Anthony Wilson recaps the first episode of HBO's 24/7 Pacquiao-Margarito Series and gives his thoughts on next month's PPV match-up.
I don’t think I really believe Antonio Margarito when he claims - as he does yet again during the debut episode of HBO’s "24/7 Pacquiao/Margarito," which premiered Saturday night as part of the build-up to the November 13th clash on HBO pay-per-view – that he was unaware that his hand wraps contained illegal content prior to his January 2009 fight with Shane Mosley.
Freddie Roach surely doesn’t believe him.
"In my opinion, did he know? 100%, yes," says the superstar trainer in the premiere of this latest installment of the hit reality mini-series. "You would definitely know."
Nor does Roach’s mega-star pupil, and Margarito’s opponent three weeks from now at Cowboys Stadium, Manny Pacquiao.
Star-divide
"Of course he knew!" Pacquiao says. "What do you think of us, stupid? ‘Oh coach, put my hand wrap on my hand, I’m going to close my eyes.’ Like that right, right? Common sense!"
Nor do most fight followers.
Which is (one of the reasons why) the upcoming fight between the most popular fighter alive and the most disgraced fighter alive has drawn the ire of boxing fans, who detest the idea of an assumed cheater of the highest order like Margarito receiving a big pay-day ($3 million guaranteed and up to $8 million when it’s all said and done, Bob Arum recently revealed) and big-fight opportunity of this magnitude.
The devout Christian Pacquiao, however, believes Margarito deserves a second shot.
"We have to give him a chance to recover his career," says the Pacman. "We’re just human. We’re not perfect."
No matter how you feel about the fight, it’s on its way, and Pacquiao is the heavy favorite. Though significantly smaller than the 5’11", arguably at least two divisions larger naturally Margarito, the 5’6" Pacquiao’s far superior hand and foot speed are expected to carry the day against an opponent who looked less than stellar in, albeit, winning a 10-round unanimous decision over Roberto Garcia in his comeback fight in May.
With that being said, red flags are arising. In May Pacquiao was elected Congressman of the province of Sarangani in his native Phillipines, and Roach blames his fighter’s newfound political duties for a Baguio City-based training camp that he says is behind schedule.
"I think Congress is getting in our way a little bit. I didn’t think it would but it has a little bit," Roach says. "His focus isn’t right so he’s not consistent. Going into big fights and so-forth, you can’t have even the slightest distraction. It could throw a guy off."
Margarito, on the other hand, is in no need of motivation as he looks to redeem himself by shocking the world and beating Pacquiao. And the episode reveals that, while many have speculated that Margarito will struggle making the 150-lb catchweight the junior middleweight title fight will be fought at, he is already at 158 pounds with four weeks left in his Oxnard, CA-located camp. Contrast that to his poor showing against Mosley, when, we learn, Margarito had to cut 35 pounds in a short 7-week camp before the 147-pound championship match. Physically, Margarito looked quite drained that night, and mentally he was as well, out of sorts following the fiasco that had taken place in his dressing room just a little earlier.
He was not impressive against Garcia, even in victory, but we need to remember that he was fighting for the first time in 16 months, so it was reasonable for him to be rusty.
Can Margarito pull off the upset? Let us assume, for a second, that he is, at 32, with a style that does lend itself to wear and tear and without a possible reliance on illegally loaded gloves, merely 80 percent of the fighter that he was before his downfall – but with that 20 percent lost compensated for with sheer determination. And let us also assume, for a second, that he will be fighting only 80 percent of Pacquiao, that other 20 percent of him resting in his congressional seat (assuming Roach is being sincere with his concerns, and not just trying to drive up drama for the fight). At that point, does size finally matter in a Manny Pacquiao fight? With his recent dominant wins over larger men at the larger weights, Pacquiao has made a near mockery of the historic importance of size in boxing (and really, fights in general).
"That’s my role, to fight a bigger guy," says Pacquiao, laughing. "Like Oscar [De la Hoya]…[Miguel] Cotto…[Joshua] Clottey…[Ricky] Hatton."
"After Manny beat Oscar, I asked Manny, ‘Who do you want to fight next?’ Roach discloses. "He said, ‘Margarito.’ I said, ‘Manny, he’s a little too big.’ He says, ‘No, I’ll destroy him.’
"There’s going to be a point there somewhere where we might be too small. I don’t think this is it."
But could it be? Even moreso than was the case in Pacquiao-De la Hoya, this is a fight between two men of entirely different body types. And unlike the shot, weight-drained, and with-nothing-left-to-prove Golden Boy that Pacquiao sent into retirement, there is a chance that Margarito has something meaningful left, and he has everything to prove. Mosley cracked Margarito’s vaunted chin, and they say that’s a sign of bad things to come, but does Manny punch as hard as Mosley? I’m not certain he does. Could 100 percent of Margarito (80 percent ability+20 percent motivation) beat 80 percent of Pacquiao? Is that not possible?
Margarito seemed to me the picture of a man on a mission Saturday night. And I just can’t shake the feeling that, contrary to popular belief, he’s got a real shot in this thing.
Source: theboxingbulletin.com
