By William Mackay: As much as the hardcore boxing fans are angry and upset about Bob Arum saying that Manny Pacquiao will be fighting Antonio Margarito on November 13th, I think the fight will still end up doing incredibly well on pay per view, and possibly almost as good as the Pacquiao vs. Miguel Cotto PPV numbers.

That fight generated 1.25 million buys, which was a big success for a Pacquiao fight. Margarito-Pacquiao may not come all the way to that number, but I think it’s going to be very close. I’ve seen where a lot of hardcore boxing fans are saying that they won’t bother purchasing the Pacquiao-Margarito fight and that they’ll boycott the fight because they’re turned off towards Margarito because of his hand wrap scandal, because he’s not licensed to fight in the United States, and mostly because he just doesn’t seem to have earned a title shot since being stopped last year by Shane Mosley.

However, this fight will do incredibly well for a couple of reasons. Number #1, Pacquiao’s loyal fans will purchase this fight in just as high numbers as they’ve always done. They really don’t care who Pacquiao fights. They’ll back him against anyone no matter what. So right off the bat, Pacquiao is going to have at least 500,000 to 700,000 buys just from his loyal fans. Margarito, for his part, will then draw at least 300,000 from the Mexican community in the United States.

I don’t think Margarito is as popular as Juan Manuel Marquez, but I think he’s popular enough to bring in good numbers on his own.

As for the backlash for Margarito due to the hand wrap scandal, I don’t see this being a factor at all. Most casual boxing fans don’t have a clue about things like that. I speak them all the time and they only have scant knowledge about difference fighters. The only thing they’ll know is that’s told to them by the HBO analysts after they order the fight, and by then it will be too late. The HBO Pacquiao/Margarito 24/7 series, which will likely be put together to hype the fight, won’t be talking about the Margarito scandal.

The fight and the 24/7 series is going to attract a ton of casual fans, who just don’t have knowledge about who Margarito is, what he did in the past, the fact that he’s struggling now and not looking as good as he used to. Fans will just purchase it based on the fact that the fight is being hyped.