By Chris Williams: Two-time welterweight champion Antonio Margarito (38-6, 27 KO’s) came in right at the 150 pound catch-weight mark for today’s weigh-in for Saturday’s fight with Manny Pacquiao (51-3-2, 38 KO’s) at the Cowboys Stadium, in Arlington, Texas. Pacquiao, however, came in at six pounds less at 144.6.

This could be a problem for Pacquiao because Margarito looked drawn and slightly weight drained, even though he came in right at the 150 mark. Margarito will likely rehydrate up to around 160 by fight time tomorrow night.

If Pacquiao’s weight doesn’t budge from 144, he’ll be out-weighed by around 15 pounds or so. That could be fairly significant if Margarito is able to trap Pacquiao into a close range war. Pacquiao faced a 160 pound fighter in his last fight against Joshua Clottey in March, and Pacquiao took a lot of punishment in that fight and was badly marked up by Clottey despite only getting hit 10 to 20 times per round.

Margarito is likely going to be throwing between five to ten times that many punches and Pacquiao could break apart under the heavy bombardment from Margarito. After all, Pacquiao is a beefed up super featherweight taking on a legitimate junior middleweight.

Pacquiao’s weight may have gone up, but he’s still only a super featherweight inside and he could fall apart if Margarito hits him a lot. Pacquiao isn’t made to get hit a lot of times by a fighter Margarito’s size.

If the catch-weight handicap didn’t weaken Margarito enough to make him beatable for Pacquiao, then Filipino star could end up taking a severe beating. The catch-weight handicap is the key here. Margarito has to be weakened enough for Pacquiao to win. If he’s not, Pacquiao will get obliterated.

Other weights for the undercard:

Ricardo Cordoba 121 lbs, Guillermo Rigondeaux 121.5 lbs
Mike Jones 145.5 lbs, Jesus Soto Karras 148 lbs
Brandon Rios 140.25 lbs, Omri Lowther 137.5 lbs