By Mark Vester
Trainer Freddie Roach is now saying that his fighter, Manny Pacquiao, may have made a mistake by agreeing to face Antonio Margarito at a junior middleweight catch-weight of 150-pounds on November 13 at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas. Roach sounds worried that his fighter may have given Margarito an opening to win by meeting him that high in weight.
Even if Pacquiao wins, and captures the vacant WBC title in the process, Roach is going to push for Pacquiao to return to the welterweight division in his very next fight. Roach thinks the much larger Margarito is going to have a real edge by fighting them at junior middleweight. In a recent interview with BoxingScene.com's Ronnie Nathanielsz, Pacquiao's strength and conditioning coach, Alex Ariza, said he was worried about the weight because Pacquiao was having trouble getting any heavier than 146-pounds.
“We should fight at 147, let’s face it," said Roach to GMA News. “But they made the deal. I have to live with it. I hate catch-weight fights. I’ll say this again, if Margarito has an advantage here, it’s the catch-weight that was instituted for this fight," Roach said.
“In looking at Margarito, he looks like he’s very strong and stout, and in essence, you’re letting a big welterweight not have the responsibility of cutting the last few precious pounds off his big frame."
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