Antonio Margarito isn’t letting his guard down much, but HBO has penetrated the defenses of Manny Pacquiao and Freddie Roach in this week’s premiere of its “24/7” buildup to the Nov. 13 Pacquiao-Margarito bout in Texas.
Trainer Roach, for example, doesn’t fight the mob that surrounds him at a mall in Baguio -- a passel of schoolgirls from the Justin Bieber demographic. This demonstration of Roach’s popularity in the Philippines is not the core of the episode, but Roach’s sweet reaction to that flattering attention is symbolic of what we see happening to Pacquiao.
That’s whose defenses are really down. You will love the guy more than ever after watching “24/7,” but you will come away less convinced that Pacquiao will destroy Margarito in the manner he has done away with Oscar De La Hoya, Ricky Hatton and Miguel Cotto since his move to welterweight two years ago.
Keep in mind that Pacquiao’s No. 1 job as a congressman is trying to fulfill tons of requests from constituents for help and congressional intervention. It gets personal. If a few little girls can soften up Roach, imagine how a few thousand needy citizens provoke Pacquiao’s best intentions.
We’ve been hearing reports that Congressman Pacquiao is having trouble giving boxing his undivided attention, and “24/7” makes it easier to see why helping people is becoming a more rewarding profession than punching people for Pacquiao.
Training for a fight is a delightful diversion, he seems to be saying, but the public servant gig is starting to preoccupy him.
“It worries me a little bit when he says he misses his job. Because then I know it’s in his mind,” Roach says. The trainer is candid about what this means Pacquiao is risking by taking on his largest target yet, at a catch weight of 150. He thinks Manny will prevail, but that his boxing career is nearing the finish line.
“We haven’t lost him to politics yet,” Roach says, “but someday soon we will.”
Margarito’s loss to Shane Mosley in January 2009 finished Margarito’s run as an immovable object who was smothering every welterweight in sight, including Cotto. But he’s not finished as a fighter, and he is looking better-conditioned than Pacquiao with less than a month to go.
The episode revolves largely around Margarito’s I-had-no-idea defense of his hand-wrapping scandal that unfolded at the Mosley fight. Speaking low-key in Spanish amid subtitles, Margarito seems slightly insincere, and manager Javier Diaz (in English) is even less convincing, although new trainer Robert Garcia seems sold on Tony’s innocence, and that is a strong endorsement. (I’ve conversed with Garcia, who trains Bay Area star Nonito Donaire, and he is a thoughtful, impressive person.)
Margarito seems determined to win hearts – and redemption -- in the ring Nov. 13, and not before.
Pacquiao says for the record that Margarito has been punished, and now, “We have to give him a chance to recover his career.”
But Pacquiao lets down his guard by scoffing at Margarito’s account of the scandal. “Of course he knew!” Pacquiao exclaims, never before so animated on camera while speaking English than he is a couple of times in the new episode. “Common sense!”
Pacquiao giggles as he mocks Margarito’s rationale in a shtick that has Margarito averting his eyes while Javier Capetillo is doing the deed. It’s a very effective assault.
But Manny’s prospects for dismantling Margarito in the ring, while still more favorable than not, are left wide open to second thought in this thoughtfully produced episode.
Source: Examiner.com
