Pacquiao, Margarito ready to rumble

Speed versus strength. That was never more obvious than when Manny Pacquiao and Antonio Margarito worked out individually for everyone to see Tuesday, before they finally come face to face this Saturday at the Cowboys Stadium for the World Boxing Council (WBC) super-welterweight championship. A raucous crowd gathered at the Longhorn Exhibit Hall of the Gaylord Texan Hotel when the 32-year-old Margarito climbed the ring first and showed his stuff with the help of trainer Robert Garcia. Wearing a black sweat shirt and jogging pants, the Mexican known as "The Tijuana Tornado" waved and smiled at the swarm of people as chants of "Margarito, Margarito!" echoed inside the convention hall. Then again, there was also a bit of taunting as part of the crowd repeatedly called Margarito "cheater, cheater" as he did the mitts with Garcia for three rounds. The mocking was in reference to the illegal hand wraps Margarito was found to have used for his January 24, 2009 fight against Sugar Shane Mosley. The incident led to the revocation of his license by the California State Athletic Commission and a one-year suspension from the sport in the United States. But Margarito just shrugged off the accusations, even throwing his hand wraps to the crowd shortly after his one-hour workout to show he had nothing to hide. “People can think what they want," he said as he signed autographs on some boxing gloves laid on a long table just behind the ring. “The important thing is that I am coming back." Issues were not lacking in Pacquiao’s camp either, what with the spate of distractions spoiling the early part of his training in Baguio City. But a last-minute turnaround in his camp put everything back to normal for the world’s top pound-for-pound fighter, and it showed inside the ring when it was his turn to regale a much bigger crowd later on. Like Margarito, the pound-for-pound king also did three rounds with the mitts with trainer Freddie Roach, worked on the heavy bag and double end, skipped rope ,and had his usual abdominal exercises to cap the session that lasted for about two hours. “He’s ready to fight right now," said Roach as he watched his famous boxer oblige boxing fans by signing autographs and having his picture taken with them. “He’s looking great and we just have too much speed for this guy, I feel," added Roach. Garcia, however, maintains Margarito has that fire back in his eyes, raring to prove he can be a world champion again without the benefit of a doubt. “I feel so and he will tell you the same thing," Garcia said. “He feels better than when he beat (Miguel) Cotto, he feels better than when he won the title for the first time, so he’s in tremendous shape." Margarito trained nine weeks for this fight, which he said was one of his best camps ever, and sparred a total of 173 rounds. The two hard-punching boxers meet for the last time Wednesday (Thursday, Manila time) for the final press conference at the Cowboys Stadium, while the official weigh-in is set Thursday also at the same $1.2 billion stadium that serves as home for the Dallas Cowboys. - KY, RCJ, GMANews.TV