Pacquiao is WBO year’s best boxer

MANILA—The World Boxing Organization named pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao “Fighter of the Year” at the gala closing of its 23rd Annual Convention in Hotel Caribe in Cartegena, Colombia.

Pacquiao couldn’t attend the ceremony since he was training at the Wild Card Gym in Los Angeles for his Nov. 13 showdown against Antonio Margarito at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

The Filipino champion was earlier named “Fighter of the Decade” by the prestigious Boxing Writers Association of America.

Pacquiao received another accolade even as he flew to Las Vegas Friday to boost the campaign of a close friend by his promoter Bob Arum.

He is featured on the cover of the Nov. 1, 2010 American Way magazine which will be placed on thousands of seats aboard American Airlines flights in the US and around the world.

Pacquiao flew to Las Vegas immediately after his workout Friday aboard a private plane with Arum to formally endorse US Senate majority leader, Democrat Harry Reid at a “Get Out the Early Vote” rally at Orr Middle School in Las Vegas.

Meanwhile, “Marvelous” Marvin Sonsona is back in the gym after an eight-month absence following his fourth-round knockout loss to Wilfredo Vazquez Jr. of Puerto Rico in a WBO super bantamweight title fight on February 27 this year.

Sonsona, who won the WBO super flyweight crown with an impressive twelve-round decision over Jose “Carita” Lopez at Casino Rama in Canada last year, lost the title when he failed to make the weight in his first defense against journeyman Alejandro Hernandez in a fight which ended in a draw.

Sonsona moved up two divisions in weight to face Vazquez in his very next fight and suffered a stinging setback.

His manager, Dr. Rajan Yraola, had a fight lined up for Sonsona in November but after training for a week he reportedly left for his hometown of General Santos City to celebrate his birthday and failed to return—forcing his manager to call off the fight.

However, Yraola told the Inquirer that Sonsona has returned and has been training religiously over the past two weeks and sparred for the first time on Friday.

His manager said the 20-year-old southpaw went four rounds with Vicente Palicte, who recently lost in a WBO Oriental super flyweight title fight to Mark John Apolinario, and his absence from the ring showed.

However, Sonsona showed flashes of the speed and power that helped him score a spectacular second-round TKO over former world interim champion Wandee Singwancha on May 28, 2009 to earn the world title shot against Lopez.

Dr. Yraola said he is hoping to pit Sonsona against tough Heriberto Ruiz, who scored a unanimous eight round decision over Rey “Boom Boom” Bautista in 2008.

Source: inquirer.net

Antonio Margarito's Manager Lashes Out at Manny Pacquiao's Trainer

Elie Seckbach, the Embedded Correspondent, brings his exclusive video reporting to FanHouse. Check back regularly for more videos.

Francisco Espinosa is the co-manager of Antonio Margarito (38-6, 27 knockouts), who is training at the Robert Garcia Boxing Academy in Oxnard, Calif.,for a Nov. 13, HBO pay-per-view televised, Top Rank Promotions battle opposite WBO welterweight (147 pounds) king Manny Pacquiao (51-3-2, 38 KOs).

Pacquiao takes a 12-fight winning streak that includes eight KOs into his bout in pursuit of the WBC's junior middleweight (154 pounds) title.

Pacquiao is in pursuit of an eighth title in as many different weight divisions, and is trained by Freddie Roach, a man who has accused Margarito of knowingly competing in several fights with an illegal, plaster-like substance in the hand wraps beneath his gloves.

In this video, Espinosa says, "Should we start talking about anti-doping," among other things, in regard to Pacquiao during his angry response to Roach's most recent assertions.



Source: boxing.fanhouse.com

Margarito padwork raw footage

“The Tijuana Tornado” demonstrates what Manny Pacquiao will face when they meet on November 13 as he works the pads with trainer Robert Garcia at the Fortune Gym in Hollywood, California.



Source: fightnews.com

Manny Pacquiao makes a pit stop in Las Vegas to show support in electoral rally

Las Vegas must have the feel of a second home to Manny Pacquiao. Ever since his debut in the city in June of 2001 when he trashed Lehlo Ledwaba to capture the IBF super bantamweight championship, people in the area have become accustomed to his tenacious style in the ring. The MGM Grand in particular has captured several of his telling moments as he rose up in weight to defeat a slew of formidable foes in recent years.

Even so, it was a little out of the ordinary to hear that Pacquiao would be taking a break from training and paying a visit to Las Vegas on Friday night to show support to his promoter Bob Arum’s good friend and Senator Harry Reid at a rally inside of Orr Middle School on the East side of town. Pacquiao reportedly left after another day of training with Coach Freddie Roach at the Wild Card Gym in Los Angeles earlier today and will likely resume training tomorrow.

<--- Slideshow: Manny Pacquiao makes a pit stop in Las Vegas

Reid is in a close race with opponent Sharon Angle and could be in danger of losing the election. Arum, who is close with Reid, felt that Pacquiao’s presence at the rally would help garner his friend the victory. The ploy obviously seemed to work as the turnout for the event was impressive. Pacquiao also shared his thoughts on the race between Reid and Angle.

"Senator Reid has been a great leader in the Senate,” Pacquiao claimed. “He works hard and has a good heart. I think it's important that Nevadans re-elect him."

While the Reid and Angle duel will likely be a race to the finish, Pacquiao has a battle of his own to focus on as he will be meeting Antonio Margarito in two weeks at the Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas. Some felt that it was a bad move from Pacquiao to break camp in the midst of training and it doesn’t help that he reportedly had a shaky first leg of his camp overseas in Baguio City in the Philippines.

Pacquiao and Margarito both participated in open media workouts earlier this week and each man appears to be in tremendous shape. Pacquiao’s fluidity and speed was in full effect while Margarito made a great impression when he showed off his power as he hit the mitts with trainer Robert Garcia.

Source: Examiner.com

Margarito camp focused primed and ready

During my two day stay at the Margarito camp I quickly realized that they are primed and ready to go. The focus inside of the ring was evident, and the relaxed and calm atmosphere outside of the ring stood out as well. The first day that I was there the mood in the gym was playful yet focused, especially inside of the ring. Tony Margarito showed up around 1PM and following him into the gym were a few HBO 24/7 camera guys. The former champ looked relaxed and smiled big as he entered the room. He approached each person in the gym and shook their hand, he didn't miss one person, including me.

The entire team seems focused, and all of them are very confident that their guy will come out on top. Margarito sparring partner Brandon Rios, the life of the party, gives the gym a fun jump start. He's a fun loving guy that likes to joke, but inside of the ring he's giving Margarito some very good work. Margarito sparred 3 different guys the first day, and as each sparring partner entered the ring, he got stronger and stronger. The former champ looked good, really good.

Margarito trainer Roberto Garcia when asked if Tony was ready for the biggest fight of his life, he smiled and said, "He's very ready. We have worked hard and on November 13th, Manny Pacquiao will have his hands full." Garcia is very confident and even predicted that Tony would stop Manny Pacquiao, "I don't normally make predictions, but for this fight I believe that Margarito will knockout Manny Pacquiao by the 11th round." I don't know if Margarito will win this fight, but I do know that he will show up on November 13th ready to go.

The former world champion just wants to put the hand-wrap situation behind him. He wants to move on and continue with his boxing career, and a win over Manny Pacquiao would certainly help. Tony firmly believes that he will win this fight, and his team is 100 percent behind him in that thinking. They do not go into this fight feeling like underdogs, they are only looking at a victory and nothing else.

Source: 8countnews.com

Pacquiao denies retirement rumors, will fight on after Margarito

Despite reports from Freddie Roach that training has not been going well until very recently, and that his mind is not properly focused on the fight, the consensus from Manny Pacquiao's recent media day was that he is looking back to his best and ready for his November showdown with Antonio Margarito.

Throughout his training camps, both in Baguio City and now in Los Angeles at the Wild Card gym, there have been mixed and often conflicting reports as to how well the training is going. Even yesterday for example there are reports both that Pacquiao broke the nose of one of his sparring mates and that he was badly stunned by WBA light welterweight champion Amir Khan, forcing the sparring to be stopped while he recovered.

So clearly, just how well things are going is not always easy to ascertain. Pacquiao's team are likely in favor of letting disinformation and rumor slip out from time to time, if only to boost the pay per view sales of his upcoming bout. If something were seriously wrong, it seems more likely that his trainers and promoter would be trying to keep it under wraps.

As a result of his supposed lack of focus, it was also widely reported that Pacquiao could be nearing retirement, further fueled by statements from Roach to the BBC in which he stated that boxing would lose the (currently) 7 weight champion to politics in the near future.

In a recent interview with my Examiner colleague Michael Marley though, Pacquiao himself stated plainly that he isn't thinking of retirement right now, which will no doubt come as welcome news to many fans. When asked about the rumors, Pacquiao's exact answer was:

“I'm not thinking of retirement now. I can fight a few more fights.”

The full interview can be found here: Manny Pacquiao reveals: I am praying for Floyd Mayweather Jr.

That being the case, and so long as he gets past Antonio Margarito next month, there are several fighters that Pacquiao could face in the new year.

The most obvious and desirable choice for all concerned is of course Floyd Mayweather, although that particular fight has always had its problems. From disagreements over the drug testing regime to be used to Floyd and uncle Roger's recent and continuing legal troubles it still isn't entirely clear even when and if Floyd will fight again.

Aside from Floyd, several names have been mentioned, but most have some way to go in making their cases for taking on the pound for pound king. Shane Mosley for example is coming from a loss and a lackluster draw in his last two, Andre Berto has been inactive and despite network backing is still not a big name amongst casual fans. Paul Williams is another name mentioned by some, although Bob Arum has voiced his doubts in that case already, and the height difference would likely represent to much of a risk for the comparatively diminutive Pacquiao.

Without any obvious opponent choice, where he goes from here isn't clear at this stage. A third fight with Juan Manuel Marquez or second encounter with Miguel Cotto are also choices, although without big performances from both in the coming months, would perhaps be difficult to justify.

Sean Spencer, Pitt: "Pac's next opponent will be either Floyd or Cotto, and seen as the first one won't happen it will be Cotto because he's Top Rank"

Harry Cross, Liverpool: "Floyd can make just as much money and have an easier fight against Khan, why would he even want to go near Pacquiao after all the problems they had the first two times?"

Source: Examiner.com

Margarito to struggle at scales?

MANILA, Philippines - Even as trainer Robert Garcia insists that Antonio Margarito will easily make the “catchweight” limit of 151 pounds, it appears the Tijuana Tornado may find it difficult when he finally tests the scales the day before his Nov. 13 appointment with Manny Pacquiao at the Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

GMA News’ Chino Trinidad, reporting from Los Angeles, paid Margarito a visit in his training camp the other day and noticed the Mexican looked pale as if dehydrated from drastically taking off pounds. Margarito was observed to be out of breath in between rounds during his workout.

Trinidad estimated Margarito’s weight to be about 158 pounds. If his walking or natural weight is 160, it will be a struggle for the Mexican to make 151 in two weeks. In contrast, Pacquiao is eating heartily while maintaining about 148 and won’t have difficulty scaling within 151.

Pacquiao and Margarito are disputing the vacant WBC superwelterweight title in their 12-round bout. The limit in the superwelterweight or junior middleweight division is 154 pounds. But Pacquiao, the reigning WBO welterweight or 147-pound champion, and Margarito agreed to fight at a “catchweight” limit of 151.

“Catchweight” is a term used in setting a “compromise” limit or a “middle ground” for a championship fight where the protagonists straddle between two weight categories. In the Pacquiao-Margarito case, a “catchweight” of 151 was set as a compromise between welterweight and superwelterweight.

It won’t be a first for Pacquiao to fight at a “catchweight” limit. In November last year, he battled Miguel Cotto for the WBO welterweight crown at a “catchweight” limit of 145 although the division has a cap of 147. Pacquiao halted Cotto in the 12th round.

When Pacquiao took on Oscar de la Hoya in December 2008, they agreed to face off at the welterweight limit of 147. De la Hoya’s walking weight was much more but he punished himself in the gym to make the limit and overdid it by scaling 145. A source from Pacquiao’s corner swore that De la Hoya entered the ring with I.V. marks on his arm, indicating an infusion to counter dehydration. De la Hoya failed to answer the bell for the ninth round as Pacquiao won by technical knockout.

Pacquiao’s gamble is Margarito will be severely drained trying to make 151. De la Hoya and Cotto burned themselves out shedding weight to fight Pacquiao and paid dearly for it.

Margarito, 32, weighed 154 pounds for his fight against Roberto Garcia in Mexico last May. In his previous bout 16 months before, he scaled 145 3/4 in losing to Sugar Shane Mosley. The heaviest he ever weighed for a fight was 157 in halting Efrain Muñoz in California in 1999 when Pacquiao moved up from flyweight (112 pounds) to superbantamweight (122). In all, Margarito has scaled over 151 pounds in four fights.

Pacquiao, 31, was at his heaviest when he tipped the scales at 145 3/4 for the Joshua Clottey bout last March. He turned pro weighing 106 pounds in 1995 and gradually grew into a flyweight (112), superbantamweight (122), featherweight (126), superfeatherweight (130), lightweight (135), lightwelterweight (140), welterweight (147) and now superwelterweight (154). Pacquiao could’ve annexed two more titles as a superflyweight (115) and bantamweight (118) but chose to jump from flyweight to superbantamweight. With two more titles, Pacquiao would now be chasing a 10th championship in 10 divisions instead of an eighth.

Pacquiao has fought only thrice weighing over 140 pounds – 142 against De la Hoya, 144 against Cotto and 145 3/4 against Clottey. For the Margarito fight, he is expected to scale less than 150. Margarito may enter the ring weighing as much as 165.

Margarito attempted to win the WBO superwelterweight crown in 2004 but lost to Daniel Santos on a 10th round split technical decision. As a WBO welterweight titlist, he turned back seven challengers in a row.

Pacquiao’s ability to retain his speed and elevate his power moving from one division to another is phenomenal. Nobody in boxing history has been able to do what he has done. Weight has not been a problem for Pacquiao since he gave up the WBC flyweight title on the scales in 1999. Trainer Freddie Roach knows what is Pacquiao’s optimal fighting weight and when up against a bigger opponent, sets a “catchweight” limit to even matters.

At this point in Pacquiao’s career, he is probably in his peak at welterweight. Moving up to superwelterweight may mean biting more than he can chew. But with the “catchweight” limit as the equalizer, Pacquiao is confident of beating Margarito for the WBC 154-pound crown.

The burden of proof is on Margarito to show he can make 151 easily and fight Pacquiao without taking a step back or losing steam. If Margarito answers the first bell in tip-top condition, Pacquiao may be in for more trouble than he expects.

Source: philstar.com