Gamer
09-23-2010, 04:40 PM
c/p by Chris Robinson
In a recent segment of HBO’s Faceoff, Manny Pacquiao and his trainer Freddie Roach sat down with Antonio Margarito and his trainer Robert Garcia. Pacquiao and Margarito fight on November 13th at Cowboys Stadium in Dallas, Texas and despite the fight being nearly two months away the contest is starting to generate a lot of buzz.
Analyst Max Kellerman could be found in the center of table fielding questions to both parties in an attempt to get some lively banter going between the two sides. Kellerman started off by asking Margarito, yet again, if he had any knowledge of the illegal inserts that were found inside of his hand wraps prior to his January 2009 loss to Shane Mosley.
“Thousands of times I have said I don’t know,” a slightly irritated Margarito replied. “I’ll say it again, I had no idea. I never felt anything. Never had the idea I had anything on my hands.”
Earlier this month while on a press tour to promoter their event, Pacquiao claimed that he fully believed Margarito had to have knowledge of what was taking place as trainer Javier Capetillo wrapped Antonio’s hands. Speaking on the issue, Pacquiao decided to take the high road and focus not on the past but instead the future that lies ahead for each man.
“What is my concern is he needs to train hard, I need to train hard and we have to do our best to make people happy. That’s what people want to see. The best fight, right?” Pacquiao would ask Margarito, to which the Tijuana native calmly nodded his head in agreement.
One man who hasn’t held back his feelings towards the contest is Roach, who has been beyond adamant about the many advantages Pacquiao has heading into the fight. Giving his opinion on the outcome between the two men, Roach spoke in his typical blunt fashion.
“I think Manny’s going to knock him out inside of eight rounds.”
The answer drew a grin from Margarito, who has shown a steel of iron throughout his career, with his only TKO loss being the thumping he took at the hands of Mosley at the Staples Center.
“What, does he see me crippled or something?” Margarito would reply.
Not pulling back, Roach paused briefly before dishing out some cold words yet again.
“I saw your last two fights.”
Hearing Roach’s words seemed to set Margarito back slightly as the 32-year old didn’t have a rapid rebuttal for the Massachusetts trainer. Margarito was seen earlier this month in Las Vegas, showing off his abs in an act of supreme confidence, but he seems to realize he is going up against a different kind of talent in Pacquiao.
Martinez’ side denies any involvement with Camp Margarito
Earlier this week I spoke to Garcia about the possibility of middleweight champion Sergio Martinez joining Margarito’s camp to help prepare him for the unorthodox attack of Pacquiao. Garcia confirmed that he is close to Martinez and his people while revealing it would be a strong possibility that the Argentinean would be coming to camp.
An interesting subplot indeed but all seems for not as my colleague Michael Marley reached out to Martinez’ promoter Lou Dibella who firmly stated ‘No way, no how’ does his man end up in the ring with Antonio.
It would have made for some lively sessions and interestingly enough it was Margarito who handed Martinez his first defeat in February of 2000 on the undercard of the scintillating first battle between Marco Antonio Barrera and Erik Morales at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas.
In a recent segment of HBO’s Faceoff, Manny Pacquiao and his trainer Freddie Roach sat down with Antonio Margarito and his trainer Robert Garcia. Pacquiao and Margarito fight on November 13th at Cowboys Stadium in Dallas, Texas and despite the fight being nearly two months away the contest is starting to generate a lot of buzz.
Analyst Max Kellerman could be found in the center of table fielding questions to both parties in an attempt to get some lively banter going between the two sides. Kellerman started off by asking Margarito, yet again, if he had any knowledge of the illegal inserts that were found inside of his hand wraps prior to his January 2009 loss to Shane Mosley.
“Thousands of times I have said I don’t know,” a slightly irritated Margarito replied. “I’ll say it again, I had no idea. I never felt anything. Never had the idea I had anything on my hands.”
Earlier this month while on a press tour to promoter their event, Pacquiao claimed that he fully believed Margarito had to have knowledge of what was taking place as trainer Javier Capetillo wrapped Antonio’s hands. Speaking on the issue, Pacquiao decided to take the high road and focus not on the past but instead the future that lies ahead for each man.
“What is my concern is he needs to train hard, I need to train hard and we have to do our best to make people happy. That’s what people want to see. The best fight, right?” Pacquiao would ask Margarito, to which the Tijuana native calmly nodded his head in agreement.
One man who hasn’t held back his feelings towards the contest is Roach, who has been beyond adamant about the many advantages Pacquiao has heading into the fight. Giving his opinion on the outcome between the two men, Roach spoke in his typical blunt fashion.
“I think Manny’s going to knock him out inside of eight rounds.”
The answer drew a grin from Margarito, who has shown a steel of iron throughout his career, with his only TKO loss being the thumping he took at the hands of Mosley at the Staples Center.
“What, does he see me crippled or something?” Margarito would reply.
Not pulling back, Roach paused briefly before dishing out some cold words yet again.
“I saw your last two fights.”
Hearing Roach’s words seemed to set Margarito back slightly as the 32-year old didn’t have a rapid rebuttal for the Massachusetts trainer. Margarito was seen earlier this month in Las Vegas, showing off his abs in an act of supreme confidence, but he seems to realize he is going up against a different kind of talent in Pacquiao.
Martinez’ side denies any involvement with Camp Margarito
Earlier this week I spoke to Garcia about the possibility of middleweight champion Sergio Martinez joining Margarito’s camp to help prepare him for the unorthodox attack of Pacquiao. Garcia confirmed that he is close to Martinez and his people while revealing it would be a strong possibility that the Argentinean would be coming to camp.
An interesting subplot indeed but all seems for not as my colleague Michael Marley reached out to Martinez’ promoter Lou Dibella who firmly stated ‘No way, no how’ does his man end up in the ring with Antonio.
It would have made for some lively sessions and interestingly enough it was Margarito who handed Martinez his first defeat in February of 2000 on the undercard of the scintillating first battle between Marco Antonio Barrera and Erik Morales at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas.