By Lem Satterfield
Robert Garcia, trainer of Antonio Margarito, had put together a solid strategy for his boxer to defeat Manny Pacquiao last Saturday night at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas. The strategy, according to Garcia, went out the window in the fourth round of the fight when Margarito walked into a solid uppercut from Pacquiao. The punch opened up a bad cut under Margarito's right eye and caused the area to quickly swell up. The power of Pacquiao, combined with the speed of his punches, made Margarito reluctant to walk inside for the rest of the fight.
"That uppercut was where the bruise started and that cut opened up under his right eye. I mean, I heard that punch. I mean, it sounded like like hitting two bones together. It was a solid punch. That changed the fight around. That gave Tony less confidence to just walk right in," Garcia said.
"That's punch, you know, Tony felt that punch. I think it was at that moment I think that he realized, you know, that 'Not only is this guy that fast, but, you know, this guy is strong.' He didn't want to go into the ring and to keep getting hit. So he had to be a little more careful."
Margarito went on to lose a lopsided twelve round decision, and is currently hospitalized with a broken right orbital bone. The doctors are waiting for the swelling to go down in order to perform surgery on the injured area. A shower criticism has rained down on Margarito's corner and referee Laurence Cole for not stopping the fight in the late rounds. Garcia doesn't agree with the criticism being thrown in his direction.
"I know and I'm sure that there are a lot of critics out there who are saying that the corner should have stopped the fight. But Tony is just a warrior and that's why we're in boxing. It's a one-on-one situation in the ring. Margarito has the heart you know where he wants to fight to the end," Garcia said.
"That's what boxing is, it's fighting. You don't go in there if you get hurt and then you're like, 'Oh, f**k it, just quit, you know? People don't like that. The crowd doesn't like that. Nobody ever criticized the Arturo Gatti fights or his trainers. When he was taking beatings and he would still keep coming. Nobody ever criticized, like, 'Oh, they should have stopped the fight.'"
"Well, Arturo Gatti was the tremendous warrior where everybody loved him, even after he lost. Well, you know, nobody ever said that his corner should have stopped the fight. Even after he took beatings and beatings. They knew that he had a big heart, and they knew that he could surprise the world at any moment. So, I have a fighter who has the same heart as those Arturo Gatti type of fighters. Tony would have never allowed me to stop the fight. He's a big, strong man, so anything could have happened. "
Lem Satterfield is the boxing editor at AOL FanHouse and the news editor at BoxingScene.com. To read more from Lem Satterfield, go to AOL FanHouse by Clicking Here.
