Pacquiao: Razor-sharp or too light?

MANNY PACQUIAO missed his target poundage in yesterday’s weigh-in but the world’s pound-for-pound boxing king readily shrugged off the discrepancy in his mega bout against Antonio Margarito, who was perfect on the scales.
Pacquiao, trumpeted to check in at 148 pounds, was only 144.6 during the official weight check.
Margarito, who would have been fined heavily had he exceeded the catch weight, hit it on the dot—150 lb—in one try.
As could be expected, Pacquiao fans hereabouts were both mystified and worried over the weigh-in results.
His unusual smallness, many Pacman devotees fear, could leave him a willing victim of his bigger, taller foe who has vowed to push and bully the Filipino boxing superstar.
Pacquiao, however, assured he would be extra sharp and speedy in today’s fight with the burly Mexican three-time world champion.
“He is a hundred percent, he did what he needed to be, as fast as can be,” trainer Freddie Roach informed Lance Pugmire of the Los Angeles Times who also said Pacquiao can be expected to rely on the “speed of lightness.”
However, there were those who felt Pacquiao might have overworked himself.
“He got caught in the excitement of the fight that he failed to stick to his normal four or five meals a day,” explained Pacquiao close-in aide Michael Koncz.
Another reliable Team Pacquiao insider said the Pacman really poured it on in the remaining days in order to gain sufficient stamina, so hard that he readily burned out everything he would eat.
Here at home, lawyer-sportsman Rudy Salud, respected boxing expert and founding secretary general of the World Boxing Council, said Pacquiao’s lightness was a little unusual.
“But I still expect him to prevail with his superior skills and speed, not to mention his tested warrior’s heart,” Salud told the Inquirer.
Dr. Jose Raul Canlas, trusted sports medicine expert, said Pacquiao should find no problem rehydrating.
“It’s a bit unusual but he and his handlers know what’s best for him,” Canlas said.
Meanwhile, not a few among those who had put a bet on a Pacquiao knockout win started having second thoughts upon learning of yesterday’s weigh-in results in Texas.
There were two prevailing local contentions as we went to press:
Pacquiao could either be razor-sharp, or too light for today’s monumental bout.