Roach says “Don’t be surprised if we [Pacquiao] get him [Margarito] in the first”

By Boxing News - 11/12/2010 - Comments

Image: Roach says "Don't be surprised if we [Pacquiao] get him [Margarito] in the first"By Chris Williams: Trainer Freddie Roach has got to be the most vocal trainer that ever existed in his backing of his fighter Manny Pacquiao. Roach has been talking 24/7 about the upcoming fight between Pacquiao and Antonio Margarito for months, and seems to have gone past the normal role for a trainer into the role of a promoter in trying to gain interest for the fight. However, Roach has often worked against drawing interest in the fight by often talking down the bout by putting Margarito down as a fighter without skills.

In the latest news bits from Roach from Reuters, Roach said “Don’t be surprised if we get him [Margarito] in the first [round]. Margarito’s a slow starter and we’re [Pacquiao] going to take advantage of that.”

So, Roach is now predicting a 1st round knockout of Margarito. This is where he usually ends up with his predictions. Roach often starts high by predicting a late knockout, and then winds himself down by knocking off round by round until he winds up with a 1st round knockout prediction. This is what he did with the Ricky Hatton, Miguel Cotto and Joshua Clottey fights with Pacquiao. It’s now so predictable it’s not even funny. As you saw from Pacquiao’s fight with Clottey, Roach was a mile off with his prediction because Pacquiao took a royal beating in that fight and ended up having to settle for a 12 round decision.

Despite losing the fight, Clottey looked totally unmarked and appeared to have gone on a light job. That tells me that Pacquiao’s power is totally overrated and without someone that’s undersized or weight drained like Ricky Hatton and Miguel Cotto, Pacquiao’s power at welterweight and junior middleweight is not what people think it is. Roach wishes that Pacquiao will knock Margarito out in the 1st round on Saturday, but the cold hard reality is that he won’t even come close to it. If anyone is going to be knocked out in this fight, it’s going to be Pacquiao and not Margarito. Pacquiao is too little, too much of arm puncher now that he’s become too heavy for his little frame and not skilled enough to stop Margarito.

Roach says “I don’t trust those guys [Margarito and Robert Garcia, his trainer]. He [Margarito] will do anything to win. He’s done it before. He’s a cheater and once a cheater, a leopard doesn’t change his spots.” Boy, that doesn’t sound very nice, does it? Why isn’t Margarito making a big production like Roach was when he got his feelings hurt? Roach sure can dish it out, can’t he? This is what Margarito has been up against for the past month or so getting daggers in his back constantly. Roach seems perfectly okay with hitting below the belt it seems.



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