By Jason Kim: Trainer Freddie Roach thinks that Antonio Margarito is the second best opponent out there for Manny Pacquiao, aside from unbeaten Floyd Mayweather Jr., who Roach would absolutely love to have Pacquiao fight if possible. In an article by Michael Marley at Examiner.com, Roach says “Obviously, I wanted Mayweather but this guy [talking about the 32-year-old Margarito] is the second best guy out there. I was keen on a third bout against Juan Ma [Manuel Marquez] also. I just want to shut the fighter up and a third fight would do that.” It would be interested in learn what Roach means by saying that Margarito is the “second best guy,” when he just finished having his socks boxed off by Shane Mosley last year in a 9th round knockout loss.

Is Mosley not a good option because he was easily beaten by Mayweather? That didn’t stop Pacquiao from fighting Ricky Hatton after he was easily beaten by Mayweather. I can’t agree with Roach about Margarito being the second best guy. I think Mosley is a better option than Margarito, and with a lot less baggage as well. But I also see better fighters than Margarito in the junior middleweight division. I’m not sure if Roach sees Margarito as the most popular option but not neccessarily the best fighter to be put in with Pacquiao if he were looking for a competitive fight.

If I were to rank Margarito in the junior middleweight division, I’d have to put him behind Paul Williams, Sergeii Dzinziruk, Miguel Cotto, and Vanes Martirosyan. I think those guys are better than him. Margarito may have beaten Cotto in the past, but I question the validity of that win now. But I don’t see Cotto as a good option for Pacquiao now or next year, because of Cotto’s one sided loss to Pacquiao last year.

He’s an option years from now but not anytime soon unless Bob Arum is just looking to fight Pacquiao and against in house fighters over and over again. But I think Andre Berto and Juan Marquez are much better options than Margarito, but they don’t fight for Arum, so that makes them bad options. I would rate Berto and Marquez far above Margarito in terms of making it a competitive fight and getting fans interested.I would feel differently if I hadn’t seen how easily Margarito was beaten by Mosley, and how bad he looked against Roberto Garcia this year.