Manny looks sharp, confident

He will resemble the fighter with the blinding hand speed who ripped into Joshua Clottey, the Ghana brick wall who retreated into survival mode after getting nailed with a right to the body early in their March 13 fight.
By all accounts from strength and conditioning guru Alex Ariza, Pacquiao didn’t have the time to build his body for the higher weight class.
That’s because of the many distractions and the cramming to get ready for Antonio Margarito.
Ariza helped bulk and power up Manny from a 130-pound junior lightweight to a ripped and ready 147 lb welterweight who pulverized the “Golden Boy,” Oscar De La Hoya then separated Ricky “The Hitman” Hatton from his senses at light welterweight.
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To the best of our knowledge, when Ariza  sought to add to the previous regimen for Manny’s body to be able to withstand the punches of a much bigger and stronger Margarito while adding more power to his own punches, Pacquiao felt listless and was sluggish in sparring.
It bothered Pacquiao, who was looking to his vaunted speed to overcome Margarito.
To skip the tough, tiring workouts which would have prevented him from engaging in other activities outside boxing, Pacquiao looked for support from his inner circle.
He quickly got it from those who were only too glad to agree, sensing they had a real chance to lessen Ariza’s influence over Pacquiao while striving to reinstate their own sycophancy.
To Ariza’s credit, he conceded that Pacquiao was the boss and he had to, obviously reluctantly, give in to him.
Although he didn’t necessarily agree with the path they decided to take, Ariza gave Pacquiao his full support and tailored his conditioning toward accentuating his speed and watching his nutritional needs and food intake.
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Like most Filipinos, we have to rely on reports coming out of Dallas through our own media colleagues, as well as television footage available from the lovely Jannelle So of LA 18.
But we do have reliable inside sources who thankfully tell it like it is.
We’ve learned that Margarito is drained and emaciated by struggling to make the weight, which is stipulated at 150, when earlier statements by those concerned said it was 151.
Margarito has been jogging three times a day, even as late as 7 p.m. just to reduce weight so he won’t have to pay a massive $500,000 (P21.5 million) fine for being overweight even by one ounce.
That’s the catch-weight advantage Pacquiao enjoys as the superstar whose promoter implements his demands.
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Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. himself looked amazed at how gaunt Margarito looked when they both appeared on a hispanic TV program the other day.
In contrast, while Manny may have crammed in his training in the final two weeks at the Wild Card Gym—despite its own set of much less debilitating distractions—he looked sharp, happy and supremely confident.
Pacquiao obviously believes that despite the short cuts,  he still has far too much for a dehydrated Margarito.
The Tijuana Tornado’s smile will hopefully be wiped off his face.
Trainer Robert Garcia’s boasts and his classless digs at Freddie Roach’s Parkinson’s disease, together with Margarito and the imbecile Brandon Rios, have earned the disdain of the boxing community.
In the end, the Tornado is likely to be downgraded to a mere tropical depression—that’s unless Roach’s assigned representative, Billy Keane, turns his eyes away in the dressing room and allows someone to sneak in Plaster of Paris on Margarito’s handwraps without Margarito’s knowledge!