World pound for pound boxing king Manny Pacquiao is a prohibitive favorite against Mexican Antonio Margarito, with whom he will do battle for the alphabet soup World Boxing Council super welterweight crown on November 13 (November 14 in the Philippines).
Although Margarito is taller, bigger and arguably the harder puncher, his last two fights suggest he may no longer be the feared boxer he once was.
Pacquiao, on the other hand, has been on a roll, piling up 12 straight victories since losing to Erik Morales in 2005 while continually moving up in weight.
Pacquiao also morphed from a whirlwind knock-out puncher into a more complete boxer while still retaining his explosiveness as well as crowd pleasing style.
While the Filipino southpaw, who is now member of Philippine Congress, is known for his aggressiveness, he has also managed to develop an underrated defense such that no opponent has really tagged him with four or five punch combinations at a given time during this incredible stretch.
Since moving up in weight as a full-blown featherweight, Pacquiao also has never been knocked down, even against the heaviest punchers in the weight classes where he toiled and earned his keeps.
Margarito, however, is a unique challenge for Pacquiao if the Filipino is to keep that unblemished record during the last five years.
For one, Margarito, along with Miguel Cotto, is one of the couple of boxers that current pound for pound rival Floyd Mayweather Jr had avoided. Pacquiao already stopped Cotto who was also KOed by Margarito. Margarito, however, has yet to erase the stigma of being called a cheat for trying to load up his hand wraps in his fight with Shane Mosley. For that, he was suspended for one year and his comeback fight against Robert Garcia in May this year was far from impressive.
But Margarito could quickly turn the tables around if he manages to pull an “upset” against Pacquiao. He certainly has the tools to shock the boxing world.
If Margarito can manage to land stinging jabs, which he must double or triple up, he may able to set up his powerful right against Manny. Pacquiao is also not used to being bullied around and it is important for Margarito to establish his dominance in the early rounds and go for a knockout inside the first half of the fight. With Pacquiao, you simply have to take your chances because Manny will come charging at you, but won’t be there at the blink of an eye once he's done breaking you down slowly. That’s how quick and speedy Manny is.
Or if you wish, you may lay a trap against Manny by waiting for him to commit and then throw counterpunches in bunches. The only fighter who came close to knocking down Manny using this technique was Juan Manuel Marquez. I doubt however if Margarito can load up his punches as quick Marquez does.
You also need to give Manny different angles and see to it that you can avoid his onrushing style.
It is important to upset Manny’s rhythm if you want to pull an upset. The last man to do that was the 2005 version of Erik Morales, but only because Manny suffered a huge gash over his right eye - caused by a head butt, by the way - which affected the Filipino’s vision.
It will take a boxer that has the combined skill set of a prime Erik Morales and Juan Manuel Marquez to finally end Manny’s winning streak.
Margarito, however, is simply too old to learn new tricks. Margarito will be his old self when he faces Pacquiao in November. He will be an aggressor and will come charging forward – a bad strategy against Manny who throws powerful punches from weird angles.
If Margarito does that, I will have to agree with Pacquiao's coach Freddie Roach that the Mexican will look like a younger Oscar de la Hoya against Manny Pacquiao. And he will suffer the same fate as the man described by Roach as the one who can’t pull the trigger anymore.
Source: asiancorrespondent.com
