Pacquiao Vs. Margarito Gets Personal as Fight Date Approaches

With HBO's "24/7" reality show leading the charge, the hype machine for the upcoming Manny Pacquiao - Antonio Margarito boxing match on November 13th has been running full blast this week. The fight, set to take place in the Dallas Cowboy's massive new stadium, is all set to surpass previous attendance figures in Pacquiao's recent victory over Joshua Clottey in the same venue.

While all serious boxing fans know about the back-story regarding Pacquiao and Margarito, allow me to quickly break it down for those who might have missed out.

Antonio Margarito was set to fight Shane Mosley in 2009 when Mosley's trainer discovered what appeared to be a hard substance in Margarito's hand wraps the night of the fight. The "substance" was later discovered to be plaster, as it is said that when the fighters hand sweats, it would cause the plaster to harden thus leading to a more punishing punch.

Margarito has denied time and time again that he ever had any knowledge of the illegal wraps, but despite his strong position, many fans have pushed him aside calling him a cheater and a disgrace to the sport.

Fast-forward to 2010, as Manny Pacquiao is set to take on Margarito is a fight many boxing fans hope can save 2010 from being known as a flop-year for the sport. The world-famous Filipino has been elected to Congress in his home country, but some have claimed that he is struggling to balance his new-found political career with boxing.

To add fuel to the fire, a video (said to be about four or five weeks old) has been released showing Margarito's camp mocking opposing trainer Freddie Roach. It is well documented in and out of the boxing world that Roach suffers from a form of Parkinson's disease, however claims have been made by those close to Margarito saying that they had no intention of mocking the trainer because of the disease. One fighter shown in the video, lightweight up-and-comer Brandon Rios, apparently went as far as to say that he didn't even know what Parkinson's was.

While both relatively unknown, Rios and trainer Robert Garcia seem to be taking to the idea that "any press is good press", where as an established fighter like Margarito would likely benefit from avoiding this type of negative publicity. Regardless of the outcome of the fight, it will surely be a war in the ring; particularly now that things have gotten a bit more personal.