Manny Pacquiao Vs Antonio Margarito: Is it Wrong for Boxing?
By Damien Norman (Managing Editor’s Note: Damien Norman is our newest Feature Writer here at RSR. I, along with the rest of the team, welcome him aboard.)
Manny Pacquiao will look to continue in dominant fashion when he takes on suspended Antonio Margarito on November 13th for the vacant WBC Light Middleweight Title.
For a long time we have been waiting to see Pacquiao against Mayweather JR., but similar to the David Haye- Klitschko situation, it has never materialized and now he takes on Antonio Margarito, a man who is still serving a US suspension for altered hand wraps in his bout against Shane Mosley.
Due to Margarito still not having his license back to fight in the states the location of this fight has yet to be confirmed but it is looking like it will be held in Mexico if nothing has changed and the United States is out of the question.
So, this fight is going ahead, but is this right for boxing? What sort of statement does this make about the current state of top, world level boxing right now?
When you look at the Welterweight division it doesn’t take much digging to find top names… top names that are arguably much more deserving of a shot at this title than Antonio Margarito. Two names that instantly spring to mind are Timothy Bradley and Andre Berto, but there are many more that would seem a more worthy opposition than a fighter who for starters is still currently US banned but more importantly when he last fought at this level was seriously schooled.
Pacquiao must be going into this fight feeling very confident and if he should come through as the victor it will be his eighth title in eight divisions which is a remarkable statistic, and although not all of those title victories have been against world class operators you can only beat the man in front of you, right?
We see many boxers who are rated highly notch up very quick professional unbeaten records and a lot of the opponents they face are poor journeyman. This is pretty much how boxing works, and to be fair this is understandable and when you are starting out you can expect opponents similar to this but with each fight you should always better yourself as should you always compete against worthy contenders after winning a title and when this doesn’t happen is the time when people start asking questions.
Sometimes a bad loss or an opponent pulling out can mean a lesser opponent stepping in but when it comes to a situation like this, where you see the Filipino star Manny Pacquiao taking on an opponent who isn’t really deserving of the opportunity you have to seriously raise your eyebrow and question why this happens.
When people pay extremely good money to travel to these fights and watch boxing they expect to see a real challenge and the same can be said for the people that pay to watch it from home on pay per view too. Obviously both fighters have there loyal fans who will come to support them regardless, but I wonder how many Pacquiao fans are left feeling disappointed over the opponent he faces on November 13th?.
One thing that people will be asking is should Pacquiao personally take responsibility for this? Granted, he does not control the business behind the scenes and his job is to do the magic inside the ring but let’s not forget that it is his name on the line and whatever his people do, it is under his name. This is unfortunately the state of current world level boxing and we are seeing this regularly.
We all love a champion and when you get somebody as down to earth and gifted as Pacquiao you can but admire him, but putting all of that aside we still want to see that fighter challenged to the maximum and prove they are the best by taking on opponents who are standing on his toes in terms of ability and finesse. With all this said there are certainly worse opponents than Antonio Margarito who comes into this fight with a record of 38-6 and only one of those losses by KO which happened to be the controversial bout against Shane Mosley. His only fight since that night was a win against Roberto Garcia in May.
You would hope that Margarito would prove a stiff challenge for Pacquiao and would give him a real run for his money but in reality I can only see one winner.
Unfortunately with boxing the way it currently is, proposing a Pacquiao victory he would be seen as the dominant, untouchable fighter in the division without actually fighting a couple of opponents who could potentially defeat him, none more so than Floyd Mayweather JR., a fighter that has an immaculate record of 41 wins and no defeats.
He is seen by many people as the best fighter in the division and until Pacquiao finally faces him can never really call himself “the best.” It is a fight that has much controversy surrounding it, in fact it even got personal with Mayweather taking it one step further with racial remarks.
With the continuance of the sport going in the same direction you can’t help but feel it won’t be long until something is done about it and some dramatic changes will be implemented in order to change how people currently feel about boxing as a whole.
With some massive fights coming up between now and Christmas there is lots to be excited about as a boxing fan and with the New Year you would hope to see some firm changes.