Why Margarito is clinging to a late stoppage
MARK IT, says Freddie Roach, Manny Pacquiao will get Antonio Margarito with a right hand. “The right is so strong now,” Roach has told ABS-CBN news.com. “I really believe it will be the win-win punch.”
Not so fast.
Before Roach could pick the possible KO hand, trainer Robert Garcia claimed Margarito would definitely stop Pacquiao.
With what?
“Anything, an uppercut, a right, big shots to the body, with anything,” Garcia told Embedded correspondent Erich Seckbach during a brief break in their Oxnard, California camp.
* * *
As a southpaw, Roach says Pacquiao is always able to put his right hand closer to the opponent’s jaw.
Pacquiao will also be too speedy for Margarito, the four-time trainer of the year assures.
Let’s hope it would be that easy.
“We will pressure him (Pacquiao) all night long,” Garcia counters.
He adds they will push in hard, put Pacquiao on the defensive every minute in order to negate his quickness.
* * *
You see, the odds continue to build up awesomely in favor of Pacquiao.
But, at the same time, fans will remain divided until fight night in Texas.
Team Margarito says it should be able to finally corner, clip and stop Pacquiao in the closing rounds.
But there’s this stronger pitch which says Pacquiao will connect and get Margarito, a slow and easy target, much ahead, maybe earlier than the round Roach had predicted the knockout victory.
* * *
Through it all, premier promoter Bob Arum, after doubts were raised over his observation on Pacquiao’s condition, eventually got absolved.
Roach had refused to agree with Arum’s observation that Pacquiao, with his so-so form, would’ve been beaten by Margarito if they had fought over the weekend.
But on Tuesday, Roach, saying Pacquiao has steadily regained his speed while punching the mitts, humbly conceded his prized ward was only half his original flashy worth in sparring.
* * *
Meanwhile, out there at the Margarito camp, reports say they were preparing to go down to the last stages of sparring.
Margarito, his trainer bared, should be tapering off as soon as they’ve completed their scheduled rounds of sparring.
In Pacquiao’s case, Roach said two killing weeks, with emphasis on focus, await his celebrated seven-division champ at the Wild Card Gym in Hollywood.
* * *
Nothing to worry, Roach was trying to say.
Well, it may not indeed look and appear very significant but, no thanks to late schedules, basketball and other distractions, it can no longer be denied that Margarito has out-trained Pacquiao.
You see, it’s impossible to determine if Margarito has succeeded in negating some of Pacquiao’s built-in advantages through better, more consistent training.
But there’s one killer angle Team Margarito is clearly eyeing.
Listen: Despite the stunted schedule, Pacquiao can still succeed in regaining his original sharpness and power.
But trainer Robert Garcia need not be asked why they have picked a win in the concluding rounds.
This is the killer turn when boxers, (let’s hope Pacquiao is an exception) who had to cram in conditioning, start to sulk and lose wind.
This is also the dreaded bend when the disease called a sure, slow knockout could creep in like a thief in the night.
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