By Chris Williams: With all the possible opponents out there for Manny Pacquiao to fight on November 13th, he and his promoter Bob Arum have picked fellow Top Rank fighter Antonio Margarito. It could have been someone interesting like Paul Williams, Sergio Martinez, Andre Berto, Shane Mosley, or Timothy Bradley. But instead we have Pacquiao fighting a guy that was recently totally wiped out by Mosley last year and who looked average in beating the little known fighter Roberto Garcia at junior middleweight in May.
And when you throw in the fact that Margarito was found with plaster of paris on his hand wraps before his fight with Mosley, it makes you wonder why Pacquiao and Arum selected Margarito. But whatever the case, Margarito has been selected for Pacquiao to fight next and now that Margarito has his boxing license to fight in Texas, Pacquiao will be taking him on at the Cowboy Stadium, in Arlington, Texas. So should Pacquiao get credit if he beats Margarito in November or will this win already be tainted because of how terrible Margarito has looked in his last two fights?
For me, I don’t even see this as a worthy opponent for a contender, let alone to fighting for a seven time champion like Pacquiao. Will a win over a fighter like Margarito mean anything? If he’s not the best in the division and if he’s only fought once at that weight in the past six years, how is this win even worthy of mentioning? I know Pacquiao’s loyal Filipino fans will see this as a great victory and ignore the fact that Margarito has looked horrible recently.
A lot of Pacquiao’s fans will see this as proof that he’s the best fighter in the junior middleweight division, even though Margarito hasn’t proven that he even deserves to be fighting for a title. With fighters like Sergeii Dzinziruk, Paul Williams and Sergio Martinez available for Pacquiao to fight, he ends up fighting Margarito. I hate to say this but I think Margarito would be totally destroyed by those guys. I see this fight as an exhibition bout against a fighter that is really no longer relevant in the welterweight division and who hasn’t proven worthy of a shot at the vacant WBC title. For me, I don’t I don’t think Pacquiao should get any credit if he beats Margarito. If anything, I think it will tarnish his resume because it will be another fight at a catch weight, and a bout against another fighter who had recently been beaten at the time Pacquiao was put in with him.
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