I guess you couldn?t walk away from Manny Pacquiao?s open media workout saying that anything out of the ordinary happened. Despite Pacquiao?s larger than life persona and a packed house inside of the Wild Card Boxing Club, it was standard fare for the most part as the Filipino star fielded questions about his careers in boxing and congress as well as his future before warming up and getting down to business with trainer Freddie Roach.
Before hitting the mitts with Roach, Pacquiao went through various stretching and light plyometric routines with strength and conditioning coach Alex Ariza. The Columbian born Ariza joined the team after a brief stint in Las Vegas and Pacquiao caught him by surprise on this day by showering him with some water in good fun. Despite being drenched, all Ariza could do was laugh at Pacquiao?s care free nature this close to a fight.
Slideshow: Behind the scenes images at Pacquiao?s open media workout
Moments later the humor would be kicked up a notch as Roach, usually a sublime character, got the room laughing by announcing ?Alright, time for the Margarito gloves!? Moments later the Massachusetts trainer put on a sterling pair of armored gloves, an obvious poke at Pacquiao?s November 13th opponent Antonio Margarito, who was caught with elements of plaster of paris in his hand wraps prior to his January 2009 scuffle with Shane Mosley.
“I am going to make sure that Antonio Margarito wears hand wraps, not gift wraps, when he faces Manny Pacquiao,” the shrewd trainer claimed.
Margarito was dealt with a one year suspension by the California State Athletic Commission following the hand wrap debacle and is using his fight with Pacquiao as a motivator to prove to people that he is still an elite fighter. One fight before the Mosley affair Margarito put forth the best performance of his career in battering brave Puerto Rican Miguel Cotto inside of the MGM Grand in Las Vegas in July of 2008 but that fight now has its share of question marks surrounding it due to Margarito?s illegal ways.
Pacquiao had also put on a string of stirring performances in the Las Vegas area, from pummeling Oscar De La Hoya to starching Ricky Hatton, but his March unanimous decision over Joshua Clottey was underwhelming because the Accra, Ghana fighter simply refused to fight back. Pacquiao faces Margarito in the same venue and should find himself in the ring with a far more willing and able opponent.
Roach has never been shy when it comes to talking a little bit of trash and even demeaning his opposition. He has insisted time and time again that Margarito, despite all of his pleas of innocence, knew fully well that his hand wraps were being tampered with and while his antics appeared to be in good fun it was still an obvious dig that was meant to ruffle the feathers of the Tijuana fighter.
Emotions should be high come fight night.
