You are here: Latest Boxing News News Antonio Margarito is not to be underestimated

Antonio Margarito is not to be underestimated

Written by Reynante P. Santiago Saturday, 13 November 2010 03:56

As the long-awaited and much-anticipated megafight between Filipino Pacific Typhoon Manny Pacquiao and Antonio 'Tijuana Tornado' Margarito nears, more and more boxing fans predict Pacquiao's victory over his opponent. Some are even bold enough to forecast a knockout as early as the first round. Right after the announcement of this match, many boxing analysts have already considered Margarito to be the underdog despite his greater physical strength and height advantage over Pacquiao. While the observation may be true, that advantage is countered by Pacquiao's greater speed and skills, according to many boxing experts.

Being a Pacquiao fan, I would look into the event with extreme caution. I will not belittle Margarito, and say that he is "no match" to Pacquiao. Margarito was once considered one of the most-feared fighters until his devastating knockout loss to veteran Shane Mosley. That loss however may have been partly attributed to Margarito's inability to mentally focus during that fight as he was earlier caught having illegal substance in his handwraps. Margarito's boxing license was later revoked and suspended for one year but he continued heavy training, and is still a very strong and tough opponent in my opinion.

Margarito's loss to Mosley should not be a basis for concluding that he is "no match" to Pacquiao. Let me point out that Margarito was the first boxer to defeat Miguel Cotto via 11th round TKO. We also know that Margarito was ducked big time by both Oscar dela Hoya and Floyd Mayweather Jr., and you have to be a really good boxer to be avoided by such big names. So I wonder why many boxing fans underestimate Margarito. Even former champ and future hall of fame Gerry Peñalosa predicts a knockout victory in three rounds for Pacquiao, but I don't think it will be that easy as Margarito will not just stand in front of his opponent.

Is Margarito being regarded as a second-class fighter despite all his accomplishments and advantages over Pacquiao, or do we just hate him for his history of cheating against his opponents? Let me know what you think.

Comments

---

Add this page to your favorite Social Bookmarking websites