Last night (October 30), HBO aired the second installment of their 24/7 series on Pacquiao-Margarito.
The episode showed some of the first footage we’ve seen of Manny Pacquiao in sparring. The clips showed Pacquiao mostly on the receiving end of punches, but this was of course edited footage to drive home Roach’s comments of Manny having bad training days. Next week, we’ll get a better update of Pacquiao’s progress now that he’s moved from his native Philippines to Los Angeles for final training preparations.
On the opposite end, Margarito looked in tremendous shape. The sparring clips showed him working over his partners against the ropes. He hopes to implement the same strategy against the Filipino phenom. Margarito also dismissed Pacquiao’s wins over De La Hoya, Cotto and Clottey, stating that unlike them he would never retreat or stop throwing punches.
The most controversial matter from the episode was Margarito’s camp making light of the hand wrap controversy. His team attempted to wrap his hand in a cement block, while Margarito parodied Pacquiao’s imitation of him last week. The Tijuana Tornado’s November 13 fight will be just his second bout since serving a year suspension for attempting to use plaster-like hand wrappings against Shane Mosley.
Was Margarito out of line? Watch the entire episode below and judge for yourself.
PART 1
PART 2
Beats, Boxing and Mayhem 