Trainer hints at Pacquiao loss vs. Margarito

(From Manilla Bulletin)
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If Manny Pacquiao’s showing against Ghanaian Joshua Clottey will be used as a gauge of how he’ll measure up against Antonio Margarito next month, then the Filipino boxer might find himself on the losing end this time.

This is what famed boxing trainer and ESPN sports analyst/commentator Teddy Atlas sees when Pacquiao and Margarito meet each other for the first time at the Dallas Cowboys Stadium in Texas on November 13.

"Manny Pacquiao is going to get beaten by Antonio Margarito on November 13," Atlas said in his Boxing News episode. "I wouldn't be surprised if Margarito knocked him out.”

Pacquiao retained his World Boxing Organization (WBO) welterweight belt via a unanimous decision over Clottey last March, also at the Cowboys Stadium.

"Clottey, during the whole fight — and of course I'm exaggerating to make a point — during the whole fight if he threw six punches, maybe it was 10 — but if he threw six punches, four of them landed. And they were uppercuts. Pacquaio's eye was almost closed,” Atlas continues.

Pacquiao’s trainer Freddie Roach continues to believe that the upcoming fight against the taller and bigger Margarito will be a breeze for his prized fighter as he (Pacquiao) starts getting back into his old, deadly self after resuming camp at the Wild Card Boxing gym in Hollywood.

“Margarito is tall and strong and he fought his entire career at welterweight and middleweight, but that does not matter for Manny. Manny’s speed is going to win this fight. Margarito is slow,” Roach says in an interview cited by Jhonny Gonzales. “It’s true that he (Margarito) is strong, but he’s very slow. This is going to be an easy day for us.”

Pacquiao, however, has a different opinion.

“Margarito has a record that I respect. He is big and very strong. He has a good chin and he’s very aggressive, but I’ve fought bigger fighters and I’ve managed to win these fights,” the 31-year-old Pacquiao tells. “I respect Margarito. It will not be easy, but I know I will win.”

Pacquiao even emphasized that his life as a boxer isn’t hampered by his dual duty as congressman of Sarangani province in Mindanao.

“My political career is something I do with great responsibility. I didn’t fight since March but I’ve always been in the gym without losing sight of what I have to do,” he says.

“For me, boxing is my job, and Congress is a public activity.”