By Ronnie Nathanielsz
Pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao has played down claims by trainer Freddie Roach, strength and conditioning guru Alex Ariza and even Top Rank promoter Bob Arum that his preparation for the showdown against the bigger and stronger Antonio Margarito has been plagued by distractions.
In a conference call on Wednesday, Pacquiao claimed he had “trained hard and there are no distractions, nothing to worry about.” Addressing his millions of fans worldwide Pacquiao said there was “nothing to worry about me. I have time for politics. I have time for boxing. This is why we’re not worried about the fight.”
Responding to concerns over fighting his biggest opponent in his career who is five inches taller, enjoys a six inch reach advantage and will probably weigh in at fight time some 15 pounds heavier Pacquiao insisted he can “fight the bigger guys even though I’m small. We always believed in our talent.”
Pacquiao addressed the fact that Margarito “is a bigger guy” by stating “which is (why) we have a better plan for him and this is why we are not worried about the fight.”
Chasing his eighth record-breaking world title in eight separate weight divisions for the vacant WBC super welterweight/light middleweight crown Pacquiao said “I did my best in training for this fight because this is gonna be another record in boxing. I have to win and I consider this fight a very important fight in my whole career.”
At the same time the “Fighter of the Decade” who was recently named “Fighter of the Year” by the WBO after he won the WBO welterweight title with a rousing 12th round TKO over Miguel Cotto, Pacquiao announced he “will not retire. I can still fight.”
Some moments later on his own conference call Margarito said he didn’t enjoy any crucial advantage pointing out “I don’t have any big advantage because he has proven he can punch at this weight. I just want to get up in the ring and see what we can do.”
Pacquiao’s trainer Freddie Roach said Margarito has “everything to gain and nothing to lose”
Meantime, Pacquiao’s adviser Michael Koncz brushed aside concerns that Pacquiao looked gaunt when he jogged Wednesday morning and appeared too light. Koncz told the Inquirer “Manny is ready to go. I have no worries, no doubts.”
Koncz revealed that in an interview with HBO, Pacquiao who weighed 148 pounds said he was “comfortable at that weight and that’s where he is going to stay.” Koncz quoted Pacquiao as saying that he’s “been in boxing a long time, he’s a seven time world champion and he knows what he’s doing and he knows what’s the best weight for him .”
Pacquiao reportedly said if he gets to 150 “he feels slow and sluggish” but that at 147-148 he feels “all of his power.”
The Texas Commission has chosen controversial referee Laurence Cole to handle the Pacquiao-Margarito title fight. A resident of Texas, Cole is not popular with Filipino fans after he ruled a slip by Pacquiao in his November 2003 bout with Mexican legend Marco Antonio Barrera a knockdown. Pacquiao erased any doubts when he demolished Barrera in eleven rounds to score a spectacular TKO.
