By Dave Lahr: Antonio Margarito (38-6, 27 KO’s) likes his chances against the smaller Manny Pacquiao (51-3-2, 38 KO’s) on November 13th, in their fight at the Cowboys Stadium, in Arlington, Texas. Pacquiao and Margarito will be battling down the vacant World Boxing Council (WBC) junior middleweight belt without either of them having much if any experience at that weight. Pacquiao has never fought at junior middleweight and appears to have been pushed ahead of the top contenders in the division based on his past accomplishments rather than the rankings. It’s an odd situation, to say the least. Pacquiao will be shooting for his 8th world title in as many divisions, which would be an accomplishment I could respect if the fight weren’t being he held at a catch weight of 151 pounds rather than the full weight for the division of 154 pounds, and if some of Pacquiao’s other title wins had come against the very best fighter in the division and not just one of the four champions.

Pacquiao recently captured the WBO welterweight title at a catch weight. Margarito says in an article by Nick Giongco at the Manila Bulletin that he is “Bigger and stronger” compared to the 5’6” Pacquiao. Unlike Pacquiao’s recent opponents, Margarito is going to take the fight to him and try to bury him with punches. Margarito understands what he needs to do to beat Pacquiao, saying “It’s a question of putting a lot of pressure on Pacquiao. In this weight, I am stronger than him. I feel confident of knocking him out. I have a lot of respect for Filipino people, but I am sorry to tell them that I will be the one who will win this fight.”

I couldn’t have said it any better than Margarito. I think he’s going to thrash the living daylights out of the little Filipino on November 13th, and I don’t even see this as a competitive fight. Margarito is incredible shape already and ready to take Pacquiao out with a tornado of punches. Pacquiao’s opponents since moving up in weight against Oscar De La Hoya in December 2008, have let Pacquiao control the tempo of the fight. Pacquiao hasn’t had to worry about getting hit a lot, which is good for him because he’s so small that he would likely be broken apart if he gets hit too much by these bigger fighters.

Top Rank promoter Bob Arum, who promotes both fighters, probably thought this was a winnable fight for Pacquiao because it’s highly unlikely he would risk his cash cow against someone that he thinks would end the gravy train at this point. But Margarito is going to beat Floyd Mayweather Jr. to the punch by ripping apart Pacquiao and giving him another loss to go along with his other three.