By Chris Williams: Alex Ariza, the strength and conditioning coach for Manny Pacquiao, reportedly likes what he sees of Antonio Margarito’s fitness level for his fight against Pacquiao a month from now on November 13th. In an article at 411mania.com, Ariza says “Size doesn’t really mean anything. It’s about speed and being in shape. We are always in shape. Pacquiao is in good fighters shape, but he is not in Manny’s shape. I an just not used to this. I wish we had more time, but I just have to get my guy ready and do the best that I can with the time that I have.”

This isn’t good. Ariza is admitting that Pacquiao isn’t fit enough for this fight with Margarito, and Ariza is complaining about needing more time. This is what you call a shot across the bow where Ariza is getting the excuse ready ahead of time in case things to wrong and Pacquiao takes a beating and gets stopped by Margarito. By speaking now, Ariza can always say he voiced his concerns weeks before the fight. The thing of it is, Pacquiao has had plenty of time to get ready for his fight with Margarito.

I mean, look at what great shape that Margarito is in. Now why isn’t Pacquiao in great shape like that? It’s either he’s not been working hard enough in training, and I blame that on his trainers or he’s getting old, and the old body doesn’t respond to training like it used to. But come on, Pacquiao, 31, is younger than the 32-year-old Margarito, so it can’t be age. I don’t think Pacquiao has been served right by eating so much for this fight. If you’re feeding someone six times a day, I can see them having problems with their conditioning because they’re trying to put weight on Pacquiao at the same time they’re working on his conditioning.

Usually, a person bulks up and then cuts down but in this case, they’re still power feeding him with a lot of food. I think that’s stupid. Pacquiao is better off being as light as possible for this fight so that he could have his quickness. By having him bulk up, he’ll be slower and more likely to get hit with a lot of shots from Margarito. He won’t be anymore powerful than he was at welterweight, and merely carrying around a lot of excess muscle that doesn’t translate to better punching power. This has the effect of strapping weights on the body that the fighter has to carry around while he’s attempting to fight. If this was a normal fighter it wouldn’t be a problem. But for a small guy like Pacquiao who depends on his ability to jump around to prevent from taking punishment, he’s going to have problems because of the excess weight.

Ariza says “Margarito looks great to me. That just lets me know that my job isn’t done yet. I am always concerned, that’s just me. I don’t want to ever go into a fight thinking that I could have done more. The most important thing is keeping Manny focused on a fight. “