By Lem Satterfield, FanHouse
For the first time since their HBO pay per view televised Nov. 13 junior middleweight clash for the WBC's vacant title was announced, seven division king and WBO welterweight titlist Manny Pacquiao and ex-champ Antonio Margarito were posed for a stare down during Tuesday's Beverly Hills press conference.
Although the men stood nearly face to face, they were not exactly seeing eye to eye.
That's because the 5-foot-11 Margarito (38-6, 27 knockouts) virtually towered over the nearly 5-7 Pacquiao (51-3-2, 38 KOs), who will be competing at his highest-ever weight class even as he pursues his eighth title in as many different divisions at what will likely be a catch weight of around 151 pounds.
"Antonio Margarito is bigger and stronger than me. I am going to have to train very hard," said the 31-year-old Pacquiao, who has won 12 straight fights, including eight by knockout since a March, 2005 loss to Erik Morales.
"Margarito has capability of giving a good show and his style is very aggressive," said Pacquiao, whose run includes two stoppages of Morales. "Don't miss the fight. It is going to be a great show."
Their battle will take place at The Dallas Cowboys Stadium, where Pacquiao scored a March, 12-round, unanimous decision over Joshua Clottey that drew more than 50,000 to the venue's first-ever boxing event.
The 5-8 Clottey, who had fought at as high as 158 pounds on occasion, battled Pacquiao even at 147 pounds with no catch weight.
"Manny has always fought the bigger, stronger fighters," said Pacquiao's strength coach, Alex Ariza. "Manny likes challenges, nothing easy going into a fight. We are taking on a huge fighter in Margarito."
Margarito was ringside for Pacquiao-Clottey, and received nearly as much attention from fans as did Pacquiao during the week leading up to the bout.
That prospect encourages Top Rank Promotions CEO,Bob Arum, and Pacquiao's adviser, Michael Koncz, who expect to pack as many as 75,000 into Cowboys Stadium this time around.
"I think that if they open the stadium up, we'll fill it with 75,000. With Clottey, we did 50-something thousand and set a new record. And there are a lot of Hispanics in that area. We have the good-guy, bad-guy element, so I think that we'll do it," said Koncz.
"I think that it's going to be a very exciting fight. As I said before, styles make fights. Antonio Margarito has a one-demensional style," said Koncz. "Margarito is going to come forward and he's going to throw a lot of punches. But I think that, again, the speed of Manny is going to be overwhelming for Margarito, but it will be a great fight as long as it lasts."
Margarito had been unable to fight on American soil since his license was revoked by the California State Athletic Commission following a January, 2009, ninth-round loss to Shane Mosley, this, after Magarito's hand wraps were found to have contained a plaster-like substance that was removed and confiscated prior to Margarito's entering the ring against Mosley.
Margarito tried to become licensed by the Nevada State Athletic Commission not long after his suspension ended on Feb. 11, but was directed by the NSAC to return to the CSAC for a ruling, where, after a nearly six-hour, Aug. 18 hearing, the Mexican-born fighter was turned down again.
Margarito was licensed to face Pacquiao in Texas last week, however, paving the way for Pacquiao-Margarito.
"It is time for me to show all of the people that I a here and I am good," said the 32-year-old Margarito. "It is going to be a great fight."
Margarito claimed no knowledge of the fact that his then-trainer, Javier Capetillo, placed the illegal substance in his hand wraps, but Manny told reporters on Tuesday that he did not believe Margarito.
"I don't believe him [Margarito.] Of course he knows about that [illegal hand-wraps.] It's his hands, and he watches the taping," said Pacquiao, adding that he believed that Margarito denied knowledge of the impropriety because he was "looking for a way out so that his reputation won't be damaged among his fans."
Pacquiao, nevertheless, went to bat for Margarito when the fighter failed to be reinstated for a boxing license by the CSAC, lobbying the NSCAC on Margarito's behalf, along with Koncz.
But Pacquiao said that Margarito "paid his dues by sacrificing and not fighting for one year," adding, "I hope that he learned his lesson and will not repeat the same mistake."
On the night of their fight, however, Pacquiauo said "we can watch his hands being wrapped because our agreement is that we will have two representatives led by my coach [trainer Freddie Roach] to watch the taping."
Tuesday's press conference was the first of three, with stops on Wednesday in New York, and on Thursday and Friday in Dallas.
"I am just a fighter doing my job and it's going to be a great fight," said Pacquiao. "There is going to be a lot of boxing in the ring. I am here again and would like to thank everybody. The press and media and all the fans in boxing"
Source: boxing.fanhouse.com
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