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NAME
Antonio Margarito || Manny Pacquiao
NICKNAME
Tijuana Tornado || Pac-Man
AGE
32 || 31
HOMETOWN
Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico || General Santos City, Philippines
STATISTICS
38 (27) - 6 (1) - 0 || 51 (38) - 3 (2) - 2
SIZE
5'11", 147-154 || 5'6" 1/2, 135-150
STANCE
Orthodox || Southpaw
ABILITY/TECHNIQUE:
Antonio Margarito: For Margarito, a lot depends on whether or not he has anything left after the brutal Shane Mosley defeat. If he can still be the war-machine that continues to attack for 12 rounds, constantly throwing punches up stairs as well as down stairs, he's got a helluva shot. If he is a fighter that depended upon the illegal hand-wraps and will now move forward as a boxer with average skills at best and a chin that can be dented, he might be in trouble. Nonetheless, at his best, he is able to block punches a lot better than he is given credit for, he can take a punch and he virtually never gets tired. He's also able to use his longer arms to get in and still manages to wing away on the inside with a solid body attack.
Manny Pacquiao: A few years back, this paragraph might have a lot less to it. However, everything changes and so has Manny's abilities. He's no longer the one-handed fighter of old with poor balance and a poor defense. He's got fast, powerful accuracy with both his left (mainly) and his right (often enough). His balance is far better than it once was, and he uses his in-and-out rhythm far better. Now, he sticks his feet flatly so that all his shots have a bit of power to them. He's also able to work behind a jab that can still set up his weapon of choice. As far as his defense; he'll still be tagged. He's going to get hit. The fact of the matter is, with so much offense, it's bound to happen. However, he isn't getting tagged nearly as easily as he once was. He's also not prone to getting tired.
WEAKNESSES:
Antonio Margarito: As with anything that involves Margarito, a lot depends on which fighter he is. Pre-Mosley or the guy that was knocked out in January of 2009. Nonetheless, some things are certain about Margarito; he's always been fairly easy to hit due to his poor defense, he often-times throws slow, wide punches and he doesn't fight very well backing up. With Pacquiao, he will most certainly be the man stepping forward, but he will do so with the knowledge that he is going to be tagged multiple times for every shot he lands for the majority of the bout. If he does have the ability to be hurt, this could be the only weakness that matters. It won't help his case that he has a tendency to start slow.
Manny Pacquiao: Regardless of how far he's come, some things don't change. Manny's till throws a lot of hard shots. And the more you throw, the more you will undoubtedly have to catch. With a bigger guy like Antonio Margarito, that could be something of a concern for Margarito. While Antonio's slow punches will help Manny, he's going to have to deal with them all night, something that none of his most recent opponents threatened him with. Pacquaio also has handled cuts badly in the past. He feels that he lost his first meeting with Erik Morales due to the cut over his eye and he severely lost a round to Juan Manuel Marquez when his eye-lid was clipped.
OPPOSITION/CHAMPIONSHIPS:
Antonio Margarito: Antonio has faced some decent opposition. It's nothing in comparison to the resume of Pacquiao but he has nothing to be ashamed of. Margarito has beaten both Joshua Clottey and Miguel Cotto before Manny got to them, but he struggled with both, before Clottey hurt his hand and he was able to break down Cotto, respectively. Still, he does have two quality wins over Kermit Cintron and Sergio Martinez. However, he has been beaten by speedy guys in the past, including Shane Mosley and Daniel Santos. He was also outworked against Paul Williams. With all the men just mentioned, Margarito holds a record of 5 (4) - 2 (1), with one no contest. As far as linear titles go, he's never owned one. Alphabet titles are on his resume, however.
Manny Pacquiao: Manny Pacquiao literally beat anyone of importance above 122 and below 130 while he occupied the divisions. Scoring victories over Marco Antonio Barrera, Erik Morales, Juan Manuel Marquez as well as other top contenders. Once he moved up to Lightweight, he scorched David Diaz before brutally beating down Oscar De La Hoya. While he never defended the crown, he did manage to then move down to Jr. Welterweight and destroy Ricky Hatton inside of two rounds. As if that wasn't enough, he then moved back up in weight and beat down Miguel Cotto and completely dominated the very durable Joshua Clottey. Out of these fights, Manny's record against them was 10 (7) - 1 (0) - 1. As far as championships go, he's held the true championships at 126, 130 and 140 pounds, beating Marco Antonio Barrera, Juan Manuel Marquez and Ricky Hatton, respectively for the titles. He also has claims to the linear title at 112 pounds. In terms of ABC belts, he has a record 7 or 8 (depending on how you look at it, like it matters.)
THE QUESTIONS: What Antonio Margarito will show up on Saturday? Does Manny Pacquiao have enough focus and time for his preparation? Does Margarito have enough left in his fists to actually hurt the solid chin of Manny's? Will Margarito be able to win a decision? Can Manny Pacquiao hurt Margarito? Will Manny finally feel the pressure? Can Manny keep up with Margarito's shots for 12 solid rounds of fighting? Will Manny stay disciplined enough to not go to war with a bigger, stronger man?
THE OUTCOME: Most people assume -- and perhaps correctly so -- that this will be a barn-burner. Personally, I don't see it living up to that hype. While this contest will in no way be considered boring, I think that this fight will have sustained action only in bursts. In the beginning, Manny will have target practice with his bigger foe, as Margarito will once again start off the contest slowly. For the first three rounds, Manny will have his way with the Mexican. However, around the fourth or fifth round, Margarito will land something that boosts his confidence and lowers Manny's, even if it doesn't noticeable hurt Pac-Man. Manny will continue to back up as he will have been doing the entire fight, but with a little less punches going towards Margarito. Margarito will win a few of the middle rounds as he continues to build his output. Towards the ninth round, Manny will get his second win, feeling that the fight could reasonably slip away and begin taking bigger chances, while still keeping his hands up and deflecting the slow, wide shots of his foe. Going into the final rounds, Manny will have the lead and a bloodied Margarito will continue to pressure his man, stepping forward with bombs. Manny, with a few nicks of his own will close the show strong in the last half of the eleventh round as well as the final round. Both men will stay standing the entire fight and both men will have their moments (though, Manny could suffer some sort of flash knockdown). However, Manny will dominate the majority of the action with his faster hands, his solid combination shots, his improved footwork and his solid stamina.
Winner, Manny Pacquiao, 12UD.
NOTE: As far as these little things go, I'm perfect in my record of 4-0. Nonetheless, this is the one I've felt the most wobbly on. I could see Margarito having heavier hands then Manny predicts and I could see Manny having too many distractions. Nonetheless, I feel this is the most likely outcome.
Regardless, vote, opine, what have you.
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