--When Emmanuel Dapidran Pacquiao steps into the ring on Saturday night in Dallas to face Antonio Margarito he will have more than just the weight of the Philippines on his shoulders. He'll have the extra weight Margarito holds over him to deal with. Margarito is naturally the bigger man. In fact, if you were to see both men walking next to each other on the street you would probably think Pacquiao was Margarito's step son. The fact is these two fighters will be squaring off as somewhat equals tomorrow night for a stake at the vacant Junior Middleweight title. A bid that has Pacman within striking distance of another title in his 8th different division. Quite impressive by any measuring stick. However, this battle will not take place at the MGM Grand or at Caesar's Palace it will take place at Jerry's Palace. The 50 quadrillion dollar stadium that Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones built for his Superbowl...err, Playoff....err....umm professional, damn, well they play in the NFL team. When Nevada and California denied Margarito a boxing license for the fight the state of Texas swooped in and will reap the benefits of what seems to be a lucrative fight by any sports standards. If Pacman can draw 50,000 to fight Joshua Clottey than selling Margarito, a Mexican fighter with a better chance to win, will be a piece of cake.
Coming into the fight Pacquiao's intensity and concentration were questioned not by the media, not by fans, but by his own trainer Freddie Roach. I don't know how this will affect Pacquiao because Roach probably knows how to push Manny's buttons and has the remote control but I DO know how it will affect Margarito. The "Tijuana Tornado" will come out blazing..trust me. I think he knows his best chance to beat Pacquiao is early...very early. Pacquiao is most vulnerable early in the fight. Damn I wish I had a film room to review tape...OH! wait"...YouTube!..I'll be back... ..... ...... ...... (10 minutes later) OK, I'm back. Yes. I was right, anyway back to my point. If you watch most of Manny's fights he takes a while to heat up and that's because he is a perfect reflection of his trainer Freddie Roach. EVERY TIME I hear Freddie Roach during an interview the guy brings up "The Game Plan". "We have a game plan for De La Hoya, we have a game plan for Hatton, we have a game plan for Mother Teresa". The guy watches more film than Siskel and Ebert. He's meticulous and his fighter does whatever he designs and tells him to do. What a luxury when you have fighting machine who doesn't get tired and will take the other guys punches until you say "Okay Manny, now' you can go get him".
Pacquiao and Freddie Roach's patience early in fights has translated to many late round knockouts and stoppages in Senator Pacman's campaign as champ.
Margarito by any stretch of the imagination is no slouch. The guy pulverized Cotto and was one of the most feared fighters in the welterweight division. Heck, I think Floyd avoided him for some time because he honestly thought Margarito has a shot at beating him. He was the guy that would beat you or would kick your ass even if you got the win. He gained notoriety after the hand wrapping incident. In my opinion, that's worst than using steroids or HGH in baseball. In boxing, when you cheat you can't only hurt someone, you can kill them. That being said, his true skill and mettle will be tested on Saturday night against the premiere fighter in the business. I watched Margarito early in his career and what impressed me most was his grit and determination. A true staple of Mexican fighters. Now, I'm not going to sit here and write a gushing statement on how Mexican fighters are warriors and that they fight their butts off and so forth. That's understood. But he was built like that and will always show flashes of his machismo. However, i saw him fade against Mosley when pressed and hit with combinations. Something Pacman does very well when he smells a weakened or tired opponent. Margarito needs to stick to his strengths. His height and overall size. He should use it to his advantage and do what De La Hoya attempted to and that's bully him. Antonio does that well and watching him fight in the past further backs up my statement. He would wear opponents down by breaking them up downstairs and slowly chopping the tree.
Nonetheless, his skills aren't the talk of the town for this affair. Unfortunately, the suspension is what most people are talking about leading up to the fight. I really think the hand wrapping thing got to him. He cheated..point blank. I'll give you my opinion on the whole situation. Antonio Margarito said he didn't know his trainer put something in his hand wraps..hmmm. Bullshit. I boxed for 8 years and trained fighters for 3 and believe me if someone even put a piece of gum in my wraps I would've noticed. Nuff said.
That being said...here are my picks, advantages and weaknesses for both fighters:
MANNY "PACMAN" PACQUIAO
Speed - Manny has become a master of speed and combinations at close quarters. His wars with Barrera, Erik Morales, Marquez and Cotto will pay dividends in this fight. He knows how to fight inside and move out when he needs to . A trait instilled by Freddie Roach. He does the damage and gets out of harms way (most of the time) GRADE - A
Power - Pacman is one of the hardest hitters pound for pound in not only his but in any division. Capable of knocking an opponent out with either hand or any punch at any time. He throws punches from any angle and when you don't see the punch it tends to hurt more. His best punch is his straight left which he uses as a kind of power jab when he leads with it. Once he starts landing it with frequency he tends to follow it with a quick right hook which usually hurts. If you start seeing the right hook, the fight is usually over pretty soon. GRADE - A
Defense - Pacquiao's offense often leads him to be put in vulnerable spots during exchanges. Most of the time he wins those because of his great chin, quickness and power. If you hit the guy first chances are you change the direction of his punch. However. Pacman's defense is not that good. He tends to put his head down when punching close. His defense is his offense so I see Margarito hitting him often and with ease until the mid to later rounds.
GRADE - C
Chin - He can take a punch. Nuff said
GRADE - A
ANTONIO "The Tijuana Tornado" MARGARITO
Speed - Margarito is definitley lacking in this department. His speed is not present but he does make up for lack of speed with force. What does that mean Hiram? It means that I might not be as fast as you but I'm going to throw the punch as hard as you and hope it lands. MArgarito will give Pac trouble by landing a heavier punch after Pac's first two.
GRADE - C+
Power - Her's where the fight gets close and very very interesting. Both fighters can crack. However the question has always been if Pacquiao can take a bigger and hard hitting fighters punch. He has shown it in the past with Barrera, Morales and Marquez but those guys were his size. De La Hoya was the biggest guy he faced but he didn't land many hard shots during that fight. The law of averages shows that Margarito will eventually land a solid, hard shot on Pac. But how will he react? I think Margarito is going to land some hard shots early and we'll see if how Manny reacts. Antonio hits very, very hard so it's going to be interesting.
GRADE - B
Defense - Here's another case of no defense by way of hard hitting offense. The Tornado's defense is suspect and I see Manny landing a lot of shots later in the fight and eventually wearing him down if Margarito doesn't take him out early. I predict a swollen eye or cut by the 4th or 5th round due to Manny's combos. "Can I get a number 2 and supersize it please"
GRADE - C
Chin - Very very good. Until he fights good fighters. And he's been stopped before by Mosley. He'll take 5 to land one and it works until you fight a guy that hits like 5 people.
GRADE - B
MY PICK
DRUMROLL PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Manny Pacquaio by decision. I think Manny is not going to be able to knock Margarito out but he will do enough to hurt him and garner respect through out the fight. Any time Margarito gets frisky Pacman will remind him who he is. It will eventually go to the scorecards with Manny taking home the jewelry.
*****DISCLAMER - Do not bet your kid's college tuition, Target money, Christmas shopping money or grocery money. My picks are only for entertainment and for showing off at a bar to impress a girl or pretending you know what you're talking about.
I'm just saying.
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