By Dave Lahr: Manny Pacquiao beat his fellow Top Rank stable mate fighter Antonio Margarito by a 12 round decision on Saturday night to win the vacant WBC junior middleweight title. Although boxing fans are excited about the fight, you have to put the win in perspective. Margarito was stopped last year by Shane Mosley, and looked bad in his recent fight against fringe contender Roberto Garcia earlier this year. Margarito hasn’t looked the same since he beat Miguel Cotto two years ago. Margarito had a size advantage over the shorter Pacquiao last Saturday night, but Margarito doesn’t use his reach when he fights shorter opponents like Pacquiao.

Instead of using his long arms to fight at a distance, Margarito likes to fight in close and gives up his height. This was the perfect opponent for Pacquiao to fight, because Margarito was no only on the downward slide in his career, but he was also a welterweight and not a junior middleweight. Pacquiao captured the paper World Boxing Council junior middleweight title, but it’s pretty much meaningless because Margarito isn’t a real junior middleweight. Instead, he was positioned to fight Garcia to get a temporary high ranking for Pacquiao to fight instead of facing a real junior middleweight like Sergio Martinez that would have an excellent chance at beating Pacquiao. Margarito fought as usual, giving up his height advantage by trying to crowd the shorter Pacquiao.

A long armed junior middleweight would never make this mistake, but it was great match-making on Pacquiao’s team’s part by choosing Margarito you have to say.

Margarito was cut under the right eye in the 4th, and struggled along until hurting Pacquiao with a left to the body that almost dropped Pacquiao in the 6th. If Margarito had continued to work Pacquiao’s body, he likely would have stopped him, but Margarito spent too much time aiming his shots for the head of Pacquiao, and as most people know, Pacquiao’s got a head like a piece of granite rock. He doesn’t get hurt by head shots. The way to hurt Pacquiao is to go to the body and do nothing else but throw body shots. Margarito wasted his opportunity.

After the 6th, the fight was pretty much over because Margarito fought a stupid fight after that and let Pacquiao win by not keeping his distance, not throwing to the body and not using his jab. It was a bad fight for Margarito.

I hope Pacquiao is finally matched with some good fighters after this, but I don’t think it’s going to happen. Their probably going to match him up with Shane Mosley, 39, so that Pacquiao can get a win over a named opponent for a change. That’s a terrible fight, even worse than the Margarito fight. Mosley is totally shot and probably 10 to 12 years past his prime years. That’s who I see Pacquiao fighting next.