Bantamweight Jonathan Ba at has scored a 1^st round TKO over Ma Yi Ming in a battle of southpaws in a scheduled eight round bout at the Sangyo Hall in Kanazawa, Ishikawa, Japan.

With the win the  29 year old Filipino from Davao City who fights out of Ishikawa improved his record to 15-3-2 with 8 knockouts. The end came at 1:02 of the opening round.

It was Ba at’s seventh straight win after a ten round unanimous decision loss to undefeated Kohei Oba on October 14, 2007, the Japanese bantamweight champion who lost by a unanimous decision  to Malcolm Tunacao in an Oriental and Pacific Boxing Federation title fight on July 11 this year.

Margarito told a media gathering at the Rodeo Room of the Beverly Hills Hotel in Los Angeles to kick of his showdown with pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao at the Dallas Cowboys Stadium on November 13 “”I want to show everyone I’m still a good fighter. Now is the present, let’s forget about the past.”

While Pacquiao was his usual humble self even as he faced-off with a fighter some four inches taller he made it clear, as he did in an exclusive interview with the Inquirer and ABS-CBN prior to leaving for Los Angeles,  that he was not buying Margarito’s claims that he did not know about the illegal hand-wraps.

The Mexican tornado was suspended for one year by the California State Commission which refused to grant him a license even after he had served the suspension.

Pacquiao predicted “It is going to be a great, great fight that the people will want to see. I believe Margarito has the capabilities to give a good show. He fights impressively, aggressively and he is bigger and stronger than me.”

With multi-titled trainer Freddie Roach returning from the Ukraine where WBA welterweight champion Vyacheslav Senchenko successfully defended his title against brawler Charlie Jose Navarro of Venezuela, conditioning expert Alex Aria pitched in saying they had a tough fight on their hands adding “Every opponent is bigger and stronger but, ultimately, Manny Pacquiao prevails.”

Ariza also appeared to take up the cudgels for Margarito when he said “There’s nothing despicable at all (about Margarito)” although he told us earlier the Mexican had to know about the illegal hand-wraps.

Concentrating on the upcoming fight for the vacant WBC super welterweight title for which Margarito was given a license by the Texas Commission that drew praise from the WBC, Ariza predicted  “It’s going to be a war and probably, maybe the Fight of the Year.”

Trainer and former world champion Robert Garcia who trains Nonito “The Filipino Flash” Donaire said that Margarito is “very dedicated” even as he conceded that Pacquiao is “a great fighter and a great champion.”

Garcia praised Margarito as a tremendous fighter and believes they are “going to make history” by beating Pacquiao who is going after his eighth world title in an eighth different weight division.

Pacquiao’s adviser Michael Koncz said he felt it was absurd to criticize Margarito and even Pacquiao for giving the Mexican a chance to earn big money pointing out that Margarito was suspended and served his suspension. Koncz said “It’s over. If you’re not going to support the fight, then don’t criticize it.”

World Boxing Council president Don Jose Sulaiman has issued a statement praising the Texas Commission for granting Antonio Margarito a license, so he could face pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao for the vacant WBC super welterweight title at the Dallas Cowboys Stadium on November 13. Here is the WBC statement.

“It gives great pleasure to the World Boxing Council to see the honest, respectful and positive attitude of the Texas Boxing Commission as they issued Mexican fighter, Antonio Margarito, a boxer´s license, and he will be able to fight Manny Pacquiao this coming November 13th, at the Dallas Cowboys Stadium, in Texas.

The World Boxing Council and the Mexican boxing commissions respect the punishment given by the California State Athletic Commission of one year of suspension for Antonio Margarito, when we think that Margarito was not guilty of the bandages placed by his trainer, action that we do consider one of the biggest violations of boxing rules, reason for which the trainer was suspended for life.

It seemed very strange to the World Boxing Council that the California State Athletic Commission refused to accept to grant Margarito his license after the hearing held with the boxer, as the reasons that were published were that they did not believe Margarito was sorry for what he had done – Sorry for something that he did not do? Also that he had trained in a gym in California without having a license. Is it not possible for anyone to freely train in any gym?

And finally, there is a letter signed by the manager who was suspended for life in which he states that Margarito never knew the bandaging system that was used.

The bout between Pacquiao and Margarito will be a fight that will stir up interest in all the world, as both of them are elite boxers.”

Pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao doesn’t believe Antonio Margarito’s claim that he  didn’t know about the illegal hand-wraps that were discovered prior to his fight against Shane Mosley in which Margarito suffered a 9^th round TKO and lost his WBA super world welterweight title at the Staples Center in Los Angeles on January 24, 2009.

In an interview with the Inquirer and ABS-CBN’s Dyan Castillejo prior to his departure for Los Angeles for the kickoff of the three-city promotional tour for the November 13 showdown for the vacant WBC light middleweight title against Margarito at the Dallas Cowboys Stadium in Texas, Pacquiao bluntly stated “I don’t believe him. Of course he knows about that (the illegal hand-wraps). Its his hands and he watches the taping.”

Pacquiao claimed Margarito denied he knew that a substance believed to be plaster of Paris was placed on his hand-wraps because he was “looking for a way out so his reputation won’t be damaged among his fans.”

However, Pacquiao softened his remarks by noting that Margarito had “paid his dues by sacrificing and not fighting for one year. I hope he learned his lesson and will not repeat the same mistake.”

At the same time Pacquiao said he is not taking any chances, pointing out “we can watch his hands being wrapped because our agreement is we will have two representatives led by my coach (Freddie Roach) to watch the taping.” Reacting to the comments of some boxing writers who wanted him to punish Margarito for what he did Pacquiao said “ no, I can’t do that. He is good fighter. He’s big and skilled and also has power.” Pacquiao added “we will do what we are capable of so that we will win for our country.”

Pacquiao said he will begin training after he returns from the media tour over the weekend following stops in New York and Dallas and although he is not certain as yet where he will set up his training camp, the most likely venue will be Baguio City where he trained for the WBO welterweight battle with Miguel Cotto last November 2009.

Both multi-titled trainer Freddie Roach and conditioning expert Alex Ariza have indicated a clear preference for Baguio with Ariza telling the Inquirer they had “a great training camp for Cotto and Baguio is ideal.”

Pacquiao predicted “its gonna be a good fight because Margarito likes to come forward all the time and throw punches and that’s what we like – plenty of action. For sure there’s going to be a lot of action in the ring and it won’t be like the Joshua Clottey fight” where the Ghana fighter merely took the punches thrown by Pacquiao and hardly fought back.

He said Margarito is better than Clottey and “is a very aggressive fighter.” While conceding that the much taller Margarito will make it “ difficult for me, we have to study his style carefully.” Pacquiao compared the upcoming clash with Margarito to his fight with the similarly taller Oscar De La Hoya who quit at the end of the seventh round after taking an unmerciful beating.

Pacquiao said he was “very thankful to Jerry Jones for being supportive of boxing especially in this coming fight which will be in the Cowboys Stadium because we drew 51,000 fans for the last fight against Clottey and I don’t know how many people will come this time.”

The “Fighter of the Decade” assured fight fans that his mission is “to train hard and to give a good show again.”

While serving as the representative of the lone congressional district of Sarangani since his landslide victory in the May 10 elections, Pacquiao confessed “I missed boxing and it seems so long that I was not in a boxing ring. I am excited to start training.”