PACQUIAO WEIGHS WAY BELOW THE LIMIT
By Ronnie Nathanielsz
PhilBoxing.com
Sat, 13 Nov 2010
Manny Pacquiao weighed in at a mere 144.6 pounds which was 9.4 pounds below the 154 pound super welterweight/light middleweight limit and 5.4 pounds below the stipulated catch-weight agreed upon while his opponent Antonio Margarito tipped the sc ales at the official weigh in at 150 pounds.
The weights gave Margarito an initial advantage of 5.4 pounds which is likely to grow to around 20 pounds at fight time which was an issue strength and conditioning coach Alex Ariza had expressed his concern about several times in the recent past.
Ariza?s efforts to build Pacquiao?s body to be able to handle the bigger and stronger Margarito were scuttled by Pacquiao who claimed he felt sluggish even though the strength and conditioning coach wanted him to be around the weight at which he fought Miguel Cotto.
Even Pacquiao?s boyhood friend Restituto ?Buboy? Fernandez was against Pacquiao bulking up saying he is a boxer not a body builder.
The pound-for-pound king with a record of 51-3-2 and 28 knockouts will vie for his eighth world title in a battle with Margarito whose record is 38-6 with 27 knockouts for the vacant WBC title at the Dallas Cowboys Stadium on Sunday, Manila Time.
James Slater of East Side Boxing quotes Top Rank promoter Bob Arum as saying that Pacquiao will in the future fight only at welterweight where the maximum is 147 pounds. Arum said ?It?s just too much size difference fighting these bigger guys? which raises the question as to why Arum made the fight in the first place.
Arum predicted that Margarito will enter the ring at around 165 pounds which would give him a tremendous weight advantage .
Arum claimed that trainer Freddie Roach and Ariza were telling him that Pacquiao would weigh in at 149 or 150 pounds which didn?t happen because Pacquiao and his Filipino assistants Fernandez and Nonoy Neri were against the strength and conditioning program of Ariza claiming it made him sluggish which was evident when he sparred against Glen Tapia and WBA light welterweight champion Amir Khan during his training camp in the Philippines.
But experts told us the reason was that Pacquiao, because of his many commitments and distractions which cut into his training hours, didn?t have time to allow the regimen to settle in before he regained his explosiveness as he did in previous fights against Oscar De La Hoya, Ricky ?Hitman? Hatton, Miguel Cotto and Joshua Clottey.
While most boxing writers and fight fans have shown concern about the gaunt and emaciated look of Margarito who struggled to make the weight now concern is shifting to why Pacquiao came in so much lower than his expected weight of 148 despite eating heartily.
It also means that when he woke up in the morning Pacquiao was probably around 141 pounds.
Top photo: (L-R) Superstar Manny Pacquiao and three-time world champion Antonio Margarito weigh in at (Pacquiao 144.6 lb,Margarito 150 lb) for their superfight on November 13 at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas. Pacquiao vs Margarito is promoted by Top Rank in association with MP Promotions and Cowboys Stadium. The Pacquiao vs Margarito telecast will be available live on HBO Pay Per View. -- Photo Credit : Chris Farina - Top Rank.
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