Pacquiao Begins Wild Card Training
MANILA, Philippines - Manny Pacquiao hardly showed the ill-effects of jet lag when he showed up for training at the Wild Card Boxing Club on Monday afternoon (Tuesday morning in Manila), something his conditioning coach Alex Ariza said was a good sign with less than three weeks remaining before the Nov. 13 encounter with Antonio Margarito in Dallas. "Considering that he had just arrived, you'd think jet lag would affect him but he was good today," said Ariza on Tuesday after Pacquiao's first training day after spending the first four weeks in Baguio City and Manila. Pacquiao arrived in Los Angeles on Saturday night and after spending some time with his Filipino-American friends the following day, Pacquiao reverted back to his old and familiar ways, doing his morning roadwork at Griffith Park before reporting for duty at the Wild Card on Monday. There was no sparring scheduled but there will be some body banging on Tuesday when a new set of sparmates, headed by Armenian Vanes Martirosyan, reports for duty, aching to collect the $1,000 bounty in the event they succeed in putting Pacquiao to the floor. Ever since Roach came up with that idea years ago, nobody has succeeded in lifting Pacquiao off the floor in sparring, a testament to his superb talent and topnotch conditioning. Over at Oxnard, which is 45 miles from Los Angeles, Margarito said he has succeeded in correcting some of his mistakes under the guidance of trainer Robert Garcia, who will be working the Mexican's corner for only the second time. "Robert (Garcia) has brought a lot of new things into my training regime. We have been correcting a few mistakes. I don't feel the change from [former trainer] Javier Capetillo, although each one of them has a different way of training. I am quite pleased with them; the truth is that we have corrected a lot of mistakes, even though this is only the second training camp we have done together. I believe we're going to do much better with him on board," wrote Margarito in his diary for ESPN. Margarito said he was unimpressive the last time he fought in May because of the inactivity stemming from his suspension for loading up his wraps with a hardening substance. "Now I will be the same old fighter that puts all the pressure and leaves everything in the ring. The comeback after the suspension cost me a little bit, but everything is back to normal now, and on Nov. 13 we are going to demonstrate it. I will be the same boxer I was before, the fighter that leaves his heart in the ring, and on Nov. 13 we will be able to demonstrate it."
Reposted From Manila Bulletin
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