CASPER
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LOS ANGELES – Antonio Margarito can only say he's sorry so many times.
His penitence long ago turned into frustration, and he takes it out on every sparring partner, each conditioning drill, every heavy bag he punches into submission while preparing to face Manny Pacquiao.
Nearly two years after a hand-wrapping scandal almost ended his boxing career, Margarito still insists he didn't know his former trainer had placed illegal pads atop his fists. He's still banned from fighting in California and Nevada — but the commissions can't stop him from training in peaceful Oxnard or a noisy Hollywood gym.
With a new trainer who claims to see significant flaws in Pacquiao's vaunted skills, Margarito is determined to capitalize on the chance to take on the pound-for-pound champion Nov. 13 in Texas in a big-money fight that few believe he deserves.
"It's been really tough, but this is a great opportunity for me, and I have to take full advantage of it," Margarito said through a translator before a workout at the Fortune Gym on Sunset Boulevard. "It's always been difficult for me. They always put tough fights in front of me, and never expect me to do anything, but that's what made me into the fighter I am."
Training is a refuge for the former welterweight champion, and two months of monastic hard work have improved Margarito's mindset heading into the fight that could catapult him back atop the sport — or condemn him to also-ran status, unable to fight on his native West Coast.
His frustration with the Nevada Athletic Commission's blunt refusal to consider his appeals and the California commission's intransigence on his suspension has been funneled into determination to win a fight in which few give him a shot.
His penitence long ago turned into frustration, and he takes it out on every sparring partner, each conditioning drill, every heavy bag he punches into submission while preparing to face Manny Pacquiao.
Nearly two years after a hand-wrapping scandal almost ended his boxing career, Margarito still insists he didn't know his former trainer had placed illegal pads atop his fists. He's still banned from fighting in California and Nevada — but the commissions can't stop him from training in peaceful Oxnard or a noisy Hollywood gym.
With a new trainer who claims to see significant flaws in Pacquiao's vaunted skills, Margarito is determined to capitalize on the chance to take on the pound-for-pound champion Nov. 13 in Texas in a big-money fight that few believe he deserves.
"It's been really tough, but this is a great opportunity for me, and I have to take full advantage of it," Margarito said through a translator before a workout at the Fortune Gym on Sunset Boulevard. "It's always been difficult for me. They always put tough fights in front of me, and never expect me to do anything, but that's what made me into the fighter I am."
Training is a refuge for the former welterweight champion, and two months of monastic hard work have improved Margarito's mindset heading into the fight that could catapult him back atop the sport — or condemn him to also-ran status, unable to fight on his native West Coast.
His frustration with the Nevada Athletic Commission's blunt refusal to consider his appeals and the California commission's intransigence on his suspension has been funneled into determination to win a fight in which few give him a shot.