Manny Pacquiao: Is He Too Distracted To Focus on Antonio Margarito Fight?

Manny Pacquiao has been widely criticized for his "extra-curricular activities" during his eight weeks of training and preparation for his first attempt at breaking history records as the first professional boxer to win eight times in as many weight divisions.

Pacquiao's training in preparation for his fight with giant Mexican Antonio Margarito coincided with his hard-fought win outside the ring as a neophyte congressman representing Sarangani province in southern Philippines.

As an elected public official, Pacquiao is bound by law to render service to his constituents and to the public in general.

While training under the watchful eyes of the Hall of Fame trainer Freddie Roach, Pacquiao has been criticized by his own fans and the public in general for not giving out his full attention to his training and physical conditioning.

While in Baguio City in northern Philippines for the initial phase of his training, Pacquiao had to skip training on at least two occasions.

First, he traveled to Manila from Baguio City to attend to some social functions which was in line with his work as a public official. The second time he had to break from his training schedule was when the President of the Philippines summoned him to Malacanang Palace for an important meeting.

On top of his social functions as a public official, Pacquiao had to contend with bad weather including a powerful typhoon that hit the northern part of the country including Baguio City where he maintains his training camp.

Pacquiao has also been criticized for playing basketball after his regular physical conditioning and sparring sessions. Pacquiao loves to play basketball and enjoys the game second to boxing.

There were other minor distractions that Pacquiao had to contend with during his training in Baguio City, including media interviews and some local social functions.

The Philippine segment of Pacquiao's training for his upcoming date with Antonio Margarito has been a "nightmare" for trainer Freddie Roach.

Halfway through his training in Baguio, Pacquiao got a surprise visit from his promoter, Bob Arum who was frustrated with what he saw in the training camp.

Arum noticed Pacquiao's sluggishness during his sparring sessions. He said Pacquiao could lose if his fight with Margarito took place on the week he arrived at the training camp in Baguio City.

After watching Pacquiao in one of his sparring sessions with Glen Tapia and Michael Medina, Arum said he did not see the speed that Pacquiao should have if he wants to defeat Margarito,

Halfway to the fight, Freddie Roach and Bob Arum were one in saying Pacquiao was not ready to face Margarito if the Filipino boxer could not regain his usual speed.

Boxing critics agree that Pacquiao's advantage over the Mexican boxer is his speed and without regaining it in time for the fight, he will most likely lose to Margarito.

Margarito edges Pacquiao in terms of size, height and reach.

Freddie Roach was happy to be back in his own Wild Card Gym three weeks ago to start the second phase of training which was more focused on how Pacquiao could regain his usual speed.

Unfortunately, Roach failed to anticipate more distractions coming his way towards the second phase of training at the Wild Card Gym.

Just a day after they arrive from Manila, Pacquiao slipped to San Diego to join his ragtag basketball team in an exhibition game with a local team.

A few days later, Pacquiao flew to Las Vegas, Nevada to endorse the reelection of US Senate Majority Floor Leader Harry Reid.

Still, Pacquiao had to honor Jimmy Kimmel's invitation to join him in his popular "Jimmy Kimmel Live" TV show on a popular request from fans. In the show, Pacquiao sang a popular Beatle song "Imagine" with Will Farrell.

Pacquiao's TV appearance on "Jimmy Kimmel Live" show was the last of his most talked-about distractions.

With barely a week before fight night, Freddie Roach and strength and conditioning coach Alex Ariza announced Pacquiao has finally regained his usual speed.

The announcement came after the team led by Ariza decided to reduce Pacquiao's weight and in just a few days Pacquiao was back to his original fighting speed.

Less than a week before fight night, Pacquiao said he has regained his usual speed and announced he is ready to face the giant from Mexico.

Is Manny Pacquiao too distracted to focus on Antonio Margarito Fight?

From the looks of it, Pacquiao was never distracted in his training as he appeared to be  enjoying what he was doing. What actually bothered him was his inability to regain his speed which his coach later found out to have been caused by his added weight.