By Jason Kim: Trainer Freddie Roach thinks that former two-time welterweight champion Antonio Margarito (38-6, 27 KO’s) would be an easy fight for World Boxing Organization (WBO) champion Manny Pacquiao (51-3-2, 38 KO’s), and would like to see Pacquiao fight him rather than fighting Miguel Cotto once again. In an article by Michael Rosenthal of The Ring, Roach, who trains Pacquiao, said “Would be like as if Margarito would be walking into a meat grinder.”

What seems strange is why Roach, if he really believes that Margarito is an easy mark for Pacquiao, would still want to see them fight. This is a lot like when Pacquiao fought Cotto when Miguel had recently been ripped apart by Margarito and had also taken a ton of punishment in a close win over Joshua Clottey. Pretty much everyone could see that Cotto had no chance to beat Pacquiao that he hadn’t looked like the same fighter since the loss to Margarito and was going to get brutalized by the Filipino star.

And this is exactly what happened. Now, Roach is interested in seeing Margarito fight Pacquiao despite the fact Margarito was easily beaten last year by Shane Mosley in a 9th round TKO loss. Margarito looked incredibly average in his comeback fight after the Mosley bout in a win over little known Roberto Garcia in May.

Why isn’t Roach interesting in seeing Pacquiao fight guys like Paul Williams, Sergio Martinez, and Andre Berto? Those would seem like more interesting bouts than watching Pacquiao beat up on a fighter like Margarito, who has zero hand speed and very little defense.

Roach says “I think Margarito would be more interesting for the fans [compared to another fight between Pacquiao and Cotto]. They’ve already seen Cotto.” True, a fight between Margarito and Pacquiao would be more interesting than seeing Pacquiao beat up on Cotto again, but not much more interesting. Margarito is so painfully slow and so wide open defense that it’s not even funny.

If a 38-year-old Mosley was able to take Margarito to school, what are the odds that Pacquiao will end up doing the same thing? If that’s the only choice available for Pacquiao to fight – Cotto or Margarito – then by all means Margarito is the better option simply for the fact that Pacquiao hasn’t just finished knocking him out. But why are Cotto and Margarito the only choices? What’s up with that? I see both of those choices as being awful.

“Cotto was in the fight [with Pacquiao] for about four rounds and that was about it,” Roach said. “Margarito has been a pretty dominant fighter, except for the Mosley fight. Cotto is at a higher weight now. And maybe there’s some interest because of the world title. And, who knows, maybe having Emanuel Steward in his corner will make a difference. That might add some interest.”

I doubt Steward will make any difference whatsoever in a second fight between Cotto and Pacquiao, unless Cotto can bring Steward in the ring with him to run interference while Cotto tries to land shots. Cotto looked just as hittable as before in his recent win over fellow Top Rank fighter Yuri Foreman in June. It was the perfect opponent for Cotto to fight – someone with a bad right knee, no power, and totally unproven against upper tier opposition. Cotto won but so what? He beat someone that wasn’t 100% for the fight physically, had no power and had never fought anyone near Cotto’s class.

And Margarito may have dominated most of his opposition during his career, but the loss to Mosley, and the plaster-like material that was found in Margarito’s hand wraps before the fight, makes you wonder why Margarito is even being considered as an option for Pacquiao. Margarito’s loss was totally one-sided to Mosley, and the hand wrap issue made it even worse.

How, after all that, could Margarito be even considered for a fight against Pacquiao? It doesn’t make sense, and I can’t see that fight selling any better than Pacquiao’s recent win over Joshua Clottey. And I don’t agree with Roach in thinking it will be interesting fight between Margarito and Pacquiao. I supposed it will be interesting if you like watching mismatches, but that’s about it. Margarito has no chance and will lose as badly as he did against the 38-year-old Mosley.