{"id":4790,"date":"2010-09-26T11:57:06","date_gmt":"2010-09-26T15:57:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/?p=4790"},"modified":"2010-09-26T12:29:51","modified_gmt":"2010-09-26T16:29:51","slug":"manny-pacquiao-should-we-support-the-antonio-margarito-fight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/?p=4790","title":{"rendered":"Manny Pacquiao: Should We Support the Antonio Margarito Fight?"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a>\"\"<\/a>By Gina L. Caliboso<\/strong><\/p>\n

Given these challenging economic times, I\u2019m still on the fence if whether I can convince family members to order the bout between Manny \u201cPacman\u201d Pacquiao vs. Antonio Margarito. Given that I had expected Pacquiao to fight Mayweather, I\u2019m still not sure exactly why Margarito was chosen to fight. So you hear the obvious, Bob Arum of Top Rank is promoting a fight with two key players \u2013 his marquis player Pacquiao and the down and out \u2013 needs a second chance fighter, Margarito. <\/p>\n

If you had to cast hats, Pacquiao is definitely the white hat hero. Margarito, at 5\u201911, is the black hat villain perpetually twisting his moustache. It\u2019s clever casting really and I\u2019ll tune in – maybe. However, there are some pieces of the plot that need some looking into as to what this fight may mean now and into the boxing future.<\/p>\n

First, I have to think if whether the fight will help or hurt boxing. I\u2019d argue yes on both sides. It will help boxing to see Pacquiao fight Margarito. It will hurt boxing to see Pacquiao fight Margarito. Depends on who you ask. As a Pacquiao supporter and Filipino flag waver, I love watching Pacquiao fight. He is a source of national pride for the Philippines and to see him fight now as Congressman Manny Pacquiao \u2013 who wouldn\u2019t want to see a politician get beat up. It reveals the idea of second chances. The great welterweight Pacquiao grants a down and out fighter accused and found guilty of cheating, Pacquiao offers Margarito his one chance at glory, a title, and a payday.<\/p>\n

As for whether it will hurt boxing. The fight hurts boxing because it isn\u2019t the bout every fan wanted to see. Margarito is not Mayweather. End of discussion. Pacquiao looks good on both sides of the argument.<\/p>\n

There is also the possibility to simply hurt boxing where it matters \u2013 low PPV buys. The money and numbers always say a lot about the marketability if whether a fight has enough fan support to invest in the PPV buy. Like I said, tough economic times. I just might have to wait like everyone else and look it up on the internet. True, the boxing fan can boycott. But given the fights that have occurred lately, I\u2019d argue Pacquiao is worth it. I want to see him fight against a taller fighter.<\/p>\n

What about Top Rank\u2019s Bob Arum?<\/p>\n

By setting up this fight, Arum has perhaps taken upon himself to create a competitive fight for two of his own fighters. Whether or not he intends to be in a spirit of revitalizing boxing, Arum is well aware about what the two fighters each represent. Pacquiao has an international appeal. Margarito may be taller, but Arum cleverly remembers just how well Pacquiao did against the trinity of the very best Mexican fighters \u2013 Marco Antonio Barrera, Erik Morales, and Juan Manuel Marquez. Even HBO has started the advertisements of Margarito \u201cbringing the title back to Mexico.\u201d The Filipino versus the Mexican. Both the Philippines and Mexico have great links to boxing history – most recently due to Pacquiao and his fights against the fighters I just mentioned. Arum has smartly used that appeal to market this fight.<\/p>\n

As for Margarito, I\u2019d like to think that his supposed \u2018cheatin\u2019 ways are behind him. I don\u2019t buy the \u201cI had no idea\u201d type of alibi that professional athletes use to provide an excuse about whether or not they did something wrong. Rules and testing procedures are in place to serve as preventative measures. All athletes have a personal responsibility to maintain fairness, honesty, and integrity in their sports. It\u2019s called fair and equal competition.<\/p>\n

As some of our readers have stated that Pacquiao will soundly beat Margarito, I never underestimate any fighter. Margarito should count his blessings that he\u2019s been given the opportunity to show what he\u2019s really made of against the best welterweight in Pacquiao. Margarito\u2019s career is still laced with cheating, and in his sin of cheating, Margarito must aptly ask for forgiveness and show some act of redemption. Maybe there are some Pacnuts that just want to see him get beat.<\/p>\n

As for Pacquiao, my favorite fighter Pacquiao, he already has a life that is showing potential retirement. Congressman Pacquiao has a lot on his agenda and he\u2019s never been the type of boxer to back down from the challenge. But as evidenced in his last fight against Clottey, he can be easily distracted. A multi-tasker to the end, Pacquiao will take this fighter, seriously, I hope, but dare I say it, should he lose, I don\u2019t see him retiring either. He\u2019ll stay in boxing long enough to fight whoever \u2013 and we know who \u2013 but he has more at stake than Margarito.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s my belief that both fighters needed a fight, but against each other, I\u2019m still not sure if it was the best fight. In fact, even as I write this article, still don\u2019t know how I\u2019m going to convince family members to buy this fight. Still thinking really. But given the state of boxing right now, the Super Six Middleweight tournament fighters are dropping out due to injury.<\/p>\n

The light welterweights have ALL seemed to call out one another, but nothing is happening. And more importantly, no one is looking at any other fight except a fight that has Pacquiao vs. \u201c\u2026.\u201d You can fill in any name. I\u2019ll be waiting. Boxing needs a fight \u2013 THE fight. And hopefully as a boxing writer and fan, I won\u2019t be waiting long. Boxing needs Pacquiao, so any fight, will be worth it.<\/p>\n

\n

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By Gina L. Caliboso Given these challenging economic times, I\u2019m still on the fence if whether I can convince family members to order the bout between Manny \u201cPacman\u201d Pacquiao vs. Antonio Margarito. Given that I had expected Pacquiao to fight Mayweather, I\u2019m still not sure exactly why Margarito was chosen to fight. So you hear […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[62,105,477,1864],"class_list":["post-4790","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-boxing-news","tag-antonio-margarito","tag-boxing","tag-manny-pacquiao","tag-november-13"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4790","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4790"}],"version-history":[{"count":-2,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4790\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4790"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4790"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4790"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}