Manny Pacquiao vs. Antonio Margarito: On-Site Weigh-In Report

Cowboys Stadium is abuzz with fans and media for the weigh-in festivities for the Manny Pacquiao-Antonio Margarito card. The stage is set up just inside one end of the massive facility, with a large number of fans behind the working members of the press.

My vantage point is right behind the DJ, who is cutting and mixing furiously to get the crowd hyped up. The ESPN crew is to my left, with Brian Kenny getting ready to broadcast and Dan Rafael in the midst of an epic online chat.

Here's a minute-by-minute account of the proceedings (all times Central):

4:30 pm - Promoter Bob Arum welcomes everyone to the weigh-in, even mixing in greetings in Tagalog and Spanish. Lupe Contreras takes over to actually bring out the boxers. While thanking the sponsors, Contreras mentions that Fight Night Champion will be coming out in March 2011, so all boxing fans who are also gamers will want to remember that.

There are vocal Filipino and Mexican contingents on hand. If they are representative of how the whole crowd breaks down tomorrow night, Margarito may not have as much of a home field advantage as many people have speculated.

Incidentally, the very last deck of Cowboys Stadium is curtained off. But they will still be able to pack plenty of people into the place for the fight.

4:32 - The undercard weigh-ins begin. First up is Notre Dame alum Mike Lee, perhaps the most notable name on the non-televised portion of the card. Lee weighs in at 175 and one-fourth pounds, while opponent Keith Debow comes in at 172 and one-fourth pounds.

4:34 - Time for the televised fighters to step up. Brandon Rios gets some boos as he takes the stage with his opponent, Omri Lowther.

Rios tips the scales at 140 and one-fourth pounds, a bit heavy for a supposed lightweight bout, while Lowther is also a bit heavy at 137 and one-half. There is a brief scuffle after words are exchanged, and Lowther shoves Rios during the stare down.

4:36 - Undefeated former gold medalist Guillermo Rigondeaux looks serious as he comes in at 121 and one- half pounds. He'll be competing for an interim junior featherweight title against Ricardo Cordoba, who weighs just half a pound less.

4:39 - Completing the run of televised undercard bouts is Jesus Soto-Karass versus Mike Jones. Soto-Karass is just a tad over the welterweight limit at 148 pounds, while the undefeated Jones is under weight easily at 145 and one-half pounds.

4:41 - We've got six more pairings of undercard fighters to hit the scales before we go live to coincide with the ESPN broadcast. There is a nice mix of local, Filipino and Mexican boxers rounding out the card.

4:52 - WBC president Jose Sulaiman is booed lustily by the crowd as he presents a "Man of the Year" award to Cowboys owner Jerry Jones. Or maybe Jones is getting booed, it's hard to say.

In any case, Jones drops this line which is unintentionally hilarious considering the mess the Cowboys season has become: "What a privilege it is to be hanging around with all these winners." Jones also thanks all of the boxing fans for coming out.

4:54 - Michael Buffer takes over and announces the main event fighters will be coming out in just eight minutes. The DJ does an excellent mash-up of "Eye of the Tiger" and "Stronger" by Kanye West.

5:01 - Margarito and his team enter stage right. One of the members of his entourage is carrying a large Mexican flag.

5:02 - Now Pacquiao and Freddie Roach approach from the left. The Cowboys cheerleaders also join them on stage.

5:06 - Buffer announces Margarito, who earns the expected mix of boos and cheers. With the Mexican flag waving, he weighs in right on the button at the contracted weight of 150 pounds.

5:08 - Pacquiao is also greeted by a mixed reaction, but it is soon drowned out by a loud "Manny" chant. True to his word of not coming in too heavy, Pac-Man weighs 144.6 pounds.

5:10 - Margarito smiles and gives thumbs up gestures to his supporters. He's serious for the staredown, but both he and Pacquiao quickly resume smiling as they pose with the WBC belt.

Both fighters are ushered off to TV interviews. The stage is set for an exciting night of boxing tomorrow night.