Pacquiao vs Margarito

November 13
At Arlington, Texas (HBO PPV): Manny Pacquiao vs. Antonio Margarito, 12 rounds, for vacant WBC junior middleweight title; Mike Jones vs. Jesus Soto Karass, 10 rounds, welterweights; Guillermo Rigondeaux vs. Ricardo Cordoba, 12 rounds, for vacant WBA interim junior featherweight title.

This weekend's big fight may be much better than it looks on paper. Common sense would indicate that Pac Man – the sport of boxing's most popular Super Star, and arguably the pound-for-pound best fighter today – will out-box, wear down, and eventually stopped Margarito, who is currently considered boxing's blackest eye.

The media coverage of Pacquiao is not limited to boxing, or even sports. He holds elected office in his native land; campaigned for Senator Harry Reid; and seems to be seen everywhere. Margarito, on the other hand, was reduced from near-super-stardom to thief, when caught with “loaded” hand wraps before his title defense against Shane Mosley. Only the dedicated boxing journalists report on him these days, always starting with the obvious question: “How could you not have known?”

Will their fight be a cheesy western flick, with a popular young sheriff coming to town to deal with a shady outlaw? Or could Manny find himself in a tougher confrontation than he is prepared for? The HBO series “24/7” is hinting that Antonio Margarito may pull off an upset, but considering that they are selling the fight on pay-per-view, they have an obvious interest in creating such anticipation.

Pacquiao can be expected to try to keep the fight in the middle of the ring, moving side-to-side to keep Margarito off balance, and using his faster speed of hand and foot to land quick combinations and being gone before Antonio can respond. After six or seven rounds, Manny will look to stay inside the pocket for longer periods of time, and go from body-to-head with fast, hard combinations. Margarito will then be forced to either fight to survive, or be TKOed by the end of the tenth round. Margarito, after all, was thrashed by Mosley, and more, easily outpointed by Paul Williams.

But is it possible for the fight to go otherwise? Well, let's take a look. Freddie Roach had ruled out a fight between Pac Man and Mosley before Shane fought Antonio, simply saying that Shane was “too big.” Indeed, Shane is bigger, physically stronger, and hits harder than Pacquiao. Margarito, however, is as much bigger than Shane, as is Shane than Manny. And there is a huge difference in having a taller, larger man coming forward at you in the ring, than someone shorter. It has to do with their leverage, as well as both fighter's plane of punching power.

Likewise, while Paul Williams easily out-boxed Margarito from long range, he is taller and has a big advantage in reach. Williams recently won a very close, highly disputed decision over Sergio Martinez (their re-match is in a few weeks); Martinez then destroyed Kelly Pavlik. I recently watched Sergio shadow-boxing from ringside; he is so fast that I literally could not get a good photograph of him. He is definitely faster than Pacquiao. Margarito is the last guy who really beat him – in fact, Margarito knocked him out. How? Leverage, the plane of punching power.

Especially body-punching. And by no coincidence, “24/7” shows that Margarito is focused on using his leverage to move his opponent backwards, and landing hard body-shots. Considering that Pac Man has been knocked out by body punches twice before, this raises the possibility that it could be a tough fight for him. Even Sugar Ray Robinson found out that there comes a time when an opponent's size, rather than just his speed and skill level, can be too much for a smaller, much greater champion, to handle over a long fight.

I expect that Manny Pacquiao will win this fight. But it could easily be a heck of a lot tougher than he expects.

He was in Vegas campaiging with Reid! I'm sure it helped a lot!

How I WISH I could watch watch this one and the main card is not the reason why. It is to see Rigondeaux. Ever since I seen him on FNF I always wanted to see him again. Perhaps I could find it online when the time comes. Anyways love the preview of the Pac fight.

I included that for you specifically. And I'll purchase the card primarily to watch him.

He's had some difficulties in focus in the past nine months or so. This fight should get him back on track. There is no better example of the power of a well-placed body punch than he. My brother used to say that it's mighty hard to defend yourself, when you have the wind knocked out of you. A solid left to the liver knocks more than the wind out of you: it makes it literally impossible to stand up for a good 15 seconds or more.

Come on over!

David Haye TKOed Harrison in three rounds in England, setting up at least one fight with a Klitschko brother next year. He is looking to fight Vitali first (I think he should fight Wladimir first).

Margarito will likely come into the ring more than twenty pounds heavier than Pacquiao tonight. It could easily be 25 pounds. Manny trained for speed, rather than strength.

He certainly should win. However, if he does, I do not believe it is because Margaito is shot, or has been impacted too much by his forced lay-off. Instead, it will be because Pac Man is one of the elite great fighters.

Look for him to throw straight counters to Margaito's chin, when Manny goes into the ropes. Antonio has a habit of throwing two or three body punches, hesitating a split-second, moving his upper body back to avoid the usual hook that opponents counter with, then going hard to the head. Manny will certainly attempts to hurt him when Antonio has that split-second break between punches. I know Freddie Roach has covered this.

Still, Manny is a south paw, and when he does his up-and-down at a short distance out of range, he is definitely vulnerable for Antonio's left hook to the ribs & liver. Also, Manny bends down, in a semi-ducking position, with his back to the ropes. Obviously, Margarito has a powerful uppercut with either hand.

Looks to be a good undercard. I wish Kelly Pavlik handed backed out. I do not see him being a force in any division in the future.

Have to say I didn't think he looked that great in this fight.

check your Pm in a minute.

accurate in his analysis. Strange fight -- not exciting, by any means. He has to listen to his trainer, in order to fully transition from the amateurs to the professional ranks.

knockdown with a beautiful body shot -- classic delayed reaction on the opponent's part. But after that, he had difficulty.

Jones expounded a lot of energy though.

Jones wasted about 80% of the punches he threw. "Slow down! Take aim! Make every shot count! Dig to the body when the opponent is hurt!" -- these were the things I was yelling at the screen in that second round, though Jones either could not hear me, or simply didn't pay attention.

Amazing guy.

of credit for this fight. Margarito wasn't an easy opponent, and he clearly hit Pac Man with some very hard punches.

It seems clear that Manny ranks among the great fighters, at that top tier. The fight with Mayweather in early May will be huge, not only in excitement and gate, but in defining their careers. I think it may well be close in the manner that Haglar-Leonard was, with a close, hotly-contested decision that people will argue about for generations. I expect that Floyd will win, but definitely appreciate that Manny goes in with the skills and heart needed to win.

She's Filipina and she knows next to nothing about sports, but she just loves Pacquiao. She says he does wonderful things for his homeland. He gives back a lot of the money he's earned. So if that's good enough for her, it's good enough for me. And Manny Pac apparently destroyed Margarito. So bring on Mayweather.

Thanks for sharing that. Yeah Pacman means the world to his people, and he's shown himself to be a conscientious person and not a bad statesman at all either.

He is most impressive, both in and out of the ring.

At this point, however, I don't think that fight will ever happen.

If you look at the fighters both Floyd and Manny have fought, Floyd has dominated the fighters and besides JMM, Pacquiao fought them after Mayweather had already beat them. BUT, Pacquiao is a more exciting fighter. I still think Floyd is a much better fighter and he's the only one with the speed and power to make Manny pay for the mistakes he makes with his unorthodox style. But i'd rather watch a Manny fight because i know it'll be exciting. When Floyd fights he does just enough to win. He'll dominate early rounds, get fare enough ahead on the cards that the only way to beat him is a knockout and then he'll use his defense the rest of the fight and counter everything the other fighter is throwing. It's effective but boring. Floyd is undefeated and i think he's the better fighter but Pacquiao is the draw and deserves more money if they fight. After the Mosley fight Floyd could've demanded a 60/40 split but know he'll be lucky to get a 50/50 split. If Floyd still wants to insist on drug tests and more money he's crazy. I haven't seen the PPV numbers for Saturday's fight but i'm guessing they are better than the Floyd/Mosley fight. And if they can't come to an agreement on a Floyd/Manny fight then Pacquiao should fight the winner of this weekends Martinez/Williams fight which should be a great fight.

However, Floyd is the largest PPV draw in the sport today. His fights have outsold Pacquiao's by a significant margin. In terms of overall numbers, Manny isn't close to Floyd.

I believe that they will fight on the first Saturday of May, 2011.

But i'm curious to see the numbers from Pac Man's fight versus Margarito. I'm a big Mayweather fan but i get my $49.99 worth everytime i buy a Pacquiao fight, I can't say the same about Mayweather. Here is a breakdown of PPV buys for Mayweather and Pacquiao

Pacquiao vs. Oscar De La Hoya – 1.25 million PPV buys
Pacquiao vs. Miguel Cotto = 1.25 million PPV buys
Pacquiao vs. Ricky Hatton = 830,000 PPV buys
Pacquiao vs. Joshua Clottey = 750,000 PPV buys
Pacquiao vs. Juan Manuel Marquez = 400,000 PPV buys
Pacquiao vs. David Diaz = 250,000 PPV buys

Mayweather vs. De La Hoya = 2.4 million PPV buys
Mayweather vs. Shane Mosley = 1.4 million PPV buys
Mayweather vs. Juan Manuel Marquez = 1.05 million PPV buys
Mayweather vs. Ricky Hatton = 850,000 PPV buys

I didn't realize that Williams had already defeated Margarito.

Since Mayweather is clearly ducking Pacquiao :eyes: , they're talking about either Mosley, or Vol. III vs. Marquez. :boring: Why not Williams?

If Martinez wins this Saturday i think we'll see another Williams/Martinez fight. The first fight was close and i thought Martinez won. After Sergio lost a majority decision to Williams, Sergio came back and dominated Kelly Pavlik. Martinez/Williams I was exciting. If Martinez/Williams II is just as exciting and Martinez wins i expect them to fight again and i would rather see that than a Pacquiao/Williams or Pacquiao/Martinez fight. Williams has been lobbying for a fight against either Mayweather or Pacquiao. Earlier this year Williams fought Cintron at 152 just to prove he could make weight for a catchweight or super welterweight/light middleweight fight against either Pacquiao or Mayweather. Williams hadn't fought that light since 2008. The fight this Saturday is also a catchweight fight. I think Williams is trying to stay around the 154 range because Mayweather and Pacquiao have both fought at the super welterweight/light middleweight level. But Williams better focus on Sergio because Sergio is a good fighter.

an outstanding fight. Williams had been preparing for two other opponents before Martinez was a late substitute. That it can be difficult to transition to different styles was evident in their first fight. Also, Williams believed that Martinez lacked the power to hurt him -- at least until when Sergio decked him in the first round.

Martinez's destruction of Kelly Pavlik was very impressive. Kelly reminds me, in one way, of Tito Trinidad: he can beat anyone who stands in front of him, but movement -- including B-Hop at close range -- keeps them from getting set to deliver their power.

I watched Martinez shadow-boxing this summer. In fact, I attempted to photograph him. The guy is just uncanny! I took a dozen pictures, and almost every single one was of part of the guy -- he is so fast on his feet, and with upper body movement. Just unreal. In my opinion, in order to deal with that (and not only because both are southpaws), Williams must feint and jab, and double-jab, to set up everything else. Concentrate on that jab to stabilize, then go hard to the body.

Martinez, on the other hand, has to again get Williams into the trenches. Now, just as Williams wasn't fully prepared for Martinez, Sergio was not trained specifically for Paul. This weekend, he will take William's biggest advantage -- that unreal reach -- and use it against Williams. Tangle him up. Rough him up on the inside.

When I watched their first fight live, I thought Paul had a slight advantage, but expected it to be scored a draw. If the fight went to Martinez, there could have been no complaints. Watching it over again, I think Paul did deserve the decision. But the second fight will most likely be a lot harder for each man.

Before Williams fought Margarito, I did an article for a boxing web site, in which I predicted an easy, though possibly boring, win for Williams. A friend from Florida contacted me, and said I was on target. He had watched Paul and Antonio spar, and Paul had his number. Just a matter of styles. Margarito's trainer refused to let them spar any more, after a certain point.

I do not think that Freddie Roach, Pac-Man's trainer, would consider having Manny fight either Paul or Sergio. They are just too big, and too fast. Freddie had nixed a fight with Mosley several times, saying Shane was too big. Now that Shane has moved well past his prime, and lost more than just his speed, Freddie might take that fight. That's the nature of the sport. Plus, Shane had to bulk up to be a junior middleweight, where both Williams and Martinez have to lose weight. Martinez walks around between fights at light heavyweight. I've stood next to both Paul and Sergio, and they are a lot bigger than Manny.

I agree, they both are to big for Pac-Man. I read today that Roach won't let Pacquiao fight below 147 anymore. Although i think they would jump at the chance to fight JMM at 140. I think Shane has lost a lot but if Margarito deserves a chance against Pacquiao, Shane really deserves a chance. After Shane TKO'd Margarito there was talk about a fight between Pacquiao and Shane but like you said Roach thought Shane was to big but Pacquiao had fought De La Hoya at a catchweight of 145 in 2008. In Sept of 08 Shane had beat Mayorga at 154 but a little over a month after the De La Hoya/Pacquiao fight Shane was back down to 147 when he beat Margarito in Jan of 09. Roach is very good at picking Pacquiao opponents and getting them to agree to fight at catchweights. They drain themselves to make weight then blow up on fight night and come out slow, lethargic and tire easily. That's why i call Pacquiao the catchweight champion not the lb for lb champion. I Shane would give him a better fight than Margarito did. And if he wants to fight Williams, if Williams wins, do it at a catchweight of 150. Williams could make 150 and probable gain less than 8lbs on fight night.

I follow Mayweather on facebook and a couple months ago he posted pictures of himself and Don King eating lunch. Now i'm reading that King wants to be his promoter. Say what you will about Don King but since the 70's Don King has always given us the fights we've wanted to see. The Rumble in the Jungle, Thrilla in Manilla, Leonard VS Duran, Tyson VS Holyfield, Tysons VS Spinks, King even got the Jacksons back together and promoted the Victory Tour :rofl: Don King can work with Bob Arum and make this fight happen

got together for one reason: Don wants to represent Mayweather in negotiations on the PPV split.

It is really strange to think of King, a convicted killer, doing business with Arum, who worked for Attorney General Robert Kennedy in the Justice Department. Certainly, Bob Arum did a close study of the mobsters that RFK went after -- as Arum has become one of the sporting world's biggest crooks. In order to deal with an anti-social attorney, Floyd may well need the assistance of the most successful sociopath in sport's history.