Tension mounts at final Manny Pacquiao – Antonio Margarito presser
Drama continued to spew Wednesday between Manny Pacquiao and Antonio Margarito’s camps when they met in Dallas for their last presser before squaring off at the Cowboys stadium this Saturday.
In recent days events have taken a personal turn between the two camps, with Pacquiao’s trainer Freddie Roach claiming Margarito should have been charged with “alleged murder” for attempting to fight Shane Mosley in 2009 with loaded hand wraps.
Then Bad Left Hook and others criticized team Margarito for a recent video in which they poked fun at Roach for having Parkinson’s disease, which outraged and came off as extremely distasteful for many in the boxing world.
Wednesday at the press conference Yahoo Sports’ Kevin Iole acquired a number of meaningful quotes, including one from Garcia about the Parkinson’s comments. According to Garcia, his team “didn’t know” Roach had the disease, spurring even more chagrin from
some.
Scott Christ of Bad Left Hook responded: “there is absolutely no way in h**l that Antonio Margarito and Brandon Rios didn't know that Freddie Roach has Parkinson's disease. There is not a 0.5% chance that they didn't know. I understand why they're trying
to side-step the issue or get it to go away, but it's like they want to keep walking on land mines.”
After being accused of loading his hand wraps in 2009, Margarito likewise testified and still maintains he ‘didn’t know’ about the wraps. Blame was promptly placed on former trainer Javier Capetillo.
At the press conference Roach also seemed much more optimistic about his fighter than in previous weeks. He said: “when we got to L.A., the real Manny Pacquiao showed up.”
Conditioning coach Alex Ariza seconded the optimism: “I can assure everybody that Manny is in 100 percent condition.”
Pacquiao will be fighting for his eighth division title, a feat hitherto unprecedented in the sport.
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