By Don Donatello
Wait, wait, I have to stop laughing first before I go on. Whew! Ok! Did I hear Roach say that Antonio Margarito will not make it pass the 8th round? Yeah, I know that Roach has been predicting Manny Pacquiao’s fights quite on point, but this time he is playing with Margarito. He is also creating a buzz for the fight. There won’t be an early knockout, there may be a very late stoppage, but an early KO is not going to happen. Why am I so sure?
First off, the fight is slated at 151, right? Pacquiao had to be force fed to make 146 against Cotto. At the weigh-in, Pacquiao will weigh around 146-149, Margarito will weigh-in at 151. But at fight night, Pacquiao will come in at about 147-150, Margarito will come in at 158-162. Antonio Margarito has the hardest chin at 147, at fight night he will be coming in as a middleweight and being hit by a guy who must be force fed to make 146.
Roach knows that fact, so what Roach will do is to have Manny train for a 12 round fight. Roach will employ the same strategy that he used against Oscar; hit and move, shoot in and punch out. Margarito will be trying to kill a fly with a sledgehammer.
Manny Pacquiao will be on the move for the first 7 rounds. When Margarito is frustrated and has slow down a bit, Manny will test Margarito and push the issue by around the 8th round. By the 10th, Roach will know if he can send Pacquiao to go for the KO. Manny will hit the pressure cooker in the last 3 rounds. If Margarito is ripe for the picking, he will be stop by accumulation of punches.
But don’t believe that an early KO is going to happen. Sugar Shane Mosley hits harder than Pacquiao, and Margarito was not totally there psychologically for the Mosley fight. After the discovery of the plaster, Margarito’s plan went out the window. He was basically a dead man walking in against Mosley.
Manny Pacquiao by stoppage in the 11th or 12th. But don’t be surprise if the fight goes the distance.
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