Fight fans can look forward to a thrilling and action-packed showdown between pound-for-pound king Manny ?PaMan? Pacquiao and former three-time world welterweight champion Antonio Margarito from the opening bell of their November 13 showdown. This exciting scenario surfaced as both protagonists declared their intention of mounting an early attack and taking the initiative early in their junior middleweight title fight at the Dallas Cowboys Stadium.
?We will attack at the start of the first and second round,? Pacquiao told Manila-based newsmen in Filipino after a strenuous morning workout Friday at the Rizal Memorial track oval in the heart of Manila.
Margarito, once the most feared welterweight in the world, has repeatedly declared his plan to pressure the smaller but quicker PacMan from the opening bell to nullify his vaunted speed.
?Bully him, bully him and keep the pressure on him every second of every round,? said Margarito?s trainer Robert Garcia on their approach to ?neutralize? Pacquiao?s lightning-quick speed.
And with both camps predicting a knockout, the classic match-up between Pacquiao?s speed and quickness against Margarito?s brute force and heft could spell an early end in their 12-round title showdown.
Pacquiao?s trainer Freddie Roach is predicting a knockout ?inside eight rounds? based on what he saw in Margarito?s last two fights. He was referring to the Mexican-American?s first knockout loss to puncher-boxer Shane Mosley in the ninth round in their January 24, 2009 welterweight title fight, and an unimpressive unanimous win by Margarito over Roberto Garcia on May 6.
Margarito and Garcia, his trainer, are more conservative: they want to take Pacquiao into the middle rounds, break down his game and knock him out by the 10th or 11th round.
These bold predictions of a knockout by both sides plus the frenetic attacking game of both fighters, conjure images of a barn-burner between two of the best welterweights in the world today.
