Manny Pacquiao says he does not need a Floyd Mayweather fight to complete his boxing career, Bob Velin of USA TODAY shares.
The Pacman remains focused on his November 13 bout with Antonio Margarito for the WBC light middleweight title.
Had the fight between Pacquiao and Mayweather taken place, it would most likely have been the highest grossing in boxing history with at least $50 million for each fighter.
Read the whole story from USA Today at http://www.usatoday.com/sports/boxing/2010-09-02-manny-pacquiao-antonio-margarito-floyd-mayweather_N.htm
Hall of Fame inductee and legendary trainer, Freddie Roach, is confident of another knockout win for his multi-awarded pupil, Manny Pacquiao.
Pound-for-pound king Pacquiao is set to take on three-time former world champion Antonio Margarito on November 13, 2010, in a showdown of fist power. At stake is the crown for the World Boxing Council’s light middleweight division.
The date was originally set for a mega fight between five-division champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. and the Filipino seven-division champ.
According to a Top Rank interview with Roach, he is confident that Manny will be able to knock Margarito out. Roach highlights Pacquiao’s edge by pointing out Margarito’s poor ring generalship. The 5-foot-6 Pacquiao will duel with the 5-foot-11 Mexican at a catch weight of not more than 150 pounds. Margarito’s statistics show 38-6-27 while Pacquiao’s records boast 51-3-2.
In 2009, Margarito’s license was suspended by the California State Athletic Commission because a foreign substance was found in his hand wraps during his bout with Shane Mosley. He is still prohibited from boxing in the United States. Apparently, our Pacman is as confident of his skills as his coach is, and has no qualms facing his opponent in Mexico, Margarito’s homeland.
The fight odds favor Pacquiao with an 80% chance of victory. But, looking at Margarito’s cheating history, the height and the possible home court advantage; this may just end up as anybody’s game.
House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. has thumbed down the plan of seven division world boxing champion and Sarangani Rep. Manny Pacquiao to train for his upcoming fight inside the Batasan Pambansa Complex.
“No, it’s not a good idea. Sports should be sports. Wag nating ipino-politicize yung sports (Let us not politicize sports),” Belmonte said at a press briefing Thursday.
Belmonte said he is discouraging Pacquiao to hold his training inside the compound as it would draw a lot of kibitzers. “This (Batasan complex) is a political place and people will be coming over to watch him. I don’t think it’s a good idea,” he said.
Pacquiao earlier said he might sleep in his office so he can train for his fight against Mexico’s Antonio Margarito and perform his duties as a lawmaker, including attending early committee hearings.
Pacquiao’s bout with Margarito is set on Nov. 13 in a yet to be announced venue.
Jogging OK, but…
Belmonte, however, said Pacquiao can jog at the House grounds but not on a daily basis.
“I don’t like the grounds of the House to be the focus of some professional fight like that. If he’s going to do it once or twice here purely so we can see him and so forth, that’s OK. But that’s about it,” he said.
He added the House may not have the necessary facilities for Pacquiao’s training.
“It’s unfair to him. This is a big fight. It is not just his name at stake here, it’s everybody of us hoping for his victory. Hindi pwede yung parang pinagsasama niya yung trabaho (He can’t mix both jobs),” he said.
100% support
Still, Belmonte said the chamber is supporting Pacquiao 100 percent.
“I would like to say that we are 100 percent supportive of Congressman Pacquiao and I myself know that he intends to be a real hardworking congressman. He wants to make a difference in the province of Sarangani if not to the country,” he said.
The former Quezon City mayor also said he is impressed with Pacquiao’s performance so far as a lawmaker. “He’s well informed and doing his best. In fact, I praised his first speech which I thought is a very well crafted speech.”
He was referring to Pacquiao’s privilege speech last July 27 highlighting his plans for Sarangani province.
Excused from session
Belmonte said that although he’s not a boxing fan, he intends to watch the Pacquiao-Margarito fight to give moral support to his colleague. He added Pacquiao will be excused from the session once his training begins.
“It doesn’t matter if he’s late or absent for a couple of days. Sabihin niya (He can tell us) he’s doing a patriotic duty,” he said.
He added the other members of the House can watch Pacquiao’s fight as its date falls on a recess. “The period of recess will start a few days before his fight. I’d like to be as supportive of him as possible but without sacrificing the work here.” — KBK/RSJ, GMANews.TV
Former three time welterweight champion Antonio Margarito is training for his long awaited ring return on the March 13 pay-per-view undercard to Manny Pacquiao vs. Joshua Clottey at Cowboys Stadium in Texas. Sitting on the sidelines for nearly a year, Margarito is expected to receive his boxing license in the next couple of days from the Texas Commission.
Margarito’s promoter, Bob Arum of Top Rank, told BoxingScene.com last week that a Pacquiao-Margarito showdown is possible for the summer. Arum said Margarito will need to look very good against his comeback opponent Carson Jones, and Pacquiao has to do his part by beating Clottey.
The “Tijuana Tornado” is very motivated to return. His license was revoked last February after a plaster-like substance was discovered is his handwraps prior to the fight with Shane Mosley on January 24. Margarito really wants the opportunity to fight Pacquiao. He says styles make fights and believes his style will overwhelm Pacquiao.
“The truth is I feel very motivated to get back in a big event, with over 50,000 people in Texas, where a lot of those people will be of Mexican descent,” said Margarito from his training camp in Tijuana to The Record. “I hope to earn that chance against Pacquiao to prove that I am the only one who can beat him.”
In his last fight, Margarito was dominated and knocked out by Shane Mosley. He points to several reasons for the loss, including weight struggles and his body was still feeling the damage of his July 2008 war with Miguel Cotto.
“We complied with the rules of the Commission (California) and did not fight in Mexico as previously assumed. A year without punishment has helped me relax, because after that hard fight with Cotto, I made the mistake of grabbing someone just as hard or even harder in Mosley, and I was not 100% yet.”
“I’ve been training, I just hope to get my license now and focus squarely on the fight that lies ahead. I am eager to return, it’s time for the ‘Tornado’ to return.”
By Scott Heritage Returning former star Antonio Margarito is being quietly brought into discussion as a future opponent for Manny Pacquiao. Formerly the top ranked welterweight, Margarito picked up a loss as well as a one year ban in his last fight where he was found to have loaded gloves against Shane Mosley.
Since then Margarito has been out of the headlines, waiting out his ban and quietly making plans for his return on the under card of the Pacquiao vs. Clottey card in March.
At a less eventful time in boxing Margarito’s return might have created a lot more of a fuss, and many might have been calling for him not to regain his license.
With the Pacquiao-Mayweather debacle and subsequent fights being made, Cowboys stadium being used as a venue, not to mention the numerous other stars at or around welterweight, Margarito looks to have slipped under the radar with his return.
It now looks like if successful in his return bout against Carson Jones, Margarito might be in line for a crack at the 7 weight wonder himself.
Some will no doubt question as to whether Margarito should take a year off and then be handed the biggest pay day in the entire sport so quickly, but this is probably only a plan B from Top Rank top dog Bob ‘big boss’ Arum (try saying that one fast).
The most obvious target for Pacquiao after Clottey, assuming all goes to plan, will be either Floyd Mayweather of Shane Mosley. Either because the pair may or may not fight, and obviously the winner would then be the bigger target.
If they don’t meet, then Mayweather remains the bigger draw of the two, but also the most difficult to deal with. If the fight can’t be made for a second time with Floyd, and by that point Mosley already has another fight lined up (perhaps the Andre Berto fight remade), then Margarito will be waiting in the wings for Arum to use.
Margarito holds several obvious advantages for Pacquiao to face rather than trying to make fights with some of the other stars of the division. Firstly, like Clottey he’s promoted by Top Rank meaning the terms of the deal should be a lot easier to make than with for example a Golden Boy fighter.
Secondly Margarito’s imposed year away from the sport might have left him with a lot of ring rust or even have let his abilities decline permanently if he hasn’t stayed in good practice.
All respect due to Carson Jones, he’s an easy fight for Margarito, and just the kind of fighter even a severely declined Margarito can look good against.
Although he is something of a persona non-grata in the division and rankings at the moment, history will look back on Pacquiao fighting Margarito as the Philippines phenom taking on yet another top fighter.Even if the fight itself is rather anticlimactic with Pacquiao sweeping aside another Mexican great custom built for him to beat.
As good as Margarito has been and might still be, hes nothing if not predictable, and plays right into Pacquiao’s biggest strengths. Other than having a substantial height advantage which he doesn’t tend to use well, Margarito is exactly the kind of aggressive fighter Pacquiao can pick apart with his power, speed and precision.
