By Ryan Songalia

Roberto Garcia, head trainer of Antonio Margarito, says that Monday was the last day of hard sparring and that they are now tapering down training camp in advance of their November 13 showdown with Manny Pacquiao at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas. The heavy training phase is over and Garcia will now focus on sharpening up Margarito's game plan for the mega fight.

Margarito, 38-6 (27 KO) of Tijuana, Mexico, sparred twelve rounds at the Oxnard Boxing Academy in Oxnard, California, with Garcia cycling in fresh opponents to keep a high level of pressure on the former welterweight champion. Among those seeing action were former 2000 Olympian Ricardo Williams of Cincinatti, OH, Kareem Carlos "Casey" Martinez of Texas, Cleotis "Mookie" Pendarvis of Los Angeles, CA and Austin Trout of Las Cruces, NM.

While the first three are considered speedy slicksters, Trout, 21-0 (13 KO) is more of a powerhouse laborer. Though that might not fit the profile of the Filipino congressman Pacquiao, 51-3-2 (38 KO), Garcia still finds plenty of use for Trout.

"Austin Trout is very strong, he throws fast combinations and stands in front of Margarito which is what we want. Margarito is much stronger than Pacquiao, so I need someone strong who can stand in front of him and throw hard punches and that's why I'm using Austin Trout."

Garcia says that Margarito is just five or six pounds above the contracted weight of 150 pounds. The bout will be contested for the WBC light middleweight title, which would be Margarito's second weight class conquered and Pacquiao's eighth.

"I've told everybody that talks me that I feel very confident about this fight," says Garcia. "I see it in Margarito too, he feels very confident also. Everyday he keeps pounding away and he says he feels even better than before he knocked out Miguel Cotto."

Ryan Songalia is a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA) and a contributor to GMANews.TV. He can be reached at ryan@ryansongalia.com. An archive of his work can be found at www.ryansongalia.com. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/ryansongalia.