Pacquiao needs to fight smart vs Margarito -- Roach

BAGUIO CITY – Unlike the last time when he was virtually untouched against Joshua Clottey, Manny Pacquiao should know only too well that he has to fight smart against an opponent of the caliber of Antonio Margarito.

Conscious of the Mexican’s noted punching prowess, trainer Freddie Roach has reminded the Filipino world boxing champion to constantly move inside the ring and not allow himself to be caught with the solid 1-2 punches Margarito has been known for.

For 13 tough rounds over the mitts on Friday, Roach emphasized the importance of not allowing himself to stay in front of the 5-foot-11 Mexican or even get cornered on the ropes.

“Don’t stay in front of him because he will hit you," Roach hollered during the weekend training at the Cooyesan hotel here.

Pacquiao had the luxury of staying on his feet when he fought Clottey the last time at the Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas where his Nov. 13 title bout with Margarito will also be held. After all, the 31-year-old challenger from Ghana hardly threw any punches, content with covering his face with both hands.

But it won't be the same with Margarito.

“Don’t take two punches in order to land three," Roach reminded Pacquiao when the world’s top pound-for-pound fighter got a little lax during one stretch of their mitts session.

For 12 straight rounds, Roach and Pacquiao went through a furious mitts session, taking only a break prior to the 13th and last round.

“Move, move away," Roach told Pacquiao.

The 31-year-old Filipino ring idol is expected to spar for the second time in training camp today, probably against Michael Medina after going four rounds with Glen Tapia Thursday.

Roach initially liked what he saw.

“He’s not yet 100 percent obviously, but his rhythm is already there," said the four-time Trainer of the Year.

But Tapia, a native of Dominican Republic and now based in New Jersey, also did well in his first sparring session with the world’s best boxer today.

“Glen did better than I expected," said Medina, who bought two large boxes of pizza as his way of acknowledging the job well done by his buddy.

"I had cheese, while Glen had pepperoni," he added. - KY/RCJ, GMANews.TV

Source: gmanews.tv

Antonio Margarito will quit - Freedie Roach

MANILA, Philippines - Freddie Roach won’t be surprised if Antonio Margarito goes down as fast, as hard like Ricky Hatton.

“That’s what I’m thinking about,” said the certified champion maker yesterday as he sat by the edge of the ring.

Roach arrived at the Elorde Gym more than an hour ahead of Manny Pacquiao who later on put on a two-hour show as the gym was packed with fans, friends and members of the media.

Roach thinks Margarito won’t be able to take it if he is caught with the same punch that left Hatton in a trance after taking a solid left from Pacquiao in the second round of their 2008 showdown.

“If we catch him, that happens,” said Roach.

The American who once trained Mike Tyson said he’s not losing sleep over the Nov. 13 fight with Margarito for the vacant WBC super-welterweight crown at the Cowboys Stadium.

He said he never had, since the fight was sealed more than a month ago, and never will.

“The thing is I’m not worried about this guy. I’m not losing sleep over Margarito,” said Roach of the 5-foot-11 Mexican who once was probably one of the most feared boxers in the welterweight class.

Roach, however, wouldn’t listen to that, saying Margarito was never exceptional.

“He’s so slow. They better improve on something. But I can’t say this is an easy fight. I don’t want Manny to think that way,” he said.

Margarito is coming off a one-year suspension for illegal hand wraps in his fight against Shane Mosley very early last year, a fight where he was knocked out in the ninth round like he’d never fight again.

But he did, and last May he defeated Robert Garcia, whom Roach described as “a nice kid who can’t really fight.”



“I don’t know. But I don’t want to kill the fight until we blow him (Margarito) away,” said Roach.

“The thing is, once you quit, it’s easier to quit the second time,” he added, thinking of Erik Morales who quit in the 10th round of his second fight and in the third round of his third fight with Pacquiao.

“In your life you pray it (quitting) would never happen. But when that happens, it’s much easier to quit the second time,” said Roach

This is not part of a psywar, he assured.

“I can tell this to his face: I bet you will quit,” said Roach.

Moments later, Pacquiao came in, and soon after, Roach was up in the ring.

Poor techniques will beat Margarito - Roach

MANILA, Philippines – After carefully studying Antonio Margarito’s fight tapes, trainer Freddie Roach pointed to poor fundamentals as a major drawback in the Mexican roughhouser’s style and said the other day his lack of ring generalship will make it easy for Manny Pacquiao to score a knockout in their 12-round bout for the WBC superwelterweight title at the Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, on Nov. 13.

“Margarito has no control of the ring,” noted Roach. “He has little foot movement. He doesn’t cut the ring off. Instead, he follows his opponent around. I don’t see sound fundamentals. His strong point is a good chin, a better chin than Ricky Hatton. But he quits - something he showed in the Sugar Shane Mosley fight.”

What makes Margarito dangerous is he’s got nothing to lose and everything to gain. And he’s desperate to straighten out his career tainted by a suspension stemming from a finding that his handwraps contained traces of sulfur and calcium to form a hardened plaster in the dressing room before the Mosley fight in January last year.

“If he wins (over Pacquiao), all of a sudden, he’s up there,” said Roach. “I think he got away with just a slap on the wrist for his loaded handwraps. The sentence was kind to him. Of course, he knew his handwraps were loaded. How could anyone not know he’s weighed down by a brick? Luis Resto and Panama Lewis served three years in prison and were banned for life when it was proved they conspired to pad handwraps in the Billy Collins fight. I’m assuming Margarito used loaded handwraps when he knocked out Miguel Cotto. Margarito came back from his suspension last May and is now fighting Manny - that’s getting off lightly.”

Because Margarito is known for his dirty tricks, Roach said it wouldn’t be smart for Pacquiao to stay on the ropes and invite the Mexican to bang away. Pacquiao used the rope-a-dope trick on Cotto who took the bait, abandoned his left jab and bore in only to absorb a brutal beating en route to a 12th round technical knockout loss in Las Vegas last year.

“Margarito’s an in between a Cotto and an Oscar de la Hoya,” said Roach. “Manny won’t fight him like he did Cotto. Margarito’s a dirty fighter. He’ll do whatever he can to win. He’ll throw low blows, butt and elbow. Manny’s watched tape, too. We compared notes about his habits and we observed the same things. We’ve talked about our gameplan and we’ll develop it as we go along in training camp.”

Roach said he has nothing against Margarito but didn’t appreciate his comments about Pacquiao during a recent press conference in Dallas.

“He likened his handwraps issue with (Floyd) Mayweather’s accusation of Manny taking performance enhancing drugs,” said Roach. “Wait a minute. Margarito got caught. Manny was accused but nothing was substantiated because he doesn’t do drugs. There’s a big difference between his issue and Manny’s. When I mentioned the Tijuana Tornado would get downgraded to a tropical storm, he stared me down.”

Roach said Margarito’s 4 1/2- inch height advantage doesn’t worry him.

“Size doesn’t win fights,” he explained. “Speed kills and Manny’s just too fast for Margarito. It’s easier to bring down a bigger guy than a smaller guy or someone who’s your size. Margarito’s not a mover. Besides, we still don’t really know if he can punch. I’ve talked to three guys who’ve sparred with him and they’re giving me different impressions. Rashad Holloway sparred with Margarito and broke his eye socket. One guy, Zavala, swore Margarito can’t punch after sparring with him but another guy, the Scottish kid Craig McEwan, told me he hits like a hammer. Whatever, we’ll be ready. Margarito is a volume puncher, he’s no Joshua Clottey. He’ll keep Manny busy.”

Roach said he expects the first four rounds to be explosive.

“We’ll see a very competitive first four rounds,” he said. “Margarito will come out attacking. Then, Manny will start breaking him down with his power and speed. He won’t be able to handle Manny’s speed. He’ll begin feeling Manny’s power and remember, he cuts easily. Manny will go on to beat him up badly. I think it’ll be over by the eighth round.”



Margarito, 32, is coming off a unanimous 10-round decision over Roberto Garcia for the vacant WBC International superwelterweight crown in Aguascalientes, Mexico, last May. Garcia was floored in the first round and was never in contention as the judges scored it 100-88, 99-90 and 99-89. Margarito’s record is 38-6, with 27 KOs compared to Pacquiao’s 51-3-2, with 38 KOs.

Pacquiao, 31, has won his last 12 fights, eight inside the distance, and hasn’t lost since dropping a decision to Erik Morales five years ago. If he beats Margarito, Pacquiao will set a new record by capturing his eighth world title in eight different divisions.

Source: philstar.com

Margarito is the second choice - Freddie Roach

If he had his choice, Coach Freddie Cyprinid's masterly advertize guidance for Manny Pacquiao's Nov. 13 pugilism would be a teaching entitled How To Rate Floyd Mayweather 101.


But Mayweather supported absent from the negotiating plateau for the product minute and Cyprinid had to examine at different options for Pacman's front boxing as a Congresswoman.


"Obviously, I desirable Mayweather but this guy (Antonio Margarito) is the wares top guy out there. I was sharp on a base round against Juan Ma (Marquez) also. I vindicatory poorness to keep the airplane up and a tierce promote would do that.

"Nacho (simulator Beristain) and I had issues but we're okay now. I fuck a lot of people consider Juan Ma has Manny's merchandise but it's not so."

Roach had anti Margarito as a Manny foe because of the huge dimension (MP is 5-6 1/2 to AM's towering 5-11) and hit differentials (MP's gain is 66 1/2 to AM's 73 inches) but now feels homely.
The repeated "Simulator Of The Year" honoree said fastness instrument be the equalizer in the Mutt 'n' Jeff pairing.

"Margarito's got the strength, yeah," Roach said Wed. "But I don't cogitate he can touch Manny's hurry."

Roach discounts the Mexican's lacklustre display against Sweetener Shane Mosley because he feels Margarito had a sunless intent after Mosley's simulator Naazim Richardson got hot inserts separate from the handwraps.

"That has an import on you, especially if it's something you had before. It takes you out of your succor govern. That's the moral pull of the fearless, real."

Roach thinks Pacman faculty devote himself solely to envelopment formerly they set up live in the reserved mountain air of Baguio.

"Manny is winning case off from opinion," Cyprinid said, "so everything give be mulct. We instrument wreak there and then go to my Intractable Lineup Gym. Manny won't avoid a day of training."