Pound-for-pound champion Manny “PacMan” Pacquiao sparred for 10 rounds to hone his speed, while Antonio Margarito’s workout is tapering down from 12 rounds to eight rounds as the protagonists put on the finishing touches to their preparations for their November 13 fight.

Both camps expressed satisfaction with the progress of their training camps during separate interviews, with less than three weeks to go to their fight for the vacant World Boxing Council junior middleweight title.

Filipino superstar Pacquiao went three rounds each with new sparring partners, four rounds with Ray Beltran and three more rounds with David Rodela at trainer Freddie Roach’s Wild Card Gym in Hollywood in Los Angeles.

“He is doing better,” his strength and conditioning trainer Alex Ariza said of Pacquiao’s second day of training in the United States.

Team Pacquiao old-timer Rob Peters, who also serves as PacMan’s bodyguard when the Filipino champion is in the United States, said that Pacquiao displayed flashes of his tremendous hand and foot speed against the new set of sparring partners.

Beltran and Rodela had worked in Pacquiao previous training camps, but they traded leather with the Filipino icon for the first time in his preparations for the Margarito fight.

In Oxnard, which is about 90 kilometers away, Margarito had his usual early morning run for about an hour and worked out in the gym with for two hours, according to his head trainer Robert Garcia.

“We are beginning to taper down. Yesterday Tony [Margarito’s nickname] sparred 12 rounds with four different guys,” Garcia said by phone.
“Tomorrow, Wednesday [Thursday in Manila] we’ll be doing just eight rounds, trying to perfect our game plan.”

He added that Margarito has logged about 125 rounds of sparring and is on to even exceed their target of 160 to 170 rounds.

“He will continue to spar every other day as we continue to taper down, and gradually take off that 4 or 5 extra pounds [before weigh-in]. We are right on track and Tony is really looking good,” Garcia said.

The fighters have agreed to a 150-pound catch weight for the vacant World Boxing Council junior middleweight (154 pounds) title.
Garcia said that he expects Margarito to weigh at about 158 pounds on fight night.

He added that he thinks that physically and mentally, Margarito is at his best shape for the biggest fight of his career against the heavily favored Pacquiao.

Garcia dismissed reports suggesting that Pacquiao may be coming to the fight not completely prepared.

“Fighters and their trainers have their own way of doing things, and we don’t expect Pacquiao to come a fight this big not fully prepared,” he said. “Of course, we want Pacquiao to come at his best, so there would be no excuses when Tony beats him.”

Informed of Pacquiao’s assertion that he would attack Margarito from the opening bell, Garcia had a quick reply, “Then it’s going to be an early night [for the Filipino boxer].”

Garcia repeatedly said during previous interviews that their game plan is anchored on Margarito constantly pressuring Pacquiao in every round to negate Pacquiao’s speed and to prevent him from dictating the tempo of the fight.

Margarito observed that Pacquiao has had trouble when being attacked—and actually being hurt—by a smaller opponent like Juan Manuel Marquez.

He told Hispanic journalist Albert Alvarez during a separate interview that he wants to see Pacquiao react when he puts him under constant pressure in the ring.

“Manny is going to have a bigger, taller fighter in front of him—a fighter that throws constant punches, a fighter that does not stop putting pressure,” Margarito told Alvarez of Diamond Boxing. “We’ll find out how he handles that on fight night.” By Jun Medina, Special