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There’s been a lot of bad blood and trash talking over the past couple of months and now it’s time to put up or shut up for  boxers Manny Pacquiao (51-3-2, 38 Kos) of the Philippines and Antonio Margarito (38-6, 27 Kos) of Mexico. They’ll meet in the ring at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington Texas on Nov. 13^th for the vacant WBC Super Welterweight Championship. If Pacquiao wins, it’ll be his eighth championship in eight different weight classes, a world record.

Everybody’s put their two cents worth in with this fight as we’ve seen both camps go to-to-toe in the insult department, including the fighters, trainers and even their sparring partners and stable mates. A lot of the trash talk has concerned Margarito’s label as a cheater, which he earned back in January of 2009 when he was caught with a plaster-of-Paris type substance in his hand wraps moments before entering the ring against Shane Mosley.

The wraps were changed and Mosley knocked him out in the ninth round. However, Margarito and his then-trainer Javier Capetillo were each suspended for a year by the California Boxing Commission. Since then, Margarito has had to endure taunts of being a cheater and many fans feel he had been loading up his gloves in previous fights, before he was finally caught by Mosley’s trainer Nazim Richardson.

Margarito also didn’t endear himself to people when a video was recently released on the internet in which he could be seen making fun of Pacquiao’s trainer, Freddie Roach, who has a mild case of Parkinson’s disease. The out-of-the-ring activity has just brought more attention and hype to a fight that didn’t really need it as it’s a solid matchup.

Margarito will have the edge in size and weight as he’s a natural welterweight and this fight is actually being fought at a catch weight of 151 lbs. Pacquiao has the edge in speed and mobility, but many fans and Roach feel he hasn’t been concentrating like he should during training camp. This is because the popular Filipino was elected to congress in his homeland this year and has been attending political functions as well as been appearing on television and talk shows. He also loves playing basketball and singing.

However, if he’s focused, most boxing experts feel he’ll simply be too good for Margarito, especially since his hand wraps won’t be tampered with.

Manny Pacquiao vs Antonio Margarito Betting Odds and Prediction

Margarito got off lucky in the eyes of most people as he should have been banned from boxing for life and sent to jail for tampering with his hand wraps. Somebody could have been seriously injured or even killed in the ring. For that alone, he deserves to lose this fight, but will he is another question. Pacquiao is smaller and more skilled, but he’s been decked before and often leaves himself open during his constant punching. But if he keeps the pressure up he should win this fight as Margarito won’t be able to handle the pace. Look for a unanimous decision or late stoppage.

Sportsbook bodog.com has the odds of a Pacquiao win at 1/6 while Margarito is at 15/4. The odds of a draw are 33/1.