The Hero vs The Villain
- November 12th, 2010
- Posted in Previews
- By Spider Rico
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Congressman Manny Pacquiao (51-3-2, 38 KOs) challenges for an eighth title on Saturday night at the Dallas Cowboys Stadium against Antonio Margarito (38-6, 27 KOs) in what could be in excess of 60,000 people in attendance.
The fight is for the vacant WBC light middleweight title to be contested at a catchweight of 150 lbs.
The fight has become almost a hero vs villain scenario – can the Pacman save boxing again?
There is no disputing who the villain of the piece here is. Margarito plagued by the hand wrapping scandal that nearly ended his career for good is being given a second chance. A chance at redemption and a chance to show he is still the same fighter that broke down Miguel Cotto in 2008.
Since being dismantled by Shane Mosley, Margarito has only had one fight which took place in Mexico against Roberto Garcia. With a new trainer and renewed vigor in his work ethic, if nothing else Margarito on paper should provide Pacquiao with a few problems come fight night.
Pacquiao’s supremacy was cemented after he beat De La Hoya and Hatton but what he did to Cotto was perhaps even more impressive. Clottey provided little more than a stagnant target unwilling to engage in combat when he fought Pacman last March but was a much bigger man than Pacquiao has been accustomed to facing nonetheless.
On Saturday Margarito will come to fight that’s certain in whatever condition he may or may not be in. Some think he looks in great shape and ready for the task ahead while others – such as Pacquiao’s stalemate Amir Khan – think Margarito may have over trained by peaking too early.
Whatever the case may be the fact is whatever version we get of Margarito come Saturday night his sheer size and willingness to throw punches should provide a challenge for the smaller Pacquiao and hopefully adequate viewing.How easily Pacquiao will be able to handle him will determine how interesting it really is.
In the first few rounds against Miguel Cotto when it was still anybody’s fight we got to see some great back and forth exchanges before Pacquiao took the fight over from round four onwards. How quickly will he be able to exert dominance over Margarito if he does at all and will we see a better more competitive fight then the Cotto fight is at the forefront of all our minds going into this.
Is this one weight class too much for Manny or will Margarito’s crude style be the un-doing of him?
Come Saturday night we’ll find out!
Also on the card are Brandon Rios vs Omri Lowther, Guillermo Rigondeaux vs Ricardo Cordoba and Mike Jones vs Jesus Soto Karass all of which are worth watching.
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Personally I think Pacquiao does better against bigger opponents because of his speed. The Cotto/Margarito comparison is a good one.