By Jim Dower: Antonio Margarito weighed in at 154 pounds during Friday’s weigh-in for his scheduled 12 round fight against Ramon Alvarez on Saturday night at the Rosarito Convention Center, Mexico, Baja California. The Margarito vs. Alvarez fight will be televised on beIN Sports Espanol (USA), TV Azteca 7 (Mexico). Alvarez weighed in at 155lbs.
Alvarez is one of Saul “Canelo” Alvarez’s brothers. He’s ranked #12 by the World Boxing Council at 154. The 29-year-old is not seen as a major talent in the division like his brother Canelo. Even if Ramon Alvarez were to get a title shot against WBC champion Jermell Charlo, he would be hopelessly overmatched and it wouldn’t be much of a fight. Alvarez will likely be over-matched against Margarito on Saturday night because he’s not a world class fighter.
Margarito might be up there in age at 38, but he’s a world class fighter and former IBF/WBA/WBO welterweight champion. Alvarez has never shown the kind of talent to win even one world title, let alone three like Margarito.
Margarito’s surgically repaired right eye looks in bad shape. This is the one that he suffered a fractured right orbital bone in his loss to Manny Pacquiao in 2010. Margarito has had several surgeries to repair the problem, but the surgeries have left his eye looking bad. Margarito’s boxing skills don’t look the same as well. In Margarito’s last fight against Jorge Paez Jr. last March, he struggled to pound out a 10 round decision. Margarito was knocked down in the fourth round by Paez Jr. He got back up and fought well to get the 10 round decision win. Margarito was out of the ring for almost five years from 2011 to 2016.
Margarito is remembered by many boxing fans for his hand-wrap scandal from his fight against Shane Mosley in 2009. Since then, Margarito’s record is 2-2. Before that fight, Margarito had been doing well with recent wins over Miguel Cotto, Kermit Cintron and Golden Johnson.
“I’ll be better than in the fight against Paez Jr. I was rusty after nearly five years of retirement,” Margarito said via espn.com. “I’m not the young man of before, but I’ll be looser in my movements. I don’t disparage any opponent, but with all due respect, on the street when I’m asked who I’m fighting, if I say ‘Inocente Alvarez’ they don’t know who it is. But when I say ‘Canelo’s brother,’ they know. I’m going to win on (Saturday).”
Margarito hopes that a win over Ramon Alvarez will lead to him getting a fight against Canelo. You definitely can’t rule that out because Golden Boy Promotions has been matching Canelo against a lot of older fighters lately with recognizable names but not being a threat to him due to their age or lack of size. Canelo vs. Margartito would play well to the casual boxing fans. It wouldn’t help Canelo’s reputation with the hardcore fans, but it’s unclear whether he would be too bothered about upsetting that segment of his fan base.
“We have been working on explosiveness and speed. I feel much better than in my camp before Paez Jr. I will go out to win, do my job. Neither his brother, nor all his family will be in the ring, only Ramon. We are ready for a war,” said Margarito.
Margarito should win this fight based on his high work rate, boxing skills and his higher pedigree. Ramon is a decent fighter, but he has no business fighting a guy with the kind of skills that Margarito possesses.