williams felt it the moment “he gets you with a good body shot.”

But Pendarvis, who claimed they were told to take it east against De La Hoya and Hatton during training camp, summed it all up.

Source: mb.com.ph

Arum: Margarito poses very unique dangers

MANILA, Philippines - Boxing promoter Bob Arum said Saturday that Filipino boxing icon Manny Pacquiao should step up his training to dodge the "very, very unique dangers" posed by Tijuana's tornado, Antonio Margarito.

"He better step up his training because this guy (Margarito) poses very, very unique dangers," Arum said as soon as he arrived in Manila on Saturday morning.

Arum, who was scheduled to watch Pacquiao's sparring session on Saturday afternoon, said that Margarito is currently in "tremendous shape" and he expects the Tijuana Tornado to push himself to the edge during the last stages of his training for the November 13 super welterweight fight in Texas.

"If you are Margarito and this had happened to you. You've been suspended in boxing for a relatively long time and now you get the opportunity to be in this world stage, you're gonna kill yourself to prepare," the boxing promoter said.

Arum added: "He is in the best shape I have ever seen. He would be a big danger for any welterweight in the world."

However, the boxing promoter said that despite Margarito's current condition, he still believes that Pacquiao's speed and punching power will prevail during the fight.

"Pacquiao is something special. No matter how big they are, Manny Pacquiao can handle them," Arum said. "Manny has to be able to utilize that incredible speed that he has together with his ability to punch with two hands." – Report from Dyan Castillejo, ABS-CBN News

Source: ABS-CBNNews.com

Antonio Margarito's Motivation

Antonio Margarito is at a crossroads of his career. Disgraced, banished and for the most part forgotten, the once violent force people knew as the 'The Tijuana Tornado' was reduced to a whimper after his devastating loss to Shane Mosley in January of 2009, and even more devastating year-long suspension from boxing after getting caught with illegal handwraps. Let's be honest here; Margarito wouldn't have been tapped to fight Manny Pacquiao on November 13 if he weren't a Top Rank fighter.

Consider this Bob Arum's biggest daylight robbery in recent memory. But hey, from a business standpoint, you got to give it to Arum for pulling this one off. He's getting all he could get out of a fallen stock and ironically, as much as we all know this isn't the best match-up Arum and crew could've gotten Manny Pacquiao, this might very well end up as the highest selling fight of the year. Call it savvy. Call yourself suckers. But you can also credit Pacquiao's history of providing action-packed and entertaining fights as well and Margarito's come-forward-warrior-like-fighting-style that has endeared him to Mexican fans and boxing fans in general as he's provided wars every time he steps in the boxing ring.

CHECK OUT EPISODE 2 OF MY FILIPINO SPORTS WEB SHOW "STRAIGHT FROM DSOURCE" (click here)

If Margarito's 6-1 betting underdog status isn't enough to indicate how the public perceives his title fight against Pacquiao will go, only thing anyone has to do is research the early returns from boxing experts regarding their predictions for this fight. If I may cut to the chase, nobody truly believes Margarito will beat Pacquiao. Moreso, a lot of people expect the 'Pound for Pound King' to knockout Margarito or batter him in a 12-round unanimous decision win.

When Pacquiao's trainer Freddie Roach told Max Kellerman during his Face-off segment on HBO that he thinks Pacquiao will knock Margarito out in under 8 rounds, Margarito responded with an annoyed grin and looked to his corner man Roberto Garcia and uttered, "What does he see me, crippled or something?" Uhmm, I guess more like a proverbial piñata. Roach shot back saying he based his statement on seeing how Margarito fought in his last couple of fights. The consensus belief is that Margarito is a prodding and flat-footed target for the lighting fast Pacquiao all night long.

A lot of boxing fans assume and believe that Margarito has been using loaded wraps prior to fighting Shane Mosley and without them, he is simply a regular puncher. In his last fight against Roberto Garcia in Mexico last May, Margarito was only able to squeeze a 10-round UD after coming off sensational KO and TKO wins over Kermit Cintron and Miguel Cotto prior to losing to Mosley. At the time, Margarito was ranked anywhere from #3 to #5 in most publications' top pound for pound boxer list. Today, most boxing fans just want to see him get beat up in a poetic justice type of manner, and who better to do that than the sport's biggest and most likeable protagonist in Pacquiao?

Source: Examiner.com