Pacquiao's Trainer Upset by Margarito's Mockery

Hard Feelings: Drama between Pacquiao's trainer and Margarito may spill over to Saturday's big fight.

A video of Antonio Margarito and his sparring partner mocking Manny Pacquiao’s trainer Freddie Roach popped up on various boxing websites, and Roach took it personally.

“I didn’t like it,” he declared at the press conference preceding Saturday’s big fight. “I had trouble sleeping last night. I want to fight all those guys myself, but I’m too old. I’ll never talk to any of those guys again.

“This shows who those guys are. What I have is something boxers attain when they get hit a lot, like Margarito does. I hope he doesn’t get this.” Roach boxed professionally for nearly a decade.

“He was making no fun of it (Roach’s Parkinson’s),” said Top Rank’s Ricardo Jimenez as he stood beside Margarito and served as translator for the 32-year-old fighter who faced the media.

In the short video taken a few weeks ago in Oxnard, Margarito and training partner Brandon Rios were shown at least apparently mocking the uncontrollable shake of Roach’s hand.

“When I was shaking my hand I was saying I’m really scared of Manny Pacquiao,” explained Margarito. “And people misunderstood that. It was a misunderstanding. I respect [Roach] as a great trainer.”

Margarito wondered aloud how relations between the two camps had degenerated so much.

“We were friendly (at the start) but they were saying a lot of stuff about ours, too,” said Margarito. Roach had mocked Margarito some time ago after he climbed into the ring wearing armored gloves at his training camp.

It was a clear allusion to the illegal handwraps Margarito was caught wearing for the Shane Mosley fight in 2009. That incident led to a one-year suspension.

“It’s normal. It’s been a long promotion and we’re bouncing back and forth but it’s nothing. It’s a sport and we’re gonna fight on Saturday, and then move on,” said Margarito.

Margarito’s head trainer Robert Garcia apologized to Roach during the press conference, but Roach seemed to ignore him.

“There’s one thing I want to clear up before it gets bitter,” Garcia said. “Two of my fighters made fun of Freddie Roach but it has nothing to do with Freddie’s disease, because that I wouldn’t allow in my gym.”

“I talked to Brandon Rios this morning and told him everybody’s thinking that we’re laughing at people with the disease, and he said he didn’t know Freddie has it,” he added.

“It is unreal that they said they didn’t know I have Parkinson’s,” said Roach. “Everyone knows I have Parkinson’s. I won’t speak to him ever in my life.”

DALLAS