Starting to think Pacquiao-Margarito is gonna be a lot more competitive then we think

I can give you a bit of insight right now he is in South El Monte, CA doing his last bit of training before he goes to Oxnard and start his sparring sessions. Sparring partners have been chosen and some will fly in Saturday he is looking good right now maybe in the low 160s Garcia told me a bit of what they planned and it sounds promising but again everyone has the best intentions for Manny and seldom are they successful the team has collectively told me this is the Tony they have become accustomed to seeing. Hungry and motivated. They also say they haven't seen this type of energy from his since Cotto Thanks a lot for the info man :fing02: Hopefully we get a good competitive fight.

Do you think Bob Arum knows this and is taking information back to Roach so he can devise a game plan to counter it? Also, do you think Bob may have done this when Cotto fought Manny? camp is going to be somewhat closed even to Top Rank people. Actual game planning will be between Garcia Tony and his co managers so I doubt they will leak this out we plan on having the entire team on our LIITR radio show within the next few weeks to discuss the fight Robert Garcia Tony's managers and yes Tony himself

I can give you a bit of insight right now he is in South El Monte, CA doing his last bit of training before he goes to Oxnard and start his sparring sessions. Sparring partners have been chosen and some will fly in Saturday he is looking good right now maybe in the low 160s Garcia told me a bit of what they planned and it sounds promising but again everyone has the best intentions for Manny and seldom are they successful the team has collectively told me this is the Tony they have become accustomed to seeing. Hungry and motivated. They also say they haven't seen this type of energy from his since Cotto Do you think Bob Arum knows this and is taking information back to Roach so he can devise a game plan to counter it? Also, do you think Bob may have done this when Cotto fought Manny?

Margarito is motivated, remember, Margarito came out and said "I'll prove that I'm clean by beating Pacquiao". He has A LOT to prove, especially since people are questioning his whole career. Whether people like it or not...that's a really good drive. We also have to take into account that Pacquiao's punching power is surely to diminish because of the extra weight gain AND he's oblige to use 10 oz gloves on top of all that. Guys, Pacquiao hasn't seen a bigger size disparity and Margarito IS a durable opponent, although not as durable as he once was. I sometimes get the feeling that Margarito is gonna be a really REALLY hard tree for Pacquiao to chop down. Margarito could very well rehydrate up to 165-168 lbs and Pacquiao does NOT have the physical strength to tie Margarito up and maneuver him into the ropes ala Shane Mosley. Neither does he have Mosley's punching power. Where he compensates for that is with his overall athletic ability, so for everytime Mosley tied Margarito up...Pacquiao is instead gonna turn Margarito; keep him turning. Also, Pacquiao has shown vulnerability to the uppercut, we saw this against both Cotto and Clottey. Well guess what? Margarito is Mr. Uppercut himself, and unlike Clottey...he's gonna punch WITH Pacquiao. Lets look at the 1st 7 rounds of Mosley vs. Margarito, notice that Mosley's bombs aren't able to stop Margarito from tryin' to retaliate, Mosley had to clinch to neutrilize Margarito's attack. I gave this some really good thought and honestly, I get the feeling that Margarito is a LIVE underdog, Joe Goossen recently said the same thing too. If and IF Pacquiao is unable to break Margarito down to the body, no doubt that Margarito will be able to come on late. The only thing I'm stuck on is, is Margarito gonna look mysteriously smaller then we're all used to seeing when he enters the ring? Not making any accusations, but there have been some rumors. I can give you a bit of insight right now he is in South El Monte, CA doing his last bit of training before he goes to Oxnard and start his sparring sessions. Sparring partners have been chosen and some will fly in Saturday he is looking good right now maybe in the low 160s Garcia told me a bit of what they planned and it sounds promising but again everyone has the best intentions for Manny and seldom are they successful the team has collectively told me this is the Tony they have become accustomed to seeing. Hungry and motivated. They also say they haven't seen this type of energy from his since Cotto

Well, Garcia actually made Margarito look vaguely slick, LMAO. To your point, though - if someone's in there to make another guy look good with a low overall threat level, that doesn't mean they can't still be naturally solid physically and durable at the weight. That also helps Margarito get rounds in, which was surely as much of an aim as looking good. I don't know that much about Garcia other than the Rubio, Medina and Margarito fights, but I know he's naturally much bigger than Pacquiao, which might be a factor in taking Margarito's shots as well as he did. Both you guys make good points. But I'm thining the Garcia fight was about making marg look good to at least JUSTIFY the #1 ranking at 154 he was sure to get (you both know I think the Marg/Pac fight was planned back in January) so the Pac fight could be for the title. Since Marg lost at 154 to Daniel Santos in 04, Top Rank had to factor in that this weight was bad for Marg and that his power doesn't come up. What would be the point of putting him in that situation again?

Of course this fight should be competive. Its at 150lb and look how big margarito is. Under normal circumstances people would say Margarito should pick on someone his own size, like BH or Kelly Pavliks size. Flomos are only saying Pac should win easily to get the excuses in early, that Margarito should be a pushover, so if Margarito beats Pac, it will be supposedly be a real bad loss for Pac. But Pac is so good that he should win. But not because Margarito isnt good, he is.

The bold, same here. That factor in combination with his style (there had to be both) is why I knew he'd stop Cotto, for instance. I think the usual size advantage Marg held over welterweights, is still in play for this fight. Pacquiao is still a small welterweight, in my opinion. I believe Pac is a light-welterweight in his best form today. Will we see Pacquiao being highly effective at yet another higher weight class? I refuse to believe that Pac will be competing against today's Super Six 168 competitors, in the near future. lol.

2 or more years ago, if you mentioned any kind of possibility of Pacquiao fighting Margarito, the betting odds would be 100-1 in favor of Margarito.

but wasn't Garcia put in there to make Marg look good? Top Rank does a great job of making their fighters look good. I can't see Goodman?Arum making a mistake like that. But, it has happen Bruce Trampler is the best matchmaker in the business. And, he is usually the one that matches up the fighters not Arum. But, look at that Juanma-Mtagwa fight. Juanma was suppose to look good and he at the end of the fight he was in survival mode. Just saying, styles, strengths, rust, all that had to come into play. There was no way of knowing how Margarito was going to look like prior just due to the wraps, getting brutally KO'd, the time off, nobody knew how he was mentally. I agree Top Rank does a great job making their fighters look good but it doesn't mean it will happen every single time.

Wouldn't you also say that Garcia's natural size and strength was a factor, too, re. perception of Margarito's heavyhandedness or lack of it? Of course, heavy hands aren't anything if you can't land them on something - but I'm just talking about people measuring Margarito's ability to hurt purely on Garcia walking through his punches...that's a possible miscalculation, agree? I can agree with that. Plus I never liked Margarito at 154 anyways. I always felt his advantage at WW was his size and being stronger than all the other WWs. That is why I felt he had success at that weight. However, at 154 that advantage gets taken away because he is fighting guys who are just as strong as him. I wished he would of had one extra fight just to get a better overall look at him. But, overall I agree with your take.

Wouldn't you also say that Garcia's natural size and strength was a factor, too, re. perception of Margarito's heavyhandedness or lack of it? Of course, heavy hands aren't anything if you can't land them on something - but I'm just talking about people measuring Margarito's ability to hurt purely on Garcia walking through his punches...that's a possible miscalculation, agree? I'm not judging Margarito's ability to punch based on that fight, in his whole career Margarito has used activity to break opponents down. Cintron is an exception to that, but come on it's Kermit Cintron. Margarito's biggest obstacle to getting the win against Pacquiao is that he will have a lot of trouble hitting someone as fast as Pacquiao, who also is constantly moving, enough to break him down like he needs to. Just think about how fast Cotto, Paul Williams, and Clottey looked against Margarito and remember how slow Cotto and Clottey looked compared to Pac. Margarito's efforts to break Pac down will be like trying to punch a damn lightning bolt.

He would be more effective than Clottey that's for sure, Arum can afford Pacquiao losing to someone like Margarito or Cotto because they both have great fanbase/backing, clottey had none.

Wouldn't you also say that Garcia's natural size and strength was a factor, too, re. perception of Margarito's heavyhandedness or lack of it? Of course, heavy hands aren't anything if you can't land them on something - but I'm just talking about people measuring Margarito's ability to hurt purely on Garcia walking through his punches...that's a possible miscalculation, agree? but wasn't Garcia put in there to make Marg look good? Top Rank does a great job of making their fighters look good. I can't see Goodman?Arum making a mistake like that.

At least someone read my post :lol1: Thanks Jro Hey, I read it too!

At least someone read my post :lol1: Thanks Jro

The weight of 150 probably won't be a problem but what could be a problem is a clause limiting the amount of weight that can be put on after the weigh-in. Not saying there is such a clause for this fight but it is possible. Rumored there was one for the De la Hoya vs. Manny fight. Not sure if that was true or not though How would it be possible? And, no the rumors about the Oscar fight is not true. At all..... Oscar just wanted to seem like he wasn't the bigger guy cuz he was getting bashed for picking on "lil" Pac. That is all that happen and it bit him in the ass at the end. Oscar made every single excuse on why he lost that fight. If that claus did exist Oscar would of brought it up. Also nobody tells Oscar what to do. He sets up every fight for his advantage. You have to play by Oscar rules he don't play by yours. No there would no clause for the amount of weight you could put in after the weigh in. That is just ridiculous is against fighters safety.

The weight of 150 probably won't be a problem but what could be a problem is a clause limiting the amount of weight that can be put on after the weigh-in. Not saying there is such a clause for this fight but it is possible. Rumored there was one for the De la Hoya vs. Manny fight. Not sure if that was true or not though This is what I fear most, hopefully that doesn't happen.

Margarito could be slippin, seems slower, took a lot of punishment from both Cotto and Shane. So his chin might be cracked. However, I don't think the P-Will fight is comparable to the Pac fight. P-Will could had advantages that Pac does not. P-Will also would clinch at times and Pac as far as I have seen doesn't have that in his arsenal. I also don't think you can take much in looking at the Garcia fight. Margarito was coming off a long layoff rust was a factor I don't care what anybody says. Margarito has never been the sharpest guy in the ring so him having a long layoff would make him even less sharp. And, that is what we saw against Garcia. Also against Garcia I felt he was just trying to get in rounds. And, at the same implementing a new style that his new trainer wants him to do so he won't get hit as muc as he use to. All that comes into play plue I don't think he looked as bad as some people thought he did. Plus Margarito is motivated now like he was against Cotto. I always felt motivation and will could take you very far. And, Marg seems to have that for this fight. He wants to win this and IMO he won't pull a Clottey he will go to hell to win it. While Clottey was more not wanting to get KO'd. Pac IMO can easily still make 140. And, if you keep going up in weight and taking all these tune ups against bigger stronger guys. Sooner or later it will bite you in the ass. It will happen all and all I think it will be a very entertaining fight. And, even thought Margarito doesn't deserve this chance. I always felt he had a better chance in beating Pac then say Berto, Cotto in a rematch, JCC Jr, Clottey, Alexander, Hatton, Diaz did/does. Even thought some of those fighters did or do deserve their shot more so than Margarito. I think Margarito has/had better chance than all of those I named.

If I was confident Margarito would turn up anywhere near the same fighter he was against Cotto then I'd say it's going to be a great fight, but as it is I'm pretty sure he's done and will catch a hell of an ass whooping. I doubt the match would have been made unless Margarito showed signs that he was about done.

If Margarito wins, Mayweather will retire.