Manny Pacquiao – Antonio Margarito: A Fixed Fight?
By “Bad” Brad Berkwitt
On November 13th, RSR as it stated for months, boycotted the Manny Pacquiao vs. Antonio “Hands of Plaster” Margarito card. There were no boxing results as readers are used to reading and no post fight analysis right after the fight. From what I have read and of course seen in pictures, where was the tough Antonio Margarito who was going to stop Manny being that he was the bigger man?
All I saw was “Speed Kills” and looking at Margarito’s face, it sure does. There were many out there who started to proclaim that Margarito was innocent of loading his gloves, but as the fight neared, they kind of back pedaled on that. Either way, without him loading his gloves, as he did against Shane Mosley where it was proven and many others where it was not, you can unequivocally say that without “Plaster of Paris” in his gloves, he has very little if any, power in his punches.
From all accounts that I have read, it almost seemed that Margarito never had a chance to win this fight and the fix was in before it ever happened. That is a tall order to claim, but who would really win if a fix was in? The answer is Bob Arum! He is the Promoter of record for both fighters and you have to just cringe, thinking of how the conversation might have gone…
Bob: Tony, without me, you wouldn’t be back in boxing, and you wouldn’t have this payday. Manny is the man they’re coming to see and he needs to win, get it?
Tony: (In Spanish, but translated) Yes, boss, I agree, but I will want a couple of million dollars to do it.
Bob: You got it, but make it look really good and you will have to take a few bumps and bruises, but your corner can throw in the towel if you can go about six rounds!
Tony: Sounds good boss.
The conversation probably went something like that. Now Manny on the other hand, I think knew nothing about the fix being in, and went in at about 50%, but 50% of Manny was enough to beat a feather fisted Antonio Margarito.
Here are some other thoughts to ponder…
Manny Pacquiao DID NOT deserve the WBC Junior Middleweight Title
The title was manufactured because neither Manny Pacquiao nor Antonio Margarito were junior middleweights. They were established welterweights. So how do they get a shot?
The subpar training camp of Pacquiao was greatly overstated…
Manny Pacquiao did start off poorly, but he rebounded quickly and had a great training camp, but the media was still fed a line of nonsense to push the buy rate of the pay per view. The fight was built on lies.
In the end, the fight was a fix from its announcement, even if it wasn’t your traditional one where one guy is paid to take a dive outright. A mismatch sold to the public with a criminal mediocrity on one side and one of the best fighters in the world on the other. The end result was never in question, but the line of continual nonsense made the sale possible. Margarito’s non effort is alarming and should be looked into, but the investigation should go right up the chain, right to Bob Arum’s office. It won’t be the first time he’s been looked into.