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Gym Notes: tough sparring session proves Margarito is not a shot fighter
Posted Oct. 13, 2010 at 12:11am
By Doug Fischer
Robert Garcia laces up Antonio Margarito's gloves prior to a recent workout. Margarito, who fights Manny Pacquiao on Nov. 13, has looked strong in sparring sessions. Garcia is also gradually improving the former welterweight titleholder’s technique. Photo / Chris Farina-Top Rank
This is the second part of a two-part Gym Notes column.
I’ll be making the trip to Dallas to cover the Manny Pacquiao-Antonio Margarito fight.
If I thought Margarito, who was brutally knocked out by Shane Mosley and tepid in out-pointing tough-but-unaccomplished Roberto Garcia in his last two fights, was a spent bullet, I wouldn’t bother booking a flight to Texas.
Why be ringside for what I know will be a slaughter?
However, from what I observed during what is now the fifth week of his training camp in Oxnard, Calif. -- an eight-round mitt session on Saturday and a 10-round sparring session on Monday -- there’s plenty of fight left in Margarito. The former three-time welterweight beltholder’s legs looked sturdy, his reflexes were sharp and he appeared to punch with power.
This doesn’t mean that Margarito won’t still be outclassed or even blown out by Pacquiao, who’s made a habit of exceeding expectations in recent years, but if he is, it won’t be because he was shot.
“He’s definitely not shot,” said Cleotis Pendarvis, one four sparring partners along with Ricardo Williams, Austin Trout and K.C. Martinez, who went 10 rounds with Margarito on Monday. “If he was shot, he wouldn’t have been able to do what he did today. He did 10 rounds with four talented young sparring partners. We’re not old journeymen that he can beat up on. We can fight.”
Indeed they can. That was evident during Monday’s brisk session because Margarito made them stand and fight.
[snip since the article is so long. read the full article at the link below]
Margarito had his rhythm while he worked the mitts with Garcia after the sparring session. The 5-foot-6 trainer, who is working his second fight with Margarito, donned a protective body suit and assumed a southpaw stance to mimic Pacquiao’s various attack sequences. (And although Garcia is nowhere near as fast as Pacquiao or Margarito’s sparring partners, the 35-year-old former junior lightweight titleholder did a good job of it.)
Trout, who was one of Margarito’s main sparring partners for the Paul Williams fight, noted the veteran’s improved technique as he observed the mitt session while working a heavy bag.
“He’s shortening up on his punches,” he said. “He’s little bit faster than I remember.”
Trout says Margarito is just as strong as he was during the Williams camp but smarter.
“This is a big change from the Williams camp because Margarito is bringing more than conditioning,” he said. “His conditioning and strength improved during the Williams camp but his form never changed. He made the same mistakes at the end of the camp as he did at the start.
“In this camp, I’ve noticed that he’s doing things this week that he didn’t do two weeks ago. He‘s working a jab and he‘s not swinging as much with his body shots. He‘s changing up his combinations, too.”
However, Margarito’s bread and butter is still his pressure, which seems to suck the energy out of his opponents and sparring partners.
I asked Trout, Pendarvis and Williams how soon they begin to feel the effects of Margarito’s pressure when they step into the ring with him.
“You start to feel it by the second round,” said Trout. “It’s real.”
“With Margarito you feel the pressure from the first round because he throws eight shots in one combination,” Pendarvis said. “I’m slick so I can block or slip three or four of them, even when my back is to the ropes, but three or four still get through. That’s what wears you down.”
“When do you start to feel the pressure?” Williams asked rhetorically. “The first time he gets you with a good body shot.”
Margarito’s sparring partners obviously don’t believe he’s a faded fighter or deserves to be the 6-to-1 underdog that odds makers have made him, and he certainly didn’t appear shopworn during Monday’s workout, which begs the question:
What the hell was wrong with him in the Mosley and Garcia fights?
Margarito’s co-manager Francisco Espinoza gave me his answer to that query.
“Forget about the Mosley fight,” he said. “He lost that fight because he killed himself making weight. It was a bad camp at the worst time in Tony’s career because it came after he beat Miguel Cotto. Tony took a break and enjoyed life for the first time after the Cotto fight. He didn’t get right back into the gym the way he had done for the 10 or 11 years that I’ve worked with him. He vacationed in Hawaii twice, visited the Dominican Republic, traveled all over the U.S. doing TV and making appearances.
“By the time the Mosley fight was finally offered he was the heaviest of his career. He entered camp 39 pounds over his fighting weight and we only had seven weeks to drop it. I didn’t want him to take the fight. I told him to cancel it, but you know Tony, he wants to fight. He was confident that he could lose the weight, but it was so much that it hurt him. He was used to losing 17 to 18 pounds in eight weeks. Losing 39 to 40 pounds in seven weeks weakened him too much.”
And the lackluster showing against Garcia in May?
“That was my fault,” Espinoza said. “That was me. I wanted him to box the entire fight. I begged him to box no matter what. We couldn’t afford anything crazy to happen. He was in with a strong kid and I didn’t want him to get caught or cut. Even after Tony dropped him in the first round, I told him to box and to back away. That wasn’t what Tony wanted to do or what Robert wanted to do. That was me.
“I just wanted to win. We were talking to [Margarito and Pacquiao’s promoter] Bob [Arum] at that time and he told us to ‘be ready, be on standby because Floyd [Mayweather] is not taking [the Pacquiao] fight.’”
Margarito got the ‘W’ and the rest, as they say, is history.
Less than two years after having his boxing licensed yanked by the California State Athletic Commission for his part in attempting to load his wraps against Mosley, Margarito is getting a shot at the biggest star in the sport.
Will he be able to capitalize on what many feel is an undeserved opportunity?
Team Margarito believes so.
“If Freddie Roach took this fight thinking the Margarito of the last two fights is what Pacquiao will get, then he made a big mistake,” said Espinoza.
“Freddie Roach is a great trainer, but he’s got his work cut out for him with this fight,” Pendarvis said. “It’s going to be a fight because Tony is going to take it to Pacquiao and test him the way he hasn’t been tested since he came up to welterweight. I’m not trying to be disrespectful to Roach because I think he’s one of the best trainers in the world. I’m a fan of Pacquiao’s. But I know from being in the ring with De La Hoya and Hatton that he didn‘t fight them at their best. Cotto tried to give it to [Pacquiao] but I think he was still damaged from his fight with Margarito.
“This is the first time Pacquaio is fighting a bigger man who is emotionally, mentally and physically ready for him. He’s going to get hit in this fight. He’s not going to be as slick as Margarito’s sparring partners, and we get hit. Pacquiao is a brawler at heart. He has the same will and determination that Margarito has. That’s why I think it’s going to be a great fight. It’s going to be good for boxing.”
http://www.ringtv.com/blog/2418/gym_..._shot_fighter/
Posted Oct. 13, 2010 at 12:11am
By Doug Fischer
Robert Garcia laces up Antonio Margarito's gloves prior to a recent workout. Margarito, who fights Manny Pacquiao on Nov. 13, has looked strong in sparring sessions. Garcia is also gradually improving the former welterweight titleholder’s technique. Photo / Chris Farina-Top Rank
This is the second part of a two-part Gym Notes column.
I’ll be making the trip to Dallas to cover the Manny Pacquiao-Antonio Margarito fight.
If I thought Margarito, who was brutally knocked out by Shane Mosley and tepid in out-pointing tough-but-unaccomplished Roberto Garcia in his last two fights, was a spent bullet, I wouldn’t bother booking a flight to Texas.
Why be ringside for what I know will be a slaughter?
However, from what I observed during what is now the fifth week of his training camp in Oxnard, Calif. -- an eight-round mitt session on Saturday and a 10-round sparring session on Monday -- there’s plenty of fight left in Margarito. The former three-time welterweight beltholder’s legs looked sturdy, his reflexes were sharp and he appeared to punch with power.
This doesn’t mean that Margarito won’t still be outclassed or even blown out by Pacquiao, who’s made a habit of exceeding expectations in recent years, but if he is, it won’t be because he was shot.
“He’s definitely not shot,” said Cleotis Pendarvis, one four sparring partners along with Ricardo Williams, Austin Trout and K.C. Martinez, who went 10 rounds with Margarito on Monday. “If he was shot, he wouldn’t have been able to do what he did today. He did 10 rounds with four talented young sparring partners. We’re not old journeymen that he can beat up on. We can fight.”
Indeed they can. That was evident during Monday’s brisk session because Margarito made them stand and fight.
[snip since the article is so long. read the full article at the link below]
Margarito had his rhythm while he worked the mitts with Garcia after the sparring session. The 5-foot-6 trainer, who is working his second fight with Margarito, donned a protective body suit and assumed a southpaw stance to mimic Pacquiao’s various attack sequences. (And although Garcia is nowhere near as fast as Pacquiao or Margarito’s sparring partners, the 35-year-old former junior lightweight titleholder did a good job of it.)
Trout, who was one of Margarito’s main sparring partners for the Paul Williams fight, noted the veteran’s improved technique as he observed the mitt session while working a heavy bag.
“He’s shortening up on his punches,” he said. “He’s little bit faster than I remember.”
Trout says Margarito is just as strong as he was during the Williams camp but smarter.
“This is a big change from the Williams camp because Margarito is bringing more than conditioning,” he said. “His conditioning and strength improved during the Williams camp but his form never changed. He made the same mistakes at the end of the camp as he did at the start.
“In this camp, I’ve noticed that he’s doing things this week that he didn’t do two weeks ago. He‘s working a jab and he‘s not swinging as much with his body shots. He‘s changing up his combinations, too.”
However, Margarito’s bread and butter is still his pressure, which seems to suck the energy out of his opponents and sparring partners.
I asked Trout, Pendarvis and Williams how soon they begin to feel the effects of Margarito’s pressure when they step into the ring with him.
“You start to feel it by the second round,” said Trout. “It’s real.”
“With Margarito you feel the pressure from the first round because he throws eight shots in one combination,” Pendarvis said. “I’m slick so I can block or slip three or four of them, even when my back is to the ropes, but three or four still get through. That’s what wears you down.”
“When do you start to feel the pressure?” Williams asked rhetorically. “The first time he gets you with a good body shot.”
Margarito’s sparring partners obviously don’t believe he’s a faded fighter or deserves to be the 6-to-1 underdog that odds makers have made him, and he certainly didn’t appear shopworn during Monday’s workout, which begs the question:
What the hell was wrong with him in the Mosley and Garcia fights?
Margarito’s co-manager Francisco Espinoza gave me his answer to that query.
“Forget about the Mosley fight,” he said. “He lost that fight because he killed himself making weight. It was a bad camp at the worst time in Tony’s career because it came after he beat Miguel Cotto. Tony took a break and enjoyed life for the first time after the Cotto fight. He didn’t get right back into the gym the way he had done for the 10 or 11 years that I’ve worked with him. He vacationed in Hawaii twice, visited the Dominican Republic, traveled all over the U.S. doing TV and making appearances.
“By the time the Mosley fight was finally offered he was the heaviest of his career. He entered camp 39 pounds over his fighting weight and we only had seven weeks to drop it. I didn’t want him to take the fight. I told him to cancel it, but you know Tony, he wants to fight. He was confident that he could lose the weight, but it was so much that it hurt him. He was used to losing 17 to 18 pounds in eight weeks. Losing 39 to 40 pounds in seven weeks weakened him too much.”
And the lackluster showing against Garcia in May?
“That was my fault,” Espinoza said. “That was me. I wanted him to box the entire fight. I begged him to box no matter what. We couldn’t afford anything crazy to happen. He was in with a strong kid and I didn’t want him to get caught or cut. Even after Tony dropped him in the first round, I told him to box and to back away. That wasn’t what Tony wanted to do or what Robert wanted to do. That was me.
“I just wanted to win. We were talking to [Margarito and Pacquiao’s promoter] Bob [Arum] at that time and he told us to ‘be ready, be on standby because Floyd [Mayweather] is not taking [the Pacquiao] fight.’”
Margarito got the ‘W’ and the rest, as they say, is history.
Less than two years after having his boxing licensed yanked by the California State Athletic Commission for his part in attempting to load his wraps against Mosley, Margarito is getting a shot at the biggest star in the sport.
Will he be able to capitalize on what many feel is an undeserved opportunity?
Team Margarito believes so.
“If Freddie Roach took this fight thinking the Margarito of the last two fights is what Pacquiao will get, then he made a big mistake,” said Espinoza.
“Freddie Roach is a great trainer, but he’s got his work cut out for him with this fight,” Pendarvis said. “It’s going to be a fight because Tony is going to take it to Pacquiao and test him the way he hasn’t been tested since he came up to welterweight. I’m not trying to be disrespectful to Roach because I think he’s one of the best trainers in the world. I’m a fan of Pacquiao’s. But I know from being in the ring with De La Hoya and Hatton that he didn‘t fight them at their best. Cotto tried to give it to [Pacquiao] but I think he was still damaged from his fight with Margarito.
“This is the first time Pacquaio is fighting a bigger man who is emotionally, mentally and physically ready for him. He’s going to get hit in this fight. He’s not going to be as slick as Margarito’s sparring partners, and we get hit. Pacquiao is a brawler at heart. He has the same will and determination that Margarito has. That’s why I think it’s going to be a great fight. It’s going to be good for boxing.”
http://www.ringtv.com/blog/2418/gym_..._shot_fighter/
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