By Dan Ambrose: Although trainer Freddie Roach would like for his fighter Manny Pacquiao to box more with Antonio Margarito tomorrow night in their fight at the Cowboys Stadium, Roach thinks Pacquiao will seek to exchange with the big 5’11” Mexican Tornado. “He could box more and be a little smarter,” Roach said in an article at Tampabay.com.

“But he likes to exchange punches, and that’s what sells tickets. That’s what makes him exciting, and that’s what makes him who he is.” Exchanging punches is playing into the strengths of Margarito, because he’s hoping the 5’6″ Pacquiao stands and trades with him. That’s probably Margarito’s only real chance of winning the fight. He won’t be able to beat Pacquiao by jabbing and trying to box the Filipino from the outside, because Pacquiao will likely score fast shots and move away before Margarito lands anything significant to impress the judges.

But if Pacquiao stands and tries to go toe-to-toe with Margarito, then that’s a fight that Margarito has a good chance of winning if he can keep Pacquiao in front of him.

Roach says “Margarito’s defense is terrible, and he can’t throw a straight punch. Manny will be down the middle all night. We’ve got a great, great game plan for him.”

Roach is making things sound a little too simple, because Margarito is also able to throw straight punches down the middle. Roach may not have seen Margarito’s two fights with Kermit Cintron, but if he did, he’d notice that Cintron got nailed with quite a few straight punches that sailed right through the center of his guard and tagged him in the face repeatedly. Roach needs to sit down and watch a few more of Margarito’s fights before he talks, because he’s capable of landing straight shots and he doesn’t just loop his punches all the time.