By Sergio Martinez (photo by Will Hart/HBO)
This coming Saturday night, WBO welterweight champion Antonio Margarito will step into the ring at the Aladdin Hotel Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, and attempt the sixth defense of his title by taking on tough and rugged Mexican knockout artist Manuel “Shotgun” Gomez. It is a fight that, despite what most of the boxing media outlets and fans alike are saying, is not a “sure win” for Margarito, as Gomez is as tough and hard as the day is long, and he has that great boxing equalizer: punching power.
Before I go any further, let me clarify that I have been a Antonio Margarito supporter for years now and believe that he is truly one of the most underappreciated champions in the business today (note underappreciated; not underrated). He has worked as hard or, in most cases, even harder than many of his boxing colleagues, without much to show for it as he continues to toil in obscurity this late in his career. It is a pugilistic existence that has tested the Tijuana native’s patience and faith in the very sport for which he risks life and limb.
It almost does not seem fair that Margarito, who has paid his dues ten-times over, has to face such a difficult and a truly underrated (yes, because of his losses and being so unknown to the general public, Gomez does fall into the underrated category) fighter in Manuel Gomez as a win for “Tony” does not mean much in boxing’s “big picture,” but a loss means the end of the line. Still, it must be said that for as much as Margarito is as honest of a fighter as one will find operating today, he is not “underrated” as many of the fans and media claim.
“Tony” has been a professional prizefighter for the better part of eleven years now and has built up a respectable record during this pugilistic expedition. He is a very large, strong and determined welterweight who is relentless and always in top shape. He also possesses a respectable chin, but has been hurt and down several times in his career. Still, styles do make fights, and he is by no means an easy night for any 147-pounder in the world. The best way to describe Margarito would be to say that he is a welterweight version of Jose Luis Castillo, with not as sturdy of a chin and with a lot less boxing aptitude, as Castillo can really box. All of the aforementioned traits make for a high risk, low reward fighter which results in avoidance, but calling him “underrated” because of this avoidance is just not accurate.
His boxing skills are very limited and his defense is practically non-existent. He throws very wide looping shots, leaving himself open for counters, and has poor balance. He also telegraphs the majority of his shots and has nothing in the way of lateral or upper body movement. Plain and simple, he is what he is, which is a come-forward mauler who relies heavily on his conditioning and heavy hands to wear his opponents down and outwork them over the course of a fight. He does not have much of a variety in his punch arsenal so is usually predictable.
His most impressive showing is a tenth round TKO title winning effort against what was at the time a still serviceable Antonio “Tono” Diaz. It was impressive in that Margarito completely dominated and stopped Diaz but, realistically, “Tono” was, at best, a B-minus level opponent at the time of the fight, and never really achieved “world class” status at any stage of his career.
Antonio’s most credible win to date is a two-round annihilation of Andrew “Six Heads” Lewis in February of 2003. The problem with this “signature” win is that Lewis, who had been savagely knocked out by Ricardo Mayorga eighteen months earlier, was still able to come out in the first round and completely befuddle the Mexican with movement and quick combinations. It really showed everyone that Margarito is a “one-trick pony” who needs the cooperation of his opponents to stand in front of him so that he can look his best (Remember Cintron?). He did catch Lewis with power punches in the second round and the chin, which had been declared fragile months before, let “Six Heads” down again.
Since then, Margarito had trouble in a winning effort against the average Sebastian Lujan, destroyed a grossly built up, overrated puppy in Kermit Cintron, and lost a technical decision to the very limited Daniel Santos. He does get a pass of sorts for the Santos fight because it was at 154-pounds, and the contest was stopped due to cuts which were caused by accidental head butts. Also, Antonio was coming on and seemed to be on the cusp of taking over the fight, but he was wobbled on at least two occasions by Santos and really had a lot of problems against the very average Puerto Rican southpaw.
Still, having said all of that, it is hard not to root and hope that Antonio gets his big money fight because he is doing something that most of us are trying to do which is to get our shot in our chosen professions, and provide the best for our families. So make sure you take some time and buy the pay-per-view this coming Saturday night as you can rest assured about one thing: the main event is going to be one to remember for as long as it lasts.
The Margarito-Gomez bout is scheduled for twelve rounds, and will be available on Pay-Per-View On Demand via Top Rank television.
Contact Sergio Martinez at srg_mrtnz@yahoo.com