By Chris Williams: Freddie Roach is still upset about a video that Antonio Margarito and Brandon Rios were seen in where they both appeared to be mimicking him the way he shakes sometimes because of his Parkinson’s disease. Roach thinks they were making fun of him about his disease, and isn’t happy about it. Margarito, however, denies he was making fun of Roach’s condition and instead says he was shaking out of fear of the things that Roach has been saying about him. In an article at Ringtv.com, Margarito has this to say: “I was not making fun of Freddie. When I was shaking my hands, I was just saying ‘Man, I’m really scared.’ I think that people misunderstood that. That’s what happened.It was a misunderstanding. I have nothing against Freddie Roach. I respect him as a great trainer.”

Margarito’s trainer Robert Garcia has already said that Margarito and Brandon Rios didn’t know of Roach’s condition. If that’s not good enough for Roach, what can Margarito and Rios say? Both of them have already apologized about it, and Roach needs to respect that and let it go instead of harping about it. If a person apologizes about something, whether they meant it or not, it’s up to the other person to accept it or not. If they don’t, then that’s on them. in the case of Roach, it doesn’t look like he’s willing to accept Margarito’s explanation for it, saying “He didn’t know I have Parkinson’s disease? Please. It wasn’t an apology. It was a cover up.”

I think Roach needs to let it go, because Margarito said his thing, and if Roach wants to keep talking about it, he’s wasting his energy. He should instead be trying get his fighter Pacquiao ready for the bout this Saturday against Margarito. It would look bad if Pacquiao goes out there and gets beaten up because Roach is distracted about having his feelings hurt. It isn’t like Roach hasn’t been dumping on Margarito as well by talking constantly about the hand wrap scandal. Margarito took the criticism without getting all bent out of shape, he’s the one that’s actually fighting here. I think Roach needs to try and get Pacquiao prepared for the fight this Saturday and stop the drama already. I see this as more of Roach trying to play mind games by getting Margarito feeling uncomfortable before Saturday’s fight. Why else would Roach keep dragging this on and on and on like this?

Roach says “They [Margarito and Rios] made fun of me. It shows what kind of guys they are. I didn’t want to bring it up, because I don’t want it to bother Manny. I don’t want him to get mad and fight stupid. He can’t do that. We have a good game plan and I want him to stick to it. They made fun of me, it’s ok. They’ll pay for it. I’m not worried.”

If Roach doesn’t want Pacquiao to worry about it, then Roach needs to let it go instead of making a big production out of this. Margarito already he didn’t imitate Roach because of his Parkinson’s disease, and for Roach to continue to harp, it looks bad. He basically doesn’t believe Margarito. Well, that’s on Roach. He needs to deal with it. The focus here should be Pacquiao, not his hurt feelings and how he doesn’t believe Margarito. I don’t like the way that Roach is making himself the center of focus here, when it should be Pacquiao’s fight that gets the attention, not Roach’s hurt feelings or his distrust of Margarito’s motives for teasing him. He’s dealing with a boxer, not a choirboy.