By Keith Darren: Antonio Margarito is one hell of a fighter and being regarded as one of the best welterweight boxer until his hand wraps controversy which resulted to his suspension from boxing for one year. But before that, he was one of the most fearsome slugger avoided by other fighters. On November 13 at Cowboy’s Stadium in Dallas, Texas, Margarito will be given a chance to prove that he is still a force to reckon with, and most importantly, to redeem himself from that controversy which nearly cost his career.
But Margarito’s task is so enormous that he needs to exert all he can to prepare for the fight because he will be facing the pound for pound king and likewise a brute force in boxing, also known as the Mexicutioner, Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao.
Big men had fallen, some didn’t made it to the last round, when they fought the Pacman. Will Margarito suffer the same fate like those who came, who saw, but never able to conquer? Will Pacquiao remain to his billing as the Mexicutioner and the pound for pound king? The answer to these questions lies solely on Antonio Margarito, if he can deliver what Pac haters want, if he can deliver Pacquiao to canvass, or if he can deliver Pac the loss he never wanted. Turning back in time, when Margarito fought several wars, let’s look back at some of his fights.
In his 30th professional fight on March 16, 2002 at Las Vegas, Margarito meet Antonio Diaz for the WBO welterweight title vacated by Daniel Santos. Diaz had vastly more experience than Margarito; he had beaten Cory Spinks and Micky Ward and had fought Shane Mosley. Diaz came on strong, timing a rusty Margarito to land crisp rights and body shots. It wasn’t until Round 7 when Margarito’s higher work rate took effect. A notorious late starter, Margarito began scoring hard uppercuts with both hands, including a right in Round 8 that snapped Diaz’s head back. In Round 10, Margarito landed five left uppercuts to drop Diaz. After more battering against the ropes, Diaz’s corner tossed in the towel and referee Jay Nady stopped the fight; Margarito was a champion.
After four welterweight title defenses, Margarito take a second crack at Daniel Santos on September 11, 2004 at Hato Rey, Puerto Rico, fighting for the WBO junior middleweight (154-pound) belt. Santos weighed 170 by fight night, but he came out swinging, trading blows to please his home-country crowd. He took an early lead, scoring clubbing lefts and combinations. Margarito jangled him with a short, hard right in Round 5, opened up and landed plenty more — but Santos slugged back, fighting off the ropes in what was shaping up to be a classic slugfest. Then came head-butt trouble, again. Santos’ lunging, reckless style and southpaw stance caused heads to collide, as they had in their first meeting. In Round 6, a head clash opened a gash over Margarito’s right eye. Santos took advantage, landing combinations and working the cut. Margarito surged in Rounds 7 and 8, but Santos scored a big right in the ninth and banged the cut open with lefts. As Round 10 began, referee Luis Pabon stopped the fight, and the decision went to the judges, who gave Santos a close, split decision. It was Margarito’s first loss in eight years and the end of his journey above welterweight.
On December 2, 2006 at Boardwalk, Atlantic City, Margarito faced Joshua Clottey. Margarito had fought just one round in the prior 19 months, and his ring rust showed. Clottey darted in and out and made the busy Margarito miss repeatedly — either by ducking back or absorbing Margarito’s punches on arms held high. Clottey gave Margarito fits before slowing just enough to let Margarito seize control of the fight. Margarito wins by decision in 12.
In his bout against Paul Williams on July 14, 2007 at Carson, California, Williams’ plan was to “strike fast and put the early rounds in the bank,” and he did. In early rounds, the 6-foot-1 Williams was an impossible target, jabbing incessantly out of his southpaw stance, sticking, ducking, moving unpredictably from side to side, using his greater reach to keep a distance, and tagging Margarito with a long left. By the end, Williams had nearly doubled Margarito’s punch output and landed almost 10 times as many jabs, 606 to 61. The unanimous decision gave Williams a title that Margarito had owned for five years, and it forced Margarito to climb back up the mountain.
Margarito met Cintron two times. The first, in April 2005, Margarito completely dominated him, flooring Cintron four times in a five-round TKO blowout. The rematch on April 12, 2008 was a lot like the first meeting. Starting in Round 2, Margarito was all over Cintron. A barrage of head shots staggered Cintron in Round 5, and then a brutal left-handed body shot in the sixth put Cintron down for a 10 count. With the win, Margarito was back on top — and finally bound for a long-awaited superfight against Miguel Cotto.
Margarito’s last fight was against Roberto Garcia. In that fight, Antonio was not the fighter as he used to be. He was rusty that he won the fight against slower and smaller Garcia via unanimous decision. His performance was far beyond when he was fighting Cintron, Williams, Clottey and other guys he dominated. Some people think it was because of his absence from boxing for about a year. And some says it was because he had no hand wraps that made him powerful in his previous fights.
I can’t help but notice that Margarito was a slow starter, and that’s aside from the fact that he had a hard time against a southpaw of which Pacquiao is. Two of his losses were against southpaws, Santos and Williams. Against Pac, you can not start slow or he’ll gonna pump you up with his powerful combinations and take early lead, and worst, he can knock you in two rounds as what he did to Hatton. Margarito defeated Clottey because Joshua slowed down in the fight. Pacquiao can fight until twelve rounds and never slows down. In his previous fights, Pac had the stamina and strength that stays the same from round 1 to 12. Like Margarito, Pac is also a volume puncher and can deliver powerful combinations. But can Margarito use his height and reach to his advantage? Pacquiao had been against bigger guys, and he knows how to deal with guys like Margarito. He will let his opponent jab with their left (if he’s an orthodox) and Pac will stride to his right (left of opponent) thereby avoiding opponent’s right punch and making their left body vulnerable to Pac’s left punches. Pac uses this style more often and is very obvious in his fight against Delahoya. Antonio’s plan was to put pressure on Pac, but with Pac’s agility, quickness and effective footwork, that seems remote. Margarito has to corner Pac and push him against the rope, and then apply pressure by barrage of punches to the body then upstair to the head. Can Margarito do this? Yes, if he will survive the first rounds where he was slow, or if he will be able to use his height and reach to his advantage. Or else, the Tijuana Tornado will just be a part of Pac’s statistics, and will further prove that Manny is true to his billing as the “Mexicutioner”.
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