Bad Weather Hindered Pacquiao Prep — Roach -- Manila Bulletin

By NICK GIONGCO, Manila Bulletin

MANILA, Philippines — Once Manny Pacquiao gets back to his old routine of running up the hilly portions of Hollywood next week, those frequenting the Wild Card would soon see Freddie Roach flashing that toothy grin of his.

“Once Manny starts running in the hills, he’ll get better,” said a pensive Roach, lamenting the fact that Baguio did not live up to its promise of giving the world’s pound-for-pound king the morning roadwork that he badly needs for a Nov. 13 clash with Mexican bully Antonio Margarito.

Because of the pouring rains brought about by a storm, Pacquiao’s morning run has been affected and although there were times when the Filipino showed up despite the showers, it was not enough, according to Roach.

Still, Roach is happy that Pacquiao is getting better each passing day.

Bob Arum had earlier expressed his concern a few days ago and the Hall of Fame promoter said it would be better if Pacquiao flies to the US at the soonest possible time.

And the soonest will be on Saturday night.

As a consolation, Pacquiao’s sparring sessions on Tuesday with Glen Tapia, Michael Medina and the new addition Amir Khan were much better than the last time Pacquiao banged bodies with his sparmates.

“The sparring with Amir woke him up,” said Joe Ramos, one of Pacquiao aides.

Team Pacquiao is going down from Baguio to Manila Thursday afternoon and the final two days of training will take place at the Elorde Gym in Quezon City.

Meanwhile, all is well over at Margarito’s training camp in Oxnard, Californa.

A huge 5-1 underdog, Margarito boasted that since he is sparring heavily with legitimate junior-middleweights (154 lbs) and even middleweights (160 lbs), he is confident that even Pacquiao’s best shots would not enough ruffle his feathers.

“I don't want to get overconfident. That is a question I ask myself too,” Margarito said in an interview that appeared in fightnews. “I have been sparring with junior middleweights and middleweights and they can’t hurt me so I don’t think he can either but I don't want to be too confident regarding his power, I have to be ready.”

Source: mb.com.ph

Michael Katsidis holds off fight -- Sydney Morning Herald

By Peter Mitchell, APP

Michael Katsidis' world-title bout in Las Vegas is on hold indefinitely to allow the Australian boxing champion to grieve his brother's sudden death, his US promoter confirmed.

Katsidis was training in Thailand at a Muay Thai fight camp to prepare for the much-anticipated November 27 slugfest with Mexican world titleholder Juan Manuel Marquez at Las Vegas' MGM Grand Casino when word came through his brother, elite Australian jockey Stathi Katsidis, had died.

"Our concern is for Michael as a person, rather than boxing," David Itskowitch, an executive at Oscar De La Hoya's Los Angeles-based Golden Boy Promotions, told AAP.

Advertisement: Story continues below "We want him to be OK and I don't know if he can be OK because he just lost his brother."

Itskowitch said he immediately called the 30-year-old Toowoomba-born fighter in Thailand to pass on his condolences and spoke to the boxer's longtime Australian trainer, Brendon Smith.

"It was basically straight after they found out," Itskowitch said.

"Right now our concern is for Michael. Our concern is not for the fight.

"His well being is what is important."

If Katsidis decides he wants to go on to fight Marquez for the World Boxing Association and World Boxing Organisation lightweight title belts, Golden Boy will support him, but Itskowitch says there is absolutely no pressure on Katsidis.

"When I spoke to Brendon last night I didn't say the word 'fight'," he said.

Marquez, who lost a split points decision to Manny Pacquiao two years ago, also sent his best wishes to Katsidis.

"Our condolences to Michael Katsidis and his family. Let's all pray for his brother's soul," Marquez wrote in a Twitter message.

Stathi Katsidis, 31, was found dead in his Brisbane home on Tuesday. Police have ruled out suicide and say there are no suspicious circumstances, although he did have a history of drug and alcohol abuse.

An autopsy will be held.

© 2010 AAP

Source: news.smh.com.au

Manny Pacquiao – Antonio Margarito & the Shannon Briggs Situation -- Ringside Report

By Geno McGahee, Ringside Report

Manny Pacquiao’s Greatest Hits

As usual, daytime TV is horrible, so I went to my “On Demand” feature that the cable company provides and saw that HBO has put out the “Greatest Hits” of Manny Pacquiao and Antonio Margarito.

The Manny Pacquiao highlights were interesting to see because of the drastic weight gain over the years. It’s hard to believe that he was 125 pounds when he first made his presence known to the majority of the boxing fans with a destruction of Marco Antonio Barrera. Pacquiao is one of the few fighters that can gain weight and get stronger and become a better fighter. The Pacquiao memory lane stroll was entertaining, but then we got to the Antonio Margarito “Greatest Hits.”
As expected, HBO totally glossed over the plaster of Paris in his hand wraps, referring to it as an “illegal substance” briefly and quickly moving on. Shown were his victories over Miguel Cotto and Kermit Cintron and a few others and when you watch them and you realize just why Margarito was so effective, your stomach has to turn. I would bet my house that Margarito has been using plaster on his hand wraps well before he was caught and that is the main reason why Cintron and Cotto crumbled.

HBO presents it as an isolated incident and focuses on the heart and determination of Margarito. They have stuck their hands into the garbage and want the cash as well. Margarito has gotten a pass and they are building him up for Pacquiao to knock down. What they also tried to accomplish was to insinuate that Margarito lost to Mosley because of the prefight confusion and some of that may be correct, but the main reason he lost was because he wasn’t allowed to put bricks in his glove that time.

HBO is just about ready to launch their 24/7 coverage of the fight to further build up the PPV buys and I’m sure it will generate interest and a big buy rate, but how anyone can justify Margarito returning to boxing and being allowed to make a bundle is beyond me. Those that love to tear down the sport have plenty of ammunition with this fight.

To beat a dead horse, I will once again ask you to not rent the fight and send the message to the promoters and networks that we will not support a guy like Margarito. HBO is going to show the fight the following Saturday, most boxing sites will be having quick results and some will have round by round. Save your money and purchase something that will reward those that have worked for it rather than those that found every shortcut regardless of what it could have done to the opposition.

When to Say When

I want to start off by saying “thank you” to ESPN for picking up both the Lucian Bute/Jesse Brinkley fight and the Vitali Klitschko/Shannon Briggs fight, streaming them live on ESPN3, their Internet channel. With that said, I think that a critique is certainly in order for the Klitschko/Briggs fight.

Briggs had that “puncher’s chance” going into his title opportunity but if he didn’t get Vitali hurt or out within the first quarter of the fight, he’d be in deep trouble. Surprisingly, there was no blitz from Briggs, no big rush to try to land. He seemed content to stay on the outside, an area that Vitali controls with ease and is most comfortable fighting from. It didn’t take long for the first right hand to cruise over the low left hand of Briggs and rattle him. This would persist and Briggs was at the mercy of the champion, taking unbelievable punishment as the rounds went on.

The beating really got severe in the seventh round and on, and there was no hope for Briggs at this point. His shots were wider, less powerful, and he was throwing them less often. His hands remained low and Vitali could not miss. The end result was obvious. Vitali was going to win and win clearly, yet the fight and the punishment went on.

The corner of Briggs should have stepped in. Although the referee, John-Lewis, shares some of the blame for the fight going as long as it did, he did not have a personal stake in this. You have to believe that the corner of Briggs did. They just kept bringing him back from another round of hell to send him back out again. If there was a sign that Vitali was tiring or that Briggs was landing more effectively, perhaps I could see it, but it was more of the same, just worse and worse as the rounds went on.

What makes Vitali Klitschko so dangerous isn’t the fact that he has 38 knockouts in 41 wins. What makes him dangerous is that he’s not a one punch knockout artist. He’s a 250 pound giant with a hard punch and he usually batters an opponent into submission. The accumulation of punches do far more damage then a George Foreman type fighter that hits you once and stops you early. All the ingredients were here for the death of a fighter in the ring and it almost happened.

Early reports of brain bleeds and Briggs being in critical condition were dismissed, but typically where there is smoke, there’s fire, and the truth of the matter is probably somewhere in the middle. Thankfully, he made it through, and he can leave the sport and pursue his other interests. Briggs has proven resourceful in his career, making his way into the movies and continuing to garner interest, which most big men of this time have failed to do. My hat is off to him for his courage and for his successful career, but after a beating like that, it’s hard to see him continue this game.

Vitali can now move on and he’s a hard man to beat. Tomasz Adamek may be up next and he’s not big enough to really concern Vitali, but he will give his all and make it fun initially, I’m sure. The Klitschko brothers sit atop the boxing world and are waiting for a challenge that can make it close, let alone beat them. They have been superb lately.

Source: ringsidereport.com

Manny Pacquiao versus Floyd Mayweather: Oscar still believes it can happen -- Examiner

By Edward Castro, Examiner.com

It was clear this weekend that Oscar De La Hoya remains focused on his duties as a boxing promoter and that his firm, Golden Boy Promotions, will continue on its trailblazing path.

De La Hoya said as much during his visit to Fantasy Springs Casino for Golden Boy’s latest card. Nearly 2,000 fight fans packed the California Desert venue, located just minutes East of Palm Springs, where victories were registered by NABO lightweight champion Eloy Perez, young American heavyweights Seth Mitchell and Deontay Wilder, and Desert youngster Randy Caballero.

De La Hoya, swarmed by fight fans from the moment of his arrival to his departure at the conclusion of the card, addressed a handful of issues facing Golden Boy.

De La Hoya stated confidently that he still believes the SuperBout between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao “can happen…and it should happen.”

“Sure it will,” De La Hoya said. “That is the biggest fight out there. Fans are demanding it.”

De La Hoya, who saw negotiations for Mayweather-Pacquiao twice fall through, said if and when the fight happens is up to Mayweather. Pacquiao has instead chosen to fight disgraced former champion Antonio Margarito next month.

“Obviously it’s up to Mayweather to give everyone the thumbs up,” De La Hoya said.

De La Hoya also said he was so impressed with the makeup of Fantasy Springs Casino that future visits to the Desert venue are almost a sure thing.

“It’s a great venue and it’s very intimate,” De La Hoya said. “The fans here are 100 percent behind it. This first show here was a great success.”

De La Hoya, whose stable of fighters range in age and experience, was glowing about newly signed Caballero.

Caballero scored a fourth round decision in what was just his fifth fight as a pro.

“Take Caballero for instance…his footwork, his ability to throw combinations and his speed and power,” De La Hoya noted. “He’s got the goods. I’m excited by that.”

Caballero, 19, was a 2008 U.S. National Champion and completed his amateur career with over 150 bouts, fought in front of his hometown fans for the first time.

“This is the first time I’ve seen him and I am glad I did,” De La Hoya said. “Now all my focus will be on him to make sure we give him the right opportunity to grow and one day become a world champion.”

Source: examiner.com

Arum Says Pacquiao Will Fight Twice Next Year, Both Fights At Welterweight - Says Guys Like Margarito Are Just Too Big -- Eastside Boxing

By James Slater, Eastside Boxing

As fans know, Manny Pacquiao goes for an unprecedented 8th “world” title on November 13th, against the much bigger Antonio Margarito. Yesterday, via the comments facility on ESB, on an article of mine, some fans wondered aloud just how much bigger than Pac-Man Margarito would be in the WBC light-middleweight title fight. There were suggestions of a “re-hydration clause,” a clause in the contract that would disallow “Toney” from putting on any weight after the official weigh-in - a weigh-in for which the Mexican (and Pac-Man) must not weigh any more than the agreed 150-pounds.

Well, according to Bob Arum, in talking to Mike Marley, there is no such “re-hydration clause.” In fact, Arum is concerned about the amount of weight Margarito will put on in the 24-hours between the weigh-in and the fight; so much so that the Top Rank promoter has said the November fight will be Manny’s last at a weight higher than 147-pounds.

“It’s just too much size difference fighting these bigger guys,” Arum said of his star fighter. “Antonio Margarito has a contractual weight limit of 150-pounds but he is likely to add 15-pounds with the day before the fight weigh-in and then weigh 165 when they get into the ring.

“Freddie [Roach] and Alex [Ariza] were telling me Manny will weigh in at 149 or 150 and then not add much weight after that so as not to lose any of his phenomenal speed. But they stressed they don’t want Manny stretching it like this after this fight.”

So there you have it, no mention whatsoever of a contractual deal that insists Margarito remain at 150-pounds during the time between weighing in and entering the ring. And should Pacquiao once again overcome the obstacle of a much bigger (and possibly physically stronger) fighter, his future ring assignments will then likely come against welterweights. Arum spoke of the plans for Pac-Man in 2011.

“Manny will fight twice in the new year,” Arum told Marley. “We’re looking at a May bout with or without [Floyd] Mayweather. Who knows how his legal problems will play out so we don’t count on Floyd. But, like Freddie and Alex told me, from here on out Manny will stick to the welterweight division.”

So, assuming he gets past Margarito next month, who will Pac-Man fight in 2011 if “Money” is unavailable? Marley got quite a list of possibilities from uncle Bob!

“Shane Mosley is a possibility,” Arum said. “So is the winner of the Devon Alexander-Timothy Bradley fight. You can put Andre Berto’s name in there as well, and Juan Manuel Marquez because of the history with Manny. Don’t forget Cotto because he is flexible, Miguel can go to 147-pounds.”

That’s quite a selection of possibilities. For my money, a third go between Pacquiao and “Dinamita” would appeal hugely to the fans, so too would a Pacquiao-Berto clash. The winner of Alexander and Bradley might wish to try and clean up the 140-pound division instead of facing Pac-Man (but then again, maybe not when you consider the money a fight with the Filipino would bring either guy!), while Mosley is surely too faded to live with the lethal southpaw now.

Whoever the pound-for-pound king faces next, it may come after a very tough fight on Nov. 13th. And rest assured, Margarito will NOT enter the ring in Texas without having been given the chance to re-hydrate!

Source: eastsideboxing.com

Roach: Pacquiao to KO Margarito with big right hand -- ABS-CBN News

abs-cbnNEWS.com

MANILA, Philippines – Boxing trainer Freddie Roach is getting more confident about Manny Pacquiao’s chances against Mexico’s Antonio Margarito, now that the Filipino champ is getting his “good ol’ speed” back.

After dropping a few pounds, Monday’s sparring session with his partners saw Pacquiao display his speed.

Roach said Pacquiao will surely get his punches on Margarito, especially when he throws them in combinations.

But the American trainer believes Pacquiao’s potential knockout punch against Margarito will be his vastly improved right hand.

“I really believe it will be the right…it’s so strong now,” said the Hall of Famer coach.

Roach said the left-handed Pacquiao, with his south paw stance, puts the Filipino’s right hand closer to his opponent.

The American trainer has transformed the Filipino champion from a “one dimensional boxer," over-reliant on his powerful left hand, into a two-fisted fighter who can throw heavy bombs with his left and right hands.

Top Rank promoter Bob Arum saw this two-fisted version of Pacquiao on Monday when the Filipino went through 10 rounds of sparring.

In one of those rounds, the hard-hitting Filipino busted the lip of training partner Glen Tapia to Arum’s approval.

'Old Pacquiao' will beat Margarito

Arum earlier said the "old Pacquiao" will defeat Margarito.
“The old Pacquiao would have no problem beating Antonio Margarito. He still has time to bring the old Pacquiao back when he is in LA,” he said in a report posted on Philboxing.com. (Click here for the related story)

Pacquiao had 4 rounds with Tapia, another 4 round with British champion Amir Khan, and 2 rounds with Mexican Michael Medina.

The Filipino has a shed few pounds, after having trouble with the timing of his punches following his weight gain, hence, the improved speed.

His conditioning coach, Alex Ariza, said their present training is geared toward getting back Pacquiao’s agility.

“Manny's getting bigger, I think he's starting to be a bit worried he's getting too big, so right now, I'm gonna focus on his speed and get him faster,” said Ariza.

Pacquiao said more improvements are coming after they decided to lessen the plyometric routines in their training.

“Bibilis pa tayo kasi babawasan namin ‘yung plyometrics, ‘yung pampalaki ng katawan at lakas. So focus kami ngayon on speed (We’re going to get faster because we’re lessening the plyometrics, which adds bulk and power. Our focus now is speed),” said the WBO welterweight champion.

In a separate report by Philstar.com, Roach said Pacquiao will step into the ring no heavier than 150 pounds.

“Again, he’s (Margarito) bigger but size don’t win fights. Skill does,” he said. “That’s what we’re going to do – weigh in and climb the ring at almost the same weight. Manny’s not going in there heavier than 150 because it might slow him down a bit.”

Pacquiao and Margarito will fight it out on November 13 (November 14 in Manila) for the World Boxing Council (WBC) super welterweight title.

Although the contracted weight is at 151 pounds, the 5’1” Margarito has the edge in size and reach against the 7-division champion from the Philippines. – With a report from Dyan Castillejo, ABS-CBN News

Source: abs-cbnnews.com

Roach: No worry, Manny will be ready -- Philippine Star

By Abac Cordero, The Philippine Star

BAGUIO CITY, Philippines – You’ve got to take his word when Freddie Roach says there’s no need to worry.

“We need a little more focus, but I think overall we’re doing okay,” said the trainer of all trainers after Bob Arum sounded the alarm the other day while watching Manny Pacquiao train.

Arum said he didn’t see the speed in Pacquiao, that blinding speed he would need to stun, overwhelm and get rid of Antonio Margarito on Nov. 13 in Texas, after a couple of workouts here.

“If the fight happened on Saturday Margarito would win the fight,” was the quote of the day from Arum.

Roach yesterday admitted that Pacquiao is far from his best but that things can be worked out in the next couple of weeks.

“He’s a hundred percent with the mitts but fifty percent in sparring,” he said.

Pacquiao seemed to have taken the first four weeks of training lightly, skipping roadwork and gym workouts like he’d never done before. Twice on weekends, he left this City of Pines for Manila.

Pacquiao also had too much of basketball early in the camp that it was hard to tell if he was training for a world title fight or a basketball tournament. Or too much of Congress.

Roach, however, said it was all right for Pacquiao to play basketball because the deal was that the 31-year-old champion, would quit it four weeks before the fight.

Saturday evening Pacquiao spent a couple of hours rehearsing his songs for the after-fight concert on Nov. 13, and the other night he was at a late dinner with Arum and friends.

The stormy weather up here, with howling winds and non-stop rains since Monday, forced Pacquiao to once again skip his roadwork yesterday, but went to the gym early to spar.

Somehow, Roach looks satisfied.

“We’ve had good and bad days, but more good than bad lately, so it’s getting better and better. But we need get more focus. Started a little bit late than the usual,” said Roach.

The four-time Trainer of the Year thinks the only way to do this is to get Pacquiao to his Wild Card Gym in Los Angeles, and on Saturday evening they’d be boarding the plane to LA.

According to plans, Pacquiao should head down to Manila after tomorrow’s workout, spar at the Elorde Gym on Thursday, train on Friday and spar one last time on Saturday.

“I’m still pushing for sparring on Thursday and then go to L.A. on Thursday. But we haven’t work that out yet,” said Roach who may need to beg before the fighting congressman for that.

Roach said the toughest weeks of this camp are coming.

“This would be a big week for sparring. This week and next week. It would be the toughest two weeks coming up,” said Roach, who has plenty of reasons pushing for an earlier flight to LA.

“With the weather and so forth, yes. And I have more sparring there, better sparring. No, not better, but more of the style I’ve been looking for,” he said.

Mexicans Michael Medina and Glen Tapia have done a good job as sparring partners, but Roach is looking for some fresh meat because Pacquiao has this habit of getting too friendly with his sparring partners as the days go by.

“There’s Abdullah, Kid Chocolate, who’s 21-and-0, Amir Khan, Vanes (Martirosyan). That’s plenty. We’ve sparred 36 rounds now. We’ll get about 30 rounds this week and 30 next week, and then we start tapering off,” Roach added.

Roach was asked if he’s sticking to his prediction that Pacquiao would knock Margarito out early or late.

“Yeah,” he said.

Source: philstar.com