Overweight Margarito: "There is No Way That We Can Lose This Fight"

10:35 AM // 0 comments // Ian Purugganan // Category: Margarito , Pacquiao //

Antonio Margarito is ready for war on Saturday night at Cowboys Stadium in Texas. The former three time welterweight champion is confident in his ability to knock Manny Pacquiao out. He doesn't see Pacquiao being able to last the twelve round distance. There have been insults thrown around by both camps for many weeks. Margarito said he only threw insults in response to the verbal attacks from Pacquiao's trainer Freddie Roach.

"I came here to fight and not to make friends," said Margarito. "We were peaceful, but the team of Pacquiao, Freddie Roach in particular, tried to intimidate us and it was time to fight back. I guess they are nervous. Roach has talked a lot about us."

Margarito doesn't see any possibility for Pacquiao to win. They will fight at a catch-weight of 150-pounds. Margarito thinks Pacquiao and his team made a very big mistake by agreeing to fight him at junior middleweight.

"I feel very good, very different, and even better than when I faced Miguel Cotto. There is no way we can lose this fight. I'm going to knock him out," Margarito said.

Antonio Margarito suffering the same fate as Oscar De La Hoya and Miguel Cotto at the hands of Manny Pacquiao won’t come as a surprise to Alex Ariza. [Jhonny Gonzalez]

Antonio Margarito is Overweight

Pacquiao’s great strength and conditioning coach believes Margarito is still a bit overweight heading into Friday’s official weigh-in (Saturday in Manila) at the Cowboys Stadium.

The signs are there, according to Ariza, for everyone to see – doing roadwork at night, wearing sunglasses during the final press conference for the 12-round title fight, and even wearing plastic (suits) from the opening to the final day of his training.

“He doesn’t look good to me,” Ariza disclosed. “I’ve been in this business for a long time and I knew what fighters look like in scales”.

“I think he’s overweight. And I think he’s grossly emaciated and gaunt. He looks terrible to me. He looks like he left everything in the ring.”

Drained after attempting to go down in weight, both De La Hoya and Cotto were stopped in the ninth and 12th rounds, respectively ,by Pacquiao.

Ariza, who’s been in-charge of conditioning Pacquiao every fight since 2008, added Margarito’s case can be likened to De La Hoya two years ago.

Without a doubt, Ariza thinks the former three-time world champion from Tijuana, Mexico will make the catchweight (150).

“But he’s gonna kill himself to make that weight. He’s gonna look like a shell. Gonna be a shell of a fighter inside that,” Ariza said.[Gerry Ramos]