Distracted Pacquiao fails to impress Arum

Top Rank promoter Bob Arum went straight to the point, even if the object of his frustration was boxing champion Manny Pacquiao. Arum expressed concern in Baguio City after seeing Pacquiao spar for nine rounds over the weekend, saying the 31-year-old Filipino stands to lose against Antonio Margarito if their Nov. 13 title fight is held right now. “When I watched him on Saturday, I didn’t see the kind of speed that he would need to beat Margarito," said the 78-year-old Arum while holding court when media day was held in Pacquiao’s high-altitude training camp at the Shape-Up gym inside the Cooyesan Hotel on a stormy Monday afternoon. “If the fight happened on Saturday, Margarito would win the fight." Accompanied by stepdaughter Dena duBoef, Arum arrived in the country’s Summer Capital Saturday and was personally at ringside when the `Pacman’ sparred with Michael Medina and Glen Tapia. Pacquiao, according to Arum, was hardly impressive. “To come into the ring with a lot of speed requires a lot of training and effort. That’s where you get your speed, from preparing," said Arum. “Manny’s success is based largely on hard work and focus. He’s skillfull and he has a lot of attributes, but without the hard work, it’s not gonna be there." Pacquiao has been in training camp for about a month now, but had been distracted several times in his preparation by constant traveling back to Manila to honor several commitments as part of his job as congressman of the province of Sarangani. The Filipino southpaw also missed some early-morning roadwork due to playing basketball at night, not to mention skipping one day in training after contracting sinusitis. But with at least three weeks before fight time, Arum said Pacquiao still has time to get himself into shape. "Absolutely, he has plenty of time to get into shape and be the old Manny Pacquiao," stressed the man who also promoted boxing legends Muhammad Ali, Marvelous Marvin Hagler, Oscar De La Hoya and Floyd Mayweather Jr. "He's got plenty of time back in Los Angeles to work on his skills and get ready for the fight," added Arum, who also stressed that he would have been happier “if he (Pacquiao) left for L.A. last Saturday." Pacquiao is set to break camp tomorrow, resume training in Manila for a couple of days, and then fly to L.A. for the final phase of his preparation at the famed Wild Card gym of trainer Freddie Roach. Arum added that Margarito is in "tremendous shape" as reported to him by Top Rank matchmaker Bruce Trampler. But then he believes that a Pacquiao in tip-top shape would simply be too superior even against a top-caliber opponent in the mold of Margarito. "If he is the old Manny Pacquiao, he’s too fast and too talented to get beaten by Margarito," Arum said. “But this Manny Pacquiao is not enough." - KY, RCJ, GMANews.TV