WBC Manny Pacquiao vs Antonio Margarito
Arlington, Texas: By the time they step into the ring Saturday night for their super welterweight title showdown at Cowboys Stadium, Antonio Margarito could outweigh Manny Pacquiao by as much as 15-to-20 pounds.
At Friday’s weigh-in, Margarito tipped the scales at 150 pounds, which is the catch weight the fighters agreed to. Pacquiao came in at 144,6 pounds, well under the limit, which caused a buzz among the news media covering the fight because of how low his weight was.
Margarito (38-6, 27 KOs) is expected to re-hydrate to about 162-165 pounds by the start of the fight, which will be televised on HBO pay-per-view starting at 9 p.m. ET. Pacquiao (51-3-2, 38 KOs) doesn’t figure to come in at more than 147 pounds.
Pacquiao has said he does not need the extra weight, and feels better when he’s lighter.
- Manny Pacquiao vs Antonio Margarito.
Antonio Margarito will be facing the hardest test of his career when he takes on the Pound for Pound champion Manny Pacquiao. Manny Pacquiao is looking for an impressive and unbelievable 8th world title, while Antonio Margarito is looking for the biggest win of his career and to reextablish himself as a pound for pound fighter. Training for both boxers is suggested to have gone well and the fight will contain excitement from the first bell to the last. Manny Pacquiao brings the power and speed to the table while Antonio Margarito brings the Heart and aggression.
For victory Antonio Margarito has to land large quantities of punches early on and shock Pacquiao into mistakes resulting in a knock out or keep pressing Pacquiao into the last rounds hoping Pacquiao runs out of gas, Manny Pacquiao needs to impose his tempo on the fight and land shots early on, his movement needs to be crisp and he needs to land shots from angles. Manny Pacquiao’s speed will be his key attribute in this fight, while Margarito’s will be his heart.
Momentum is with Manny Pacquiao who is undoubtedly in the form of his life. He is fighting the best and beating the best convincingly. Antonio Margarito is lucky to get this shot after being caught cheating using illegal hand wraps but luckily the light middleweight division isn’t filled full of exciting boxers that put butts on seats and sell PPV’s on a world stage now that Martinez has left for middleweight. Foreman is injured, Rhodes was overlooked for Margarito and Mundine has an opponent scheduled.
Likelihood is Manny Pacquiao will win by KO.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Lf_DCtyaxY
With his busy schedule while in Japan, President Benigno Aquino III might miss the fight between boxing icon and Sarangani Rep. Emmanuel ‘Manny’ Pacquiao and Antonio Margarito on Sunday (Manila time), a Palace official said.
Deputy presidential spokeswoman Abigail Valte said Aquino, who is in Yokohama for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, has ‘engagements’ on Sunday.
“Sa araw ng Lunes ang araw na pagbalik ni Pangulong Aquino at ng delegasyon … Depende pero sa nakikita ko sa schedule niya, may engagement siya tomorrow,” – she said on government-run dzRB radio.
(Aquino and his delegation are due to return on Monday. Whether he can catch the fight will depend on his schedule but he has an engagement on Sunday.)
On the other hand, Valte reiterated the Palace is confident Pacquiao will prevail in his latest fight.
“We send our sincere prayers and wishes to Congressman Pacquiao. Nasa likod ninyo kami (We support you),” – she said.
Millions of Filipinos are expected to catch the Pacquiao-Margarito bout.