HOLLYWOOD ? With a smile on his face, Freddie Roach looked at the coming fight, and said everything has been figured out, from start to finish.
?We will knock this guy out, I promise you,? the celebrated trainer said as he faced mediamen from Manila at the Wild Card Gym Thursday in Los Angeles.
With just nine days before the fight, Roach sounded even more confident than when he was many weeks back, that Manny Pacquiao is going to beat Antonio Margarito.
?I?m happy. Manny Pacquiao is back,? said Roach, who?s about to wrap up Pacquiao?s training in this City of Angels. He said he couldn?t wait for the day of the fight in Arlington, Texas.
Early in the camp, over in Baguio City in the Philippines, Roach complained of distractions that hounded Pacquiao on and off the ring, in and out of his hotel suite, wherever he goes.
But once they got here, it was business as usual for Pacquiao, except for the day when he flew to Las Vegas, staying there for just a couple of hours, for a political commitment.
?Mentally, he is now much more into the fight,? said Roach after another sparring day for Pacquiao who did seven rounds with Rashad Holloway, Dave Rodela and Ray Beltran.
?He knows the game plan. He looks great in sparring. He did nine rounds of sparring last Tuesday. Now we did seven. We do five round on Saturday and three or four on Monday,? said Roach.
Monday is the day Pacquiao and his huge entourage fly to Texas on board a chartered jet.
?He is definitely 100 percent ready to go,? said Roach.
Pacquiao said the same the other day, flexing his muscles before the cameras.
Roach was asked what he sees after the opening bell, when the expected crowd of 60,000 cries for action between the two fighters vying for the vacant WBC super-welterweight crown.
?He?s (Margarito) going to be aggressive and come after us and try to get our respect. But he?s going to walk into Manny?s power and he?s going to feel it and it?s going to change the course of the fight,? said Roach.
He added that through tapes, he has gotten to know Margarito too well.
?He is notoriously a slow starter but I expect him to come out quick and try to get Pacquiao?s respect right away. Don?t be surprised if this fight ends early.
?I want Manny to show this guy that we mean business and get him off-balance in the first round because this guy?s footwork is terrible and it?ll show in the fight and we?re going to take full advantage of it,? he explained.
Roach said Margarito has this bad habit of crossing his feet and walking around the ring, something you can?t afford when up against a boxer as skillful, powerful and quick as Pacquiao.
?He doesn?t have the traditional footwork of a boxer. He gets off-balance and when he is off-balance he doesn?t have any power. I see this fight as an easy fight. I don?t see any problems.?
?We watched his tapes and he is very easily read and makes the same bad habits every time and reaches for punches. Manny Pacquiao the best fighter in the world and a hundred percent will kick his ass,? he added.
