Showing posts with label Manny Pacquiao vs Antonio Margarito. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Manny Pacquiao vs Antonio Margarito. Show all posts
Monday, November 15, 2010
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Manny Pacquiao vs Antonio Margarito: Victory and Redemption
 |
Getty Images 2010-11-14 |
The Thrill of Victory......
 |
Getty Images 2010-11-14 |
Antonio Margarito
What ever you thought about him, what ever you wanted to happen to him, however bad you wanted to see him fail and get his ass kicked, you’ve got to admit, he took his lickin’ like a man. Not a whimper from the man. He did the only thing he knows how to do and that is forge ahead, take punches, suck it up and punch back. It has almost always been enough. For some, Manny Pacquiao was judge, jury and executioner and the fight was divine retribution, maybe but if so, the flip side would be divine redemption. Debt paid in full.
Margarito, clearly losing the fight almost from the opening round, never stopped trying. He never ran, never hid, never looked for a way to deceive the judges. He fought and lost in the most honest and basic of ways, simply by fighting to the best of his ability against the most dominating fighter of his era.
His face was taco meat, or hamburger meat if you prefer, by the end of the fight. Pacquiao’s face also showed signs of a being in a fight. Though Pacquiao’s performance was dominating and the fight one sided, Margarito did have a few scattered moments throughout the fight and by Pacquiao‘s own admission, Margarito did hurt him on more than one occasion, especially with the left hook to the body and the uppercuts. It was just never enough.
I couldn’t help but think of Robert DeNiro as Jake LaMotta in Martin Scoresese’s “The Raging Bull” when DeNiro as LaMotta says to Sugar Ray Robinson after the fight was stopped in the 13th round of a fight that has come to be known as “The St. Valentines Day Massacre”, You never got me down Ray, you never got me down”. Sometimes just staying on your feet is victory enough.
 |
Getty Images 2010-11-14 |
For my money, this was the first legitimate win against a bigger fighter. With just a years difference between them, there was no age advantage for Pacquiao. He was fighting a man still considered to be one of the best fighters in the world. There was no asterisk in this fight.
Going into this fight I didn’t think Manny could do it. Despite the odds I felt Margarito would be too much for him size wise. Now? Now, I don’t think the Klitscho Brothers, on the same night would be too much for him. Pacquiao has proven himself to be as good as any fighter in history. There is no denying it. His name belongs with the best; Sugar Ray Robinson, Roberto Duran, Sugar Ray Leonard, Benny Leonard, Julio Cesar Chavez, Alexis Arguello, Aaron Pryor and Henry Armstrong. Each and every one of them would have had their hands full with the Filipino sensation, Manny Pacquiao.
That he was able to withstand the punches of a man that had a 17 pound weight advantage is nothing short of remarkable. It’s easy to believe that it all comes easy for him but listening to Pacquiao after the fight when he was being interviewed by Jim Lampley, you could sense the tiredness, the weariness that comes from giving your all. Along with his great skills and endurance it is Pacquiao’s tremendous heart that wins the fights for him. Manny Pacquiao refused to lose and always finds a way to win.
If it’s true that the whole world loves a winner, than it’s also true that we love a guy that can take what he’s got coming to him.
 |
Getty Images 2010-11-14 |
....and the Agony of Defeat.
Friday, November 12, 2010
Rick Farris: Random Thoughts on Pacquiao, Margarito and Character
By Rick Farris
Pac & Margo . . .
Looking to the positive, I expect these two to match up better than Pac & Floyd.
Regardless of who Floyd Jr. fights, he's going to make it a boring match.
Margarito comes to fight. So does Pac. To me that's the recipe for a good match, regardless of outcome.
I like Pac much the same as I did Duran during the 70's & 80's. Duran is one of my all-time favorites.
Regardless of who wins Saturday, I wouldn't be unhappy to see Margarito receive a career ending injury.
Character . . .
This is one thing that seems overlooked by most when it comes to what a boxer must have to achieve greatness.
Since Muhammad Ali was never known as a big KO puncher, everybody points to his hand speed, strong chin and skill, as what made him great.
What made Ali great was his charactor. Lack of charactor is what seperated Mike Tyson from true greatness.
It was charactor that kept Ali fighting when he was hurt, not his strong chin.
It takes character to truly overcome great odds to succeed.
Antonio Margarito has proven that he has no character, and certainly no class.
Margarito can whip a lot of welters, but has no chance with a great boxer with character, regardless of size advantage, or distractions, etc.
I resigned from my position as head of the selection commitee for the WBHOF. That's good for guys like Margarito.
There are boxers who have been inducted into the WBHOF who aren't as good as Margarito, but I assure you that Margarito's name would never be found on a WBHOF ballot had I remained in charge.
It's not about cheating. I've cheated on things, and I might do it again. However, my definition of cheating relates to saving a few bucks on taxs when I know I can, not putting another man's health & welfare in jeopardy, a man who's chances of winning were only considered one-in-five.
I don't think Margarito should be boiled in oil. I just want him out of boxing.
Margarito making fun of Freddie Roach's Parkinson's Disease? As I mentioned before, I hope this guy suffers a career ending injury.
Manny Pacquiao - Antonio Margarito Weigh-in
Photo and Article Courtesy of L.A. Times Blog
Manny Pacquiao weighed in at a surprisingly low 144.6 pounds Friday, making it possible he could weigh 15 pounds less than Antonio Margarito by Saturday night's fight.
"I'm not worried," Pacquiao said, walking off the stage at Cowboys Stadium. "That's what we did for training, train hard. My weight came down from what it was to make me faster.
"For the last week and a half, [trainer] Freddie Roach let me do what I wanted to do, get to where I'm as fast as I can be."
Roach, standing behind Pacquiao, nodded, and said that was "100%" accurate.
Margarito, poised to make his return to fighting in the U.S. after a nearly two-year-long banishment, weighed in at the junior-middleweight catch-weight limit of 150.
He scoffed at suggestions by Pacquiao's conditioning coach and manager that he looked "dehydrated" and "shot."
"It's very good, I'm very strong," he said. "They can say what they want. I feel very strong."
There'll be more news to come from today's weigh-in at latimes.com/sports, and Twitter.com/latimespugmire.
--Lance Pugmire
Photo: Manny Pacquiao, left, and Antonio Margarito at the weigh-in. Credit: David J. Phillip, AP.
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Manny Pacquiao vs Antonio Margarito
 |
| Manny Pacquiao vs David Diaz |
I have to be honest, I have never been a true believer in Manny Pacquiao, I have never been 100% sold on the idea that he is one of the greatest, all time fighters to ever step into the ring. He’s a damned good fighter and exciting, I’ll give him that and he’s certainly beaten some great fighters . The problem is that he’s beaten them when they were either past their primes, i.e, Marco Antonio Barrera, Erik Morales, or already beaten by his “Pound for Pound” rival Floyd Mayweather Jr., i.e., Ricky Hatton, Oscar De La Hoya. In Oscar’s case he was not only past his prime and already beaten by Mayweather (Oscar lost a split decision to Floyd on May 5, 2007) but he suffered from severe weight loss in preparing for the fight after giving in to Pacquiao‘s incessant demands for a catch weight.
Couple that with Manny’s two highly controversial fights with Juan Manuel Marquez; the first, a draw in May of 2004 and a split decision win in 2008 that should have gone to Marquez, in the view of many boxing fans, including myself, and sportswriters. I’m not trying to re-win those fights for Marquez either, it is what it is, but I am trying to give some perspective on Pacquiao. His fight with Joshua Clottey exposed some chinks in Pacquiao’s armor. Clottey, who rarely threw a punch during his fight with Pacquiao, never really put forth the effort to win that fight but on the rare occasion when he actually decided to fight and throw a punch he had some success, he just never followed through.
In many ways, I liken Manny Pacquiao’s career to Mike Tyson‘s. Tyson was a juggernaut that steamrolled over almost all of his opposition but if you look back at his career you’ll see that he didn’t fight the best of his day. Both Manny’s and Mike Tyson’s career record will back up everything I say. Look for yourself if you don’t believe me. When Tyson faced Evander Holyfield, a fighter almost everyone believed was washed up at the time and on the verge of being dangerously beaten by Tyson, he faced a fighter that win, lose or draw, had indeed fought the best. I don’t have to tell you how that fight ended. Holyfield to some degree was fighting for redemption. Considered, old and over the hill with medical problems, and small for a heavyweight, Holyfield was fighting for his worth as a fighter. He was trying to prove something .
I know a couple of guys that have served time in prison. They made a mistake and paid for their crimes. They were caught red handed, arrested, put on trial, found guilty and they served their time. They paid for their crimes and moved on. Antonio Margarito never really had his day in court but was convicted none the less. He served his time, so to speak, that was meted out to him. I’m not defending his actions either, what I am saying is this, Margarito did his time and like it or not, every man deserves a second chance. Even O.J. Simpson didn’t catch this much flak. Okay, maybe O.J. did but you get my point.
The argument has always been, Margarito could have killed Sugar Shane Mosley if he had fought with, what is called “ trace elements of plaster of Paris”. I won’t argue in defense of that, but consider this, Shane Mosley was found to have had performance enhancing drugs in his system during his second fight with Oscar De La Hoya ( a fight I thought Oscar won). Now I have nothing but love for Sugar Shane, he is without a doubt one of my favorite fighters and is a shoo in for the Hall of Fame when his career is over, but why is he being given a pass?
Fighters have been dieing in the ring since the sport began, with out any drugs involved, that being the case, a fighter using steroids or any other drug, could conceivably kill a fighter in the ring. So why the pass? At the very least, Margarito has paid for his crime with his year suspension from boxing and a giant loss of respect and credibility, and that’s on him.
 |
| Antonio Margarito vs Miguel Cotto |
Margarito has never been one of my favorite fighters, though I never disliked him either and I’m not particularly fond of cheaters but I do believe in second chances. That’s the very essence of America. This country was founded by men and women seeking second chances. Margarito deserves no less.
All that being said, I really believe that Pacquiao is one of the greatest of his era and the more skilled fighter of the two and that he has all the momentum going into this fight but I also believe he and Freddie Roach are taking the fight and a victory for granted. I can’t tell if all the talk by Roach about Manny being distracted and not putting forth the effort in camp is just a ploy or if it’s real.
Margarito for his part is taking nothing for granted and seems to be in the best mental and physical shape of his life. Regardless of what the rest of us may think, Antonio Margarito has turned this into a battle of redemption. Whether he will be redeemed or not after this fight is anyone’s guess but he believes it. It’s his cause and a man with a cause is hard to beat and that’s where he will be drawing his strength from.
To my way of thinking, Margarito’s only chance of winning is by knockout and I believe that will be his battle plan. He has to know he is not going to outbox Pacquiao nor will he out speed him and he certainly will not out number him when it comes to throwing punches. No, his only chance will be to absorb everything Pacquiao throws at him and then get his own punches in. Of the two, he is the bigger and stronger fighter. He will use that to his advantage.
Despite the cheating scandal and loss to Mosley, Margarito has always had a stout heart and chin and I believe that he is coming to win. Can his quest for redemption and respect overcome the will, determination and speed of Manny Pacquiao? We’ll see! As always, may the best man win.
Manny Pacquiao and Antonio Margarito will be duking it out this Saturday, November 13, at the Cowboy Stadium in Arlington, Texas for the vacant WBC Junior Middleweight title. It will be broadcast on HBO/PPV.
Pacquiao - Margarito Dallas press conference photo slideshow
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Memorial Day 2024
To those that gave the ultimate sacrifice defending American ideals and freedom, and to the families that endured the loss, we g...
-
By Randy De La O My earliest memories of the old Main Street Gym in Los Angeles are of my father and I going there to watch the fighters w... -
Chico Vejar By Randy De La O I still remember watching the Friday Night Fights with my father back in the 1950’s. It was a ritual for...
