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.
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.
Pacquiao and his trainer, Freddie Roach don't appear to be too concerned about the weight and size difference. They are counting on Pacquiao's speed to negate Margarito's size and punching power, and they expect Pacquiao to prevail and win a world title in his eighth weight division. Nobody else has ever won in more than six weight divisions.
"I think we will overwhelm him with the punches (Manny) will land on him with the fast hands and combinations," says Roach. "In eight or nine rounds I think we will break him down.
"Margarito throws a lot of punches and he makes too many mistakes to beat us. He has bad habits and we are going to take advantage of all of them."
Margarito says he can't remember being in such good shape for a fight.
"I'm the best I ever trained and I'm the best I ever been for a fight," he said on Thursday.
Roach expects a physical battle in the ring because both fighters are or have been champions and they both have exciting styles.
"I think this is going to be a real action-packed fight," said Roach. "You have a guy (Margarito) that's been world champion, he knows what it's like to be a world champion, he knows what it takes to win fights, he throws punches, it should be a very exciting fight, yes."
Roach says this is a fight Pacquiao has wanted for a long time.
"He's always wanted this fight," Roach said. "After he fought Oscar (De La Hoya), we said, 'who do you want to fight next?' He said Margarito.
Roach predicts a stoppage.
"We will knock this guy out," Roach said. "We're confident he will not last. The amount of punches he's going to take in this fight is going to be enormous. The volume of punches, he won't be able to handle. He will quit."
Pacquiao, who is favored to win by about 5-1, is guaranteed $15 million for the fight, and according to Top Rank Chairman Bob Arum, could make another $10 million depending on gate and PPV revenues. Margarito is guaranteed $3 million but could make as much as $6 million.
The televised undercard features three undefeated fighters.
Former Cuban Olumpic gold medalist Guillermo Rigondeaux (6-0, 5 KOs) faces Ricardo Cordoba (37-2-2, 23 KOs) for the WBA interim Super Bantamweight title at 12 rounds; Philadelphian Mike Jones (22-0, 18 KOs) meets Jesus Soto-Karass in a 10-round welterweight fight; and Brandon Rios (25-0-1, 17 KOs), the WBA's No.1 contender at lightweight, takes on Omri Lowther (14-2, 10 KOs) in a 10-round bout.
Source: usatoday.com
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