By Chris Williams: Despite Antonio Margarito still not having a boxing license to fight in the United States, HBO is already planning on putting together an HBO Pacquiao-Margarito 24/7 series, which will be shown in four parts, according to Dan Rafael of ESPN. Frankly, I think this fight isn’t worth one episode, let alone an entire series. But if HBO is willing to pump money into putting together a series for a fight that may end up doing poorly on pay per view, more power to them. It might take more than a four part series to interest a lot of casual boxing fans in this fight because Margarito isn’t a popular fighter in the United States, and was also recently beaten last year by Shane Mosley.

I wouldn’t say that Margarito shot fighter, but he definitely doesn’t look like the same guy he was two years ago in his prime when he was beating guys like Miguel Cotto and Kermit Cintron. Something is missing with Margarito, both in his work rate and his power. I’ve seen a fighter lose it all of a sudden, but I’ve never seen them lose both power and work rate overnight the way that Margarito did. That is a real weird thing and I can’t understand what’s happening with him. But I sure don’t see the Pacquiao-Margarito bout being material for an HBO 24/7 series.

I think it will the fight generate more PPV buys, but Margarito really hasn’t been seen in over a year for most boxing fans in the U.S. and it seems like really, really bad timing for Bob Arum to have selected Margarito to fight Pacquiao. With all this stuff about the loaded hand wraps, why on earth did Arum choose Margarito to fight Pacquiao right now? And HBO wants to create a 24/7 series on this fight? Boy, I think that’s not a good idea. It’s like pouring money into something that isn’t worth it. If Arum wanted to really do well, he’d put this fight at a discount rate; say $10 and then market the fight aiming towards the angle of ‘how fast can Pacquiao knock out Margarito.’ I just don’t see the point in this fight.

If I was an HBO executive, I wouldn’t put an HBO 24/7 series on this because I wouldn’t see it as a fight that will bring in a lot of fan interest. I see this fight as Joshua Clottey type fight, not something that’s going to bring in 1 million buys. At best, I see this fight maybe doing 700,000 but I doubt that. And Arum has visions of putting it in the Cowboy Stadium, in Arlington, Texas. I don’t know what it is about Arum and stadiums, but I think this fight belongs hidden away in Abu Dhabi.

Like I said, sell it at a steep discount of $10 and Arum will make a killing with this fight. I can see it doing much better than if he goes ahead and sells it for $49.95. I’ve talked to a lot of my Filipino friends and none of them – not one – say they’re going to buy the Pacquiao-Margarito fight. They keep asking me, “Why is Pacquiao fighting that guy>?” Good question. I have no idea.