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Poor Antonio Margarito. If his fight with Manny Pacquiao happened before he was knocked almost out of the ring by Shane Mosley, he would have been the heavy favorite heading into their fight. He would have received more than the US$3 million that is reported to be his guaranteed purse. His skills and strengths would be filling the columns of newspapers everywhere.
Instead, Pacquiao’s supposed inescapable retirement and which round Margarito is likely to fall have been the hottest sidebar stories with barely three weeks left before the two clash in Arlington, Texas – home of the Dallas Cowboys.
Margarito’s outcast image - for being caught trying to cheat with his hand wraps against Mosley - is doing him in and it took away his reputation as once one of boxing’s most feared fighters.
Good thing for him. He has Bob Arum as his promoter who happens to also promote Pacquiao.
Bob Arum, after all, is the master of hard sell. Why? He could even sell a mismatch short of pitting deposed flyweight runner, err champion, Ivan Calderon against another disgraced champion ‘Iron’ Mike Tyson and still be proclaimed the irascible genius.
For taking on Pacquiao, Margarito will earn the biggest paycheck of his life when all the upsides of the pay per view proceeds are counted in.
So when Arum says he is not satisfied with Manny’s state of training and that the Filipino buzz saw is a tad slow these days, give it to him. Arum was just both expressing concern for Manny and at the same time showering boxing fans with intrigue and drama.
Manny, after all, is his biggest cash cow and without drama and intrigue, the fight could bomb. At least by Manny’s standards.
Now, the pressure is on Arum to sell 1.3 million PPV buys to make true his promise to bring Manny laughing all the way to the bank with US$25 million in gross earnings and Margarito with his US$10 million total.
Well, if I am in the shoes of Margarito, losing like others suggest he will lose to Pacquiao will not be so bad after all. Ten million dollars is a fortune. And if on the side of luck, he pulls an upset, it would make his fortune even more savory.
After all, everybody loves a winner.
Source: asiancorrespondent.com
