"Margarito was picked 'cause he's easy to hit and made for Manny. It's gonna make him look good fighting a bigger guy, but the guy is slow and drained," stated world-class trainer Roger Mayweather, who expressed his opinion loud and clear regarding the November 13 clash between Manny Pacquiao and Antonio Margarito, a fight that's on the verge of being officially announced any day now as soon as Margarito recieves his boxing license from the Texas Athletic Commission. The WBC Jr. Middleweight title will be on the line when both men step into the ring and although the maximum allowable weight for the division is 154 pounds, both fighters have agreed to meet at a catchweight of 151 pounds. Those two facts have really struck a nerve with Mayweather and, according to him, trying to make that weight will ultimately be Margarito's undoing.
"The weight will beat Margarito. He ain't fought but once in over a year. Manny will have a rough fight on his hands, but only for a little while early on," Mayweather would tell John Martinez of FightChronicles.com. The fact that the fight is taking place at a catchweight for a vacant belt has Mayweather seriously questioning the validity of the title fight. "154(pounds) is 154. Junior middleweight is junior middleweight. Period. Anyone saying anything different don't know boxing," he explained before taking another personal shot at Pacquiao. "He's been fighting under weights that he challenges at. He didn't fight Oscar [De La Hoya], Ricky [Hatton], or [Miguel] Cotto at 147. He's always weighing in less and had them drain their bodies to make weight. It's like cheating." For the record, someone should remind Roger Mayweather that Pacquiao's bout with De La Hoya was indeed contracted at the 147-pound weight limit of the welterweight division. Furthermore, his bout with Ricky Hatton took place at 140 pounds in Hatton's natural jr. welterweight division.
In fact, the only time Manny Pacquiao has fought at a catchweight was when he faced Miguel Cotto at 145 pounds. Regardless, Mayweather stands firm on his belief that no title fight should take place at a catchweight. "Look. If you're gonna challenge a mutherfucker that's in a higher weight class, then fight at the required weight or don't challenge him at all and if you're gonna fight for a title at a bigger weight class, then respect that weight and title and fight at 154...Catchweights don't belong in title fights at all," he added. "How is this a title fight? One guy ain't fought in the division and the other guy's been out serving a suspension for possible cheating and fought only once this year at 154...Either way, it's a shit fight because neither motherfucker has done anything to earn them the right to fight for this title in this weight class."