MANILA, Philippines ? Could this be the last fight for Manny Pacquiao?
It could be if you listen to his chief trainer Freddie Roach who must be feeling he?s losing his grip on Pacquio or that the latter is losing his grip on the sport that?s been so good to him.
Roach mentioned politics as the main reason.
?We are going to lose Manny Pacquiao to politics, for sure,? Roach told BBC World Service as he and Pacquiao and their small entourage prepared to leave for Los Angeles last night.
They?re just three weeks away from a big fight, big as in literally big, against Antonio Margarito on Nov. 13 in Arlington, Texas. It will be for the vacant WBC super-welterweight crown.
While Pacquiao has faced taller opponents before, from Erik Morales to Oscar dela Hoya to Miguel Cotto, he?s never faced one as big as Margarito, a welterweight the day he was born.
Margarito stands just a shade under six feet, much, much taller than the 5? 6? 1/2 Pacquiao, and by fight time, may climb the ring at the Cowboys Stadium at 160 lb or heavier than that.
Pacquiao, Roach said, will climb the ring no heavier than 150, because any excess pound would lessen his speed, which, coupled with his brute strength, is his bread and butter.
Pacquiao was scheduled to leave for Los Angeles last night, after a hard sparring session at the Elorde Boxing Gym. In LA they would train for two weeks, then head to Texas on Nov. 8.
Pacquiao trained for four weeks in the Philippines, mostly in the summer capital of Baguio City, where Roach must have seen something he?d never seen before in his prized war
