On Antonio Margarito...

The primary reason I am not willing to jump on Margarito's bandwagon as of yet is simple: Who really has he shown his abilities against? People talk about how Margarito has been ducked, but do those same people know the specifics of the actual offers that have been made? I highly doubt it. Margarito is no slouch, that is true. But when you have the kind of wide-open defense and lack of hand or foot speed, forgive me for being skeptical in the absence of an A-list fighter on his resume'. His best wins have been over Kermit Cintron. What he proved in the last fight is that yes, he can still beat Cintron. Outside of that, nothing new was really established. Regardless of excuses or other explanations, a loss is a loss and underlines the presence of flaws. Whatever flaws exist were enough that they held Margarito back from beating 5 guys. Top Rank has done a great job of promoting and publicizing Margarito. He is held in high esteem even without the existence of a big win. They find him guys who he runs over and it generates a wow factor. What we still don't know is what happens when an elite fighter is put in front of him (i.e. Cotto, Mayweather) that has the tools to exploit Margarito's deficiencies. As highlight reel-worthy as beating Cintron was, Cintron is not Cotto or Mayweather. In the absence of big fights to point at, what we get instead is talk. Talk oftentimes cannot be substantiated; it's gossip, hearsay etc. The talk I'm referring to are Margarito's camp's parade of names they allege have ducked Margarito. Lampley himself said during Margarito's walkout for the Paul Williams fight that the reputation of Margarito has been built largely on the fighters who have "ducked" Margarito and not the actual fighters he has beaten. It can be said that the aura of Margarito stems from talk. Should he triumph over Cotto, what he will have proven is that his will and determination can overcome his glaring flaws. Until then, he is still unproven and flawed.

Comments (20)

:rofl: :rofl: sorry sensation ur still cool in my book!!!!

17y ago

ferocity

because you wrote about it. http://www.boxingscene.com/forums/showthread.php?t=85495 Left out of the invitation only party hosted by Mayweather was Antonio Margarito, a dangerous and determined welterweight that many believe could be Mayweather's toughest challenge. Margarito is a poor man's Castillo, a never say die aggressive punching machine that applies intense pressure and tries to just overwhelm you. With a slick virtuoso like Mayweather, the only way to upset his rhythm is by getting in his chest and outmuscling him with power shots. Coincidentally, that is Margarito's forte'. Bob Arum and Top Rank offered $8 million to Mayweather for Margarito to meet, only to be declined. "Who has Margarito beaten?”, remarked Mayweather dismissively when asked asked about his reasons for not fighting Margarito. Mayweather has also stated that a fight with Margarito would not generate the kind of money that he is interested in. Money, isn't that what the business always come down to in the end? Mayweather seems to feel that his bottom line is more important than securing an untarnished legacy. A fight with De La Hoya would be something memorable and an important step in his career, yet would leave doubts as to his ability to dominate the divisions he occuppied. Mayweather's prioritization of alphabelts, instead of career defining fights, has impeded his acceptance by the general public. Money comes and goes, but a great champion's immortal legacy is sealed in stone for all eternity. Wow asinsen said this? he must be a fan of Margarito

18y ago

ferocity

Cotto also has that intangible X factor of knowing how to win. It's a big edge.. Also, Marg could have and should have beaten Paul Williams. He had the brains and the ability to beat him, yet he still managed not to put it together. I think Cotto's killer instinct is very strong, and I'm not so sure Marg has it.. Either way styles make fights and this will be a winner. You havn't seen much of Margarito, i can tell. Cotto didn't show that killer instinct against Mosley. Most of the time Cotto is just plodding forward and just mechanicly little by little beat up his opponet. The Pinto fight, Pinto forced him to fight. He looked killer there. You can look at more Margarito fights to find the killer in him, i sense you need to study up on the man before talking about who has a killer instinc and who doesn't.

18y ago

ferocity

:banana: in the end IMO Tony deserves more respect he has done most of what people ask of him. Win lose or draw against Cotto I am just glad to see him get the big fight he has worked hard for period. The Mayweather fight is Margaritos destiny! Floyd wont be able to change this unless he retires and sits back and watchs Margarito dominate the whole division. "THE LEGEND THAT IS ANTONIO MARGARITO!"

18y ago

HendrixLove

Nobody wants to give Marg any credit. He ain't the most skilled guy at all but he's still a vicious mothafucka that could give anybody at his weight a tough match. Fighters ain't gotta be virtuoso technicians in the ring to get respect and win fights. Its like Manny Pacquiao, Pac has some of the worst set of skills I've ever seen but his pluses overcome those flaws. Just like Antonio Margarito and hes going to fucken kill Cotto. Margarito would have had Gomez down and out in the first round if they have fought.... and this Asian Sensation guy doesn't know anymore about boxing than the average poster on this site;shit, you can't brag about knowing more about boxing just cause you've interviewed some fighters....get the fuck out of here.

18y ago

MANGLER

18y ago

muppetman

the tijuna tornado is the man at 147 ....belive it babyyyy!!!:boxing:

18y ago

Super_Lightweight

Margarito already has done 'something'. There have just been people waiting for him to lose to knock him down the rankings. 147 is the best division in boxing, and Margarito is one of the best in that division. That's good. Margarito faced pretty much who would face him. Williams beat him but Williams is young and willing to risk things to gain credibility. And Williams knew beating Marg, a mainstay at 147 for years, would put him on the map. All rankings are based at least in part on 'belief'. There is not a total and cold logic to it.

18y ago

Super_Lightweight

But Williams beat Margarito. So? This is boxing. Styles make fights. That doesn't mean Quintana is better, that he would beat Marg, or that his overall resume at 147 is better.

18y ago

Eaner0919

you :owned: that donkey.. :banana: in the end IMO Tony deserves more respect he has done most of what people ask of him. Win lose or draw against Cotto I am just glad to see him get the big fight he has worked hard for period.

18y ago

Shrectum

ur underrating margarito margarito is one of the world champions at 147 hes not unproven hes a world champion and yes hes flawled but every fighter got flaws margarto got more strenght than flaws thats why hes managed to overcome adversity of a bad career start and become a household name unlike most of the fighter u praise margarito had to earn his name to the top unlike cotto or mayweather a promoter didnt pick him and feed him fighters to make him a star he started fighting at around 18 against better fighters therefore his early defeats but he was impressive enough in those defeats and with effort he overcame the odds and went undefeated for ten years winning the wbo world title in the process and giving the only defeat to sergio gabriel martinez who is currently 42-1 he then had a setback on a defeat against p williams but once again he recovered and became a world champion again margarito its not all hype hes a real tough guy and a threath to anyone in the division why? because he overcome the odds u classify him as not an elite fighter but at welterweight nobody has ever managed to dominate him so all that inferior flawed and unproven crap is gonna be forgotten once hes in the ring with cotto how's his nuts taste like? does it have a zing on it? or maybe its an acquired taste? joe's is the best by the way.

18y ago

Allucard

You can't say Hatton is not elite at 147 yet. He needs more fights there. The main reason Hatton looked worse at 147 was the quality of his opposition not so much the small frame. Hell Floyd Mayweather has a smaller frame than of Hattons and is a natural LIGHTWEIGHT and does well. Hatton needs more fights at 147.

18y ago

muppetman

May has more talent in his left nutmay is balless if you ask me or tony.........lol and mosley.....:owned:

18y ago

Dirt_E_Gomez

ok say that then but do you think Hatton at 147 is elite? I dont not at all judging from his two fights up there There are very few "elite" fighters, and no, Hatton wasn't one at Welter or Junior Welter.

18y ago

Eaner0919

I hate this line of thinking. If you are unable to move up weight division and compete on a high level... then you were never elite to begin with. And I'd sooner say that. ok say that then but do you think Hatton at 147 is elite? I dont not at all judging from his two fights up there

18y ago

Eaner0919

On this subject, the point that I was making is that if Margarito was to prove something new, beating Cintron easier than he had the first time would have been the way to go. By not improving on the performance, like Rafael Marquez did by stopping Pastrana in an essentially meaningless rematch, he proved nothing new. are you serious with this? you mean to tell me Margarito DIDNT look better this fight? He absolutely totured Kermit. He landed harder shots, was in control the whole night and was never once in peril. He battered Kerm you know it you just wont say it. He owned Kerm from start to finish. oh sure it lasted one round longer but hey Kermit had more to prove this fight. He tried his damndest to prove he could hang with Tony but just couldnt. I remember Marshal Kaufman once told me that he actually asked Kermit what punch hurt him and Kermit couldnt answer it because Marshall didnt see any shot that seriously hurt Kermit this fight you could clearly see Tony doing damage to Kerm I thought that was plain as day but I guess not I mean damn couldn't you jsut give the guy credit for turning in two sterling performances like he should against Kermit?

18y ago

Dirt_E_Gomez

oh cmon now you cannot make a case for Hatton being an elite welterweight I hate this line of thinking. If you are unable to move up weight division and compete on a high level... then you were never elite to begin with. And I'd sooner say that.

18y ago

Eaner0919

How am I in trouble? Did you tell on me? Hehe Why does elite have to be about weight divisions? I can tell you this, Hatton was considered one of the top fighters in the world, P4P. P4P means regardless of weight. Regardless of how good he was at welterweight, his reputation as a P4P caliber fighter preceded him. His scalp was up for grabs and it goes well on any fighters resume'. If you don't like the word elite, you shouldn't have tried to say Josh Clottey was elite. Just like Margarito, Clottey has yet to beat an A-list fighter. You follow? oh cmon now you cannot make a case for Hatton being an elite welterweight no p4p should mean that if all playing fields were level thats how you would rank them not regardless of weight there is a difference there Mr Songalia thats like saying that if Corrales was elite at 135 then he should be a fine challenge for Clottey at....oh wait...ok ok....if JLC was an elite fighter at 135 then surely he would be a fine challenge for Hatton....oh man I am not supporting your case at all Hatton showed in the Collazo fight that he didnt belong at 147 inspite of how well he did at 140. Sometimes there is a ceiling called weight that does have to be added into the equation of things and using p4p to justify your claims that Hatton was indeed an elite fighter without taking into account his elite status was at 140 and not 147 where he looked rather ordinary against a top ten ish welter doesnt hold water at all cmon man two years of credentials should have taught you that

18y ago

DrewWoodside

If you look the fight on paper. Cotto's been very good against tall fighters. Margarito faced Lujan who is similarly built to Cotto and arguably lost 4 of the first 6 rounds before putting him away. Also, Cotto has struggled against pressure fighters, who have a chin and are determined. Tony has all that and more. Tony has thrown the most punches in a fight, ever. It's close but I can't bet against Cotto, he just gets smarter and smarter. Cotto also has that intangible X factor of knowing how to win. It's a big edge.. Also, Marg could have and should have beaten Paul Williams. He had the brains and the ability to beat him, yet he still managed not to put it together. I think Cotto's killer instinct is very strong, and I'm not so sure Marg has it.. Either way styles make fights and this will be a winner.

18y ago

DrewWoodside

That's why they have to fight cause on paper Roy Jones destroys both TArver and Johnson on the same night. On paper everybody beats Glen Johnson, you know what I mean. That's why Floyd's been hated on, cause if you want to be the best you have to fight the best. Glen Johnson said it best though. That's what boxing is about. When you go to the olympics you don't pick and choose. You fight the next best guy in line. This is true with RJJ and Tarver.. I do think Glen Johnson should have walked into many fights as even money had it not been for the fact that he so frequently fought in other people's backyard so often. With that said I think Cotto and Margarito definitely should fight.. I just think it gets a little silly when people continually repeat Margarito has an iron chin and it is physically impossible to stop him.. But I suppose that is the trend with forums. I mean after Haye beat Macca people were genuinely ready to hand him a heavyweight unification.

18y ago