Roach, Manny know time on their side

There have been all sorts of speculations about Manny Pacquiao’s condition for the Nov. 13 showdown with Antonio Margarito. After Top Rank promoter Bob Arum spoke to the local media and attended a sumptuous dinner hosted by the Camp John Hay Country Club, his phone never ceased ringing the moment he returned to The Manor. 

Reporters from even the Wall Street Journal called to seek clarification on whether he had told the local media that  Antonio Margarito would beat Pacquiao.
* * * For the record, Arum said that if Manny isn’t in the best possible shape and using all the assets that he has, he will lose. This is not a walk in the park, this is a tough fight, he said. But, here’s the real crux of what Arum said. Manny at 100 percent beats Margarito. That’s a fact. Of course, the nagging question is, will he be at 100 percent? Right now, as Arum noticed, Pacquiao is not at 100 percent. But he never is, three weeks before a fight. Hopefully, he’ll get there on fight week. If he does, and the way he’s using his devastating right hand, he will win the fight.
* * * After spending a couple of days watching Manny train in Baguio City, it has been honestly hard to decipher what is going on. There appears to be a minor tug-of-war over what should prevail in the remaining weeks—the drive to build him up physically so he can handle the weight of a much bigger man, or focus on speed, which has always been Pacquiao’s forte. Conditioning expert Alex Ariza who, together with celebrated trainer Freddie Roach, turned Pacquiao into a devastating punching machine through unbelievably demanding physical conditioning routines, is as honest as one can get. Ariza admits that Pacquiao is the boss, and he does what Manny wants him to do. It’s as simple as that.
* * * Roach himself seems to think that Pacquiao has unbelievable power. Manny’s seeming sluggishness in sparring, especially the previous Saturday—when Glen Tapia reportedly got the better of him while he had the better of Michael Medina—was because the pound-for-pound king fought at their pace. Being bigger and slower, Pacquiao fell into the natural trap of sparring against them at their rhythm. That’s why Roach decided to introduce Amir Khan into the sparring partners’ roster and, apparently on Tuesday as well as on Thursday, Pacquiao did so much better in a give-and-take exchange over four rounds with Khan. Amir himself believes that Pacquiao’s speed will be the key against Margarito. But the Briton, as well as Ariza, understand that Pacquiao needs to be able to go 12 rounds against the bigger Margarito, who has a reputation for going after his opponents non-stop and also of being hard to hurt.
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There has been some concern over the nightly games of basketball, which have mercifully come to an end. Manny, though, continues to flirt around with his music-making, which, if you look at it from one point of view, indicates that he is relaxed and confident of where he is right now in preparation for the fight. Manny knows that once he steps into the Wild Card Gym next week, Roach is ready to put him through the grinder. And Roach believes, there’s enough time to get Manny into the kind of shape he needs to be in, to take on Margarito and beat him. “I promise you that,” Roach said. Who are we to question his valued judgment?