If You’re Hot, Don’t Wear a Jacket: 24/7 Part 3 Reviewed
By Cliff Rold
Way back on the second week of this 24/7 run, Manny Pacquiao wrapped up training in the Philippines, Antonio Margarito made jokes about glove loading, and Pacquiao supported Harry Reid for U.S. Senate.
Politicians look out for their own.
Boxing writers look out for their readers and, hey, this is Pacquiao-Margarito 24/7, real tim-ishly reviewed.
Clouds, skylines, the voice of Leiv Schreiber, and Pacquiao is back from Reid’s side and in the gym. We are informed Pacquiao trainer Freddie Roach has called this ‘the worst camp ever’ but the sparring footage shown looks notably crisper than what was aired a week ago. One sparring partner in particular, Rashad Holloway, describes previous experience sparring with Margarito and wonders if an eye injury sustained in sparring might have been from illegal wraps.
Pause.
This idea of doctored wraps used in training has come up in various conversations pertaining to wrap-gate over the last couple years. No one, ever, has come up with any rational reason for it. There is no reason to take the idea seriously.
Unpause.
Margarito says what he is supposed to say, that he will prove he does not cheat on November 13th. Ironically, that is the day of the Pacquiao fight.
Margarito spars three days a week, one of whom looks like 2000 U.S. Olympian Ricardo Williams Jr. Roberto Garcia explains the need for southpaws (Pacquiao is a southie after all). Cleotis Pendarvis is the best of the Pacquiao clones, and takes a slew of Margarito body hooks for his trouble.
And, hey, it is Ricardo Williams. The television name plate confirms it. For this scribe’s money, Williams’s semi-final win in the 2000 games is still on the most exciting fights ever seen (amateur or pro).
Margarito blows off any thoughts about Pacquiao being distracted, calling them “excuses.” Switching scenes to the Wild Card Gym, Pacquiao is heading to the Jimmy Kimmel show. In the limo on the way over, Pacquiao is ribbing conditioning coach Alex Ariza about wearing a jacket and complaining its hot, seemingly relaxed just weeks out from fight time.
Skipping forward a couple days, Pacquiao is at LAX picking up his wife on her arrival to the U.S. Jinky Pacquiao takes a stroll around the champ’s lavish living premises. Keeping with the whole ‘first Rocky-Mr. T fight in Rocky III” theme this show is so blatantly rolling with, the cameras return to the mean streets of Oxnard, to the austerity of the Margarito camp and the purity of boxing salvation for the kids in range of the gym.
Roberto Garcia, Margarito’s trainer, always came across as an honest broker in an exceptional fighting career. He comes off the same way discussing working with the neighborhood kids. Back for another week, the personality of Brandon Rios is used to express what the gym can do for a kid who needs it in Oxnard.
Seriously, Rios is so on his way to stardom.
A party is held at Garcia’s home and Margarito arrives late, family in tow. It’s the simple life. In contrast, downstairs from the Wild Card, a memorabilia shop devoted to Pacquiao is available for willing customers. Ariza, upstairs in the gym, feels like Pacquiao is only at “80%” but Roach isn’t following the script. This week, Roach is feeling like this fight won’t be so tough. The oddsmakers agree.
Back at Camp Margarito, Garcia’s car gets pranked and he takes it with a smile. He’s still smiling as he straps on the body suit Margarito will work on. As the “Tijuana Tornado” puts in work, the smiles cease and Garcia predicts a late round stoppage for his man. Margarito checks his weight for the 150 lb. catchweight affair, his body a ripped 154.
“What separates the very good from the very best?” Schreiber asks with a crescendo of music and slo-mo training footage picking up steam. That’s the cue for the weeks training montage. “He talks too much,” says Pacquiao. “Let’s get it on.”
They will in days.
Final Thoughts: The best edition of 24/7 is some time keeps on being just that. Sure, the whole commercial, ‘buy this because Manny might be off’ thing is a little much but the show can’t mask something important. The hard sell is needed to restore some of Margarito’s lost credibility, but the reality is an in-shape, focused Margarito really is a threat. This fight is going to be fantastic to watch for as long as it lasts and this show acts as a compliment to the anticipation. That’s enough. Grade: B+
Cliff Rold is a member of the Ring Magazine Ratings Advisory Panel and the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be reached at roldboxing@hotmail.com