Antonio Margarito to Manny Pacquiao: “I Can’t Wait to Load My Gloves Again!”
By Geno McGahee
OK, the above quote is not an actual quote, but more of an implied one. If you believe that he knew nothing of the plaster in the hand wraps, then you will also buy that he would not cheat if there was an opportunity. As we get closer to this sham of a super fight, the question has to be asked: “Will Margarito be allowed to cheat again?” After all, he cannot beat Manny Pacquiao straight up. If he goes in there with his normal punches that had absolutely not effect on Shane Mosley, then they will not dent Pacquiao. I know this and Team Margarito knows this.
How crooked is this fight?
The commission in Texas approving Margarito for a boxing license says much. I would wager that each and every “yes” vote came with a new car. It’s common sense here people. If somebody puts a baseball bat in your hand and you go hit somebody over the head with it, can you say you were unaware of the bat? You are completely innocent of the charges? Margarito was given two baseball bats in the form of tampered hand wraps and who knows what else he and his trainer had done to secure victory after victory in the later stretch of his boxing career? What will they do to beat Manny Pacquiao?
Anything it takes. If there is an opportunity and if the commission can be bought, others can be paid to look away while the crime takes place. This time, it may not be plaster, because people will be looking for it, but it may be something else, but the big point is that Margarito is a proven cheater, a criminal, a detriment to the sport we all love, but he gets the shot to make a bundle of money. I think that a lot of people will have to take a shower after they pay for this fight.
I have never been a big fan of Muhammad Ali. I certainly don’t consider him the best of all time, but he was one hell of a marketing genius. Floyd Mayweather, JR., has learned a great deal from the displays of the former Heavyweight Champion. Now Ali was offered many deals to promote different products and declined, when he was broke because it was the right thing to do. Now, Manny Pacquiao is fighting a person that hurts the sport for nothing more than the green, and he is not broke.
We are in a world where the rich want to get richer, but when you are in a position of celebrity status and you market yourself as a positive influence to the young and society as a whole, watching take money out of filth is discouraging. In a world of so very few heroes, many looked up to Pacquiao for his determination and common man vibe, but now we sit back and ask why he would agree to this fight.
In the end, the fault is not with Manny Pacquiao, or Antonio Margarito, or even Bob Arum, but the disorganization and filth factor of the sport itself. We have several opportunists that are looking to turn a buck. If you have a drug dealer on the corner of your street and you call the cops to take him out of there and they walk over to him and hug him and tell him to proceed, then it is the fault of the police for allowing it. They are there to protect and serve, but what do we have to protect and serve boxing?
So what is the core of this fight? What are we being sold? Does anyone reading this believe this to be a competitive fight? I see no hands raised and I am with the mob. This is not a competitive fight. This is a man running at a tank with a flyswatter.
If it’s not a competitive fight, then why is it on PPV? Two angles that we are going to see: One, Margarito is a cheater, a man that should be banned from the sport, but because he’s not and because the idiots in Texas think that it’s OK to put a guy like him into the ring as long as it lines their pockets, he’s getting paid. Margarito is associated with loaded gloves and the “anything to win” attitude. He is the new bad boy of boxing and that is the sell here. What will he do to win this fight and he’s gotten away with cheating before…no lesson learned there people. Why not do it again? Why not load the gloves? If he beats Pacquiao, he’s going to fight Floyd and there is another 10 million or so in his bank account.
The other angle is that this is a good fight because a bad guy is going to be punished. Many people subscribe to this theory and many idiots are pushing this on message boards and in some cases, boxing articles. Is there anyone that wouldn’t get beaten down for millions of dollars? How is that punishment? Who hasn’t gotten into a fight? Picture this, you watch the biggest piece of garbage take a beating. Charles Manson … a young Manson, because now he’d probably die during the beating being so old. Well, Manson gets pounded and knocked out, and then he gets up and they hand him a check for 10 million. Are you satisfied with that punishment? Margarito is a serious criminal. He wasn’t caught for stealing cupcakes from Walmart. He was caught with deadly weapons and the intent to use them.
So, protest a fight where a criminal gets rich or rejoice that he is getting “punished” with millions of dollars. It’s up to you. We have this great opportunity to tell Bob Arum and the other snakes involved that we are not going to support something that hurts the sport.
Manny Pacquiao vs. Antonio Margarito: a mismatch between one of the best in boxing and a known cheater, endorsed by Bob Arum and the crooked Texas Commission, and hopefully rejected by the boxing fans. Even when you throw out the plaster, you still have the mismatch and if you want to know the end result, tune into RSR now: Pacquiao by mid round stoppage. There, I saved you 60 bucks and I hope some of you that were going to rent it, will think about it after you’ve read this.