By Chris Robinson
In the first part of my interview with trainer Tony Morgan I discussed his history with his star fighter, undefeated WBC welterweight champion Andre Berto, his thoughts on Floyd Mayweather’s future in the sport as well as random rumblings about the game of boxing.
Morgan was extremely candid with his delivery and that mentality carried over to the second half of our conversation as he gave his take on such matchups as Manny Pacquiao vs. Antonio Margarito and the November 20th rematch between Sergio Martinez and Paul Williams. Taking things further, Morgan delved into his belief that Margarito is a guilty fighter for his involvement in his January 2009 hand wrap scandal, his thoughts on Freddie Roach and his trash talking nature, finding a way to defeat Manny Pacquiao and whether or not Miguel Cotto is damaged goods or not.
Continue reading below for all of Morgan’s thoughts…
Pacquiao-Margarito…
“I think that it plays out both ways. I think that Pacquiao's speed is going to be very hard for Margarito to deal with. I don’t know his trainer or their game plan. But I know they have all the tools to beat Manny Pacquiao. I just don’t think they are going to be able to push play on that night. Pacquiao is going to be in and out, in and out and that he is going to pepper Margarito with a barrage of punches. I think he’s going to end up busting up Margarito and maybe even stopping him. I think that Margarito has all the tools to beat him because he’s tall, he’s strong and he can throw a bunch of punches. But Manny’s not going to be right in front of him like they need him to be.”
Latin persona…
“Margarito is a Latin fighter and like the persona that has been given to Latin fighters in that they just go forward and punch. That’s kind of what he does. If you cant’ get out of his way, he’s a damn freight train. He’ll beat your brains out. Without the cement hands I think it’s going to be a tough fight.”
Defeating Manny Pacquiao…
“I think you got to beat Manny Pacquiao at his own game. I think you got to use speed and power. I think that Manny is a threat to anybody because of his work ethic. He comes in, he’s in and out, he throws a bunch of punches and he never gets tired.”
Pacquiao’s tremendous success at the higher weight classes…
“One thing I don’t understand is that Manny all of a sudden has almost devastating power. Because he fought all these little guys and he banged them up but he never really destroyed them. He fought a lot of the tough Latin fighters that came in. He fought wars and some of the fights he won you could have said he lost like Marquez. But now he comes up and I think Floyd brought up a very good point in drug testing these guys. Like USADA and UWADA, which is what you use when you go to the Olympics.”
Pacquiao’s devastation…
“Not saying that Manny’s on anything but I mean you almost go to wonder ‘Damn, he wasn’t knocking anybody dead like this when he was little’. And now he’s just crushing guys. Not too many times does a smaller man just come into a bigger man’s weight class and just destroy them. Not coming from where he came from? 126 or 130. You don’t just come up through the ranks and destroy people like that. Could it be phenomenal plyometrics training and a strict regimen? Yes, I believe in that stuff. But usually you see small things, not devastating things. I don’t want to say anybody’s on steroids because I believe in Manny Pacquiao and I think he’s very talented.”
Thoughts on Freddie Roach…
“I think Freddie Roach has done a very good job with him. I respect Freddie Roach as a trainer even though I don’t know him like that. Very few of the trainers I respect. I think he has a problem with downing a lot of guys and putting them down. For somebody being a trainer and being in the sport, you should have a little more respect for people in the sport. Before he was making noise, people didn’t talk shit about him. But he has done his work and he does have the right to do that. To each his own. If he that’s what he wants to do, so be it.”
Miguel Cotto’s future…
“I think he’s still damaged goods. I think if you watch the fight closely against Yuri, there were hints when Yuri touched him that it looked like it rattled Miguel. Yuri truthfully, and I love Yuri and he’s a great kid, he couldn’t crack an egg. I think as long as they pick the right opponents they are going to put some money in his pocket. They need to keep him away from any type of puncher. As long as he’s in with a boxer I think he will be fine.”
Chastising Margarito…
“I think Margarito should never, ever be able to wear a glove. I think whoever managed him, whoever promoted him, I think all those people should be banished from boxing. Well, not so much the promoter. Definitely the trainer, and I know Sergio Diaz, his manager, and I like the guy but it just makes it hard for me to believe that he didn’t know something”
When Cotto was a force…
“When he did that to Cotto, Cotto to me was the bad boy. Cotto was the kid that I seen come up from 140, after having trouble at 140, and came to 147 and just dominated. He was a force and I was telling people before I said ‘Look, this kid is going to come to 147 and he’s going to be a force to be reckoned with. He was killing himself to make 140 and I told people to watch when he came to 147. I just hate that fact because Cotto was that dude and he just has to make as much money as he can and walk away.”
What really happened…
“We don’t know what really happened to Cotto, but he said after the 5th round, he said it felt like every time he got hit it was with a baseball bat. And he said I have never felt punches like that in my life. And I believe Margarito fought with Reyes gloves and if you know gloves, Reyes gloves are incredibly soft so you rely a lot on hand strength and wrap. That’s why Berto will never wear Reyes gloves, because he has child hands.”
Paul Williams-Sergio Martinez II…
“I think Paul is very talented. But I think Paul is very basic. Sometimes basic wins. He goes out there and the throws a hundred plus punches around. And being 6’3 or whatever he is, when you do that it makes you very hard to beat. I think he has his hands full because I truthfully felt that he lost the last fight. But we’ll see. Paul is read head strong and he seems to do real good with his rematches like he did with Quintana. I was at the first fight and Quintana beat the hell out of him. The second fight he came out and caught Quintana early and did what he had to do. But I’m probably going to pick Sergio in that one.”
Chris Robinson is based out of Las Vegas, Nevada. An archive of his work can be found here, and he can be reached at Trimond@aol.com
