MANILA, Philippines - Rep. Manny Pacquiao said the other day he won’t take Mexican Antonio Margarito lightly in the event they face off for the vacant WBC superwelterweight crown on Nov. 13.
“Margarito is taller and has a longer reach,” said Pacquiao. “He reminds me of Oscar de la Hoya. He’s a tough opponent. He was the first man to defeat (Miguel) Cotto. I must be at my best to beat him.”
Top Rank chairman Bob Arum said Margarito was the logical choice to battle Pacquiao when talks broke down to arrange a much-awaited showdown with Floyd Mayweather Jr. Both Margarito and Pacquiao are promoted by Top Rank.
No contract has been signed for the fight and no venue is locked up. Pacquiao, however, expressed a preference for the bout to be held in Mexico. Margarito is not licensed to fight in the US because of a suspension stemming from a tampered hand-wrap incident before losing to Sugar Shane Mosley in Los Angeles last year.
Pacquiao and Margarito have something in common – Mayweather seems to bedeathly scared of both fighters. In 2006, Mayweather turned down a $8 million paycheck to fight Margarito. Lately, Pretty Boy closed the book on negotiations for a Pacquiao duel. Writer Joseph Santoliquito once described Margarito as “the most avoided fighter in the game.”
Trainer and TV boxing analyst Emanuel Steward said Margarito mows down his opponents with a merciless attack. “Margarito keeps putting on pressure, he’s like a machine that keeps on coming, like a choo-choo, and he’ll eventually break you down,” said Steward. “He has that high-volume punch output that hurts. Most high-volume punchers hit you with love taps. But Margarito’s high-volume attack comes with pain. The only person in boxing who can bring that kind of pain today at a high volume is Margarito.”
Arum said Margarito poses more of a challenge for Pacquiao than Cotto. “He’s a guy who’s big, who’s strong, got an iron chin and never stops throwing punches,” said Arum, quoted by Steve Kim in Boxing Digest magazine. “Margarito is a guy that Mayweather ducked for years. Margarito will go in with (WBC heavyweight champion Vitaly) Klitschko if we asked him to.”
Margarito, 32, displayed his unforgiving nature by taunting Kermit Cintron while the Puerto Rican writhed in pain from a shot to the liver and was counted out in the sixth round in 2008. And he set an all-time record of 1,675 total punches thrown at Joshua Clottey in a 12-round wipe-out two years before.
Whether Margarito will be comfortable fighting a southpaw like Pacquiao is a question mark. In 2003, the Tijuana Tornado knocked out left-handed Andrew (Six Heads) Lewis in the second round but four years later, was outpointed by another southpaw Paul Williams.
Margarito’s physical attributes are a cause for Pacquiao’s concern. He stands 5-11 and towers over Pacquiao who is 5-6 1/2. His wingspan is measured at 73 inches, six more than Pacquiao’s. Margarito has scaled as much as 157 pounds for a fight while Pacquiao was heaviest at 145 3/4 against Clottey last March. If they dispute the vacant 154-pound title, Margarito will enjoy a distinct bulk advantage. A catchweight limit will likely be negotiated with 150 a probability.
Margarito turned pro in 1994, a year before Pacquiao’s debut, but has logged less fights, 44 to the Filipino ring icon’s 56. The Mexican has reigned as WBO, WBA and IBF welterweight champion. While on the WBO throne, he repulsed seven straight challengers. Margarito has won four of his last five bouts, including a first round stoppage of Golden Johnson. His record is 38-6, with 27 KOs, compared to Pacquiao’s 51-3-2, with 38 KOs.
Margarito’s only brother Manuel was murdered in an unsolved Tijuana killing in 1999 and the loss left a deep scar in his heart. His brother’s memory is what inspires him to win in the ring. The day after his brother was gunned down, Margarito knocked out Buck Smith with a body shot in the fifth round.
Born in poverty, Margarito was raised in a cramped two-bedroom home in a tough Tijuana district. His parents, brother and three younger sisters were cramped with him in the hillside house.
Margarito’s father Antonio Sr. worked hard to keep food on the table for his family. He was a night watchman and sold lamps and mattresses by day. It was his father who introduced him to boxing when he was eight. Margarito posted an 18-3 amateur record before turning pro at 15.
Benjamin Rendon of the Tijuana boxing commission said Margarito has made a name for himself not only in his hometown but in the entire country. “He represents what is a real boxer – a healthy, humble, hard-working person,” said Rendon. Top Rank publicist Ricardo Jimenez called Margarito the second coming of Tijuana’s greatest champion Erik Morales.
Margarito lives with his childhood sweetheart Michelle and her two younger brothers in a five-bedroom home in Tijuana, five minutes from the US border in San Diego. Since he was born in California, Margarito has no problem driving his Mercedes-Benz SUV in and out of the US to Mexico. Margarito often fights with his wife’s name embroidered on his boxing shorts.
A ferocious body banger, Margarito will no doubt target Pacquiao’s midsection and ribs in an effort to stop him in his tracks if and when they meet.
Margarito’s hand-wraps were found to contain traces of sulfur and calcium which combine with oxygen to form a hardened plaster before his fight against Mosley. He lost to Mosley and was later suspended for the loaded bandages which trainer Javier Capetillo wrapped. His suspension has not been lifted in California, causing Nevada to desist from issuing him a license.
Last May, Margarito came back from over a year’s layoff to outpoint Roberto Garcia for the vacant WBC International superwelterweight crown in Mexico where he is allowed to fight.
The Ring Magazine’s William Dettloff said Margarito’s immense self-belief, endurance and toughness make him the archetypal Mexican fighter. “For the most part, Mexican tradition is you’re not in the fight until you’re bleeding, that if you don’t have a hook to the liver, you’re nothing, that if you’re not moving forward, you’re running away,” said Dettloff. “That defines Margarito.”