Pacquiao vs Margarito

[J.B.]

http://squaredoctagon.com/index.php?page=61


Pacquiao vs Margarito, the countdown begins

10/12/10 - by JB



Boxing has had one hell of a year in 2010.

When the year started, the enitre boxing world was consumed in debate over the prospect of seeing the sport's number one and number two pound for pound fighters squaring off. However, the long awaited battle between Floyd Mayweather Jr. (41-0) and Manny Pacquiao (51-3), never came to fruition. Both sides seemed to be trying to get the other to budge on one thing or another, and like so many great fights in the past, the fans are stuck playing the waiting game. I could break down the details about random blood testing and ten million dollar penalties for being overweight, but I am as tired of that stuff as the rest of you.

After that mess, in March we saw Pacquiao move on to face the durable welterweight, Joshua Clottey, in the first boxing match at the new Cowboys Stadium in Arlington Texas. The fight was a very one-sided affair with Pacquiao throwing over 1,200 punches, while only landing on 399 of them. Clottey seemed content to play it safe and go into a shell defense, unable to really mount anything against the fiery Filipino.

Mayweather eventually moved on too, and he set up a May 1st bout with Shane Mosley, a fight that boxing fans had been pondering for over a decade, but weight divisions and pay-per-view draws always seemed to keep the two away from each other. The fight was a huge success, and Mayweather won a rather convinving unanamous decision over the 38 year old Mosley, despite being severly rocked in the second round.

After the Mayweather/Mosley match, the most logical next step was to head back to the negotiating table and work towards making the super-fight with Pacquiao and Mayweather happen this Fall. Ahh, but this is the sport of boxing my friends...we couldn't just make things simple, could we? Again, I am not interested in boring you with a bunch of he said/she said garbage. That's for all the "real" journalists/sportswriters. People who have followed the story know most of those details, and if any of my readers would like my comment or opinion on one quote or another, shoot me an email and I will reply. The bottom line here is, the fight isn't going to happen in 2010. Although, in round two of the negotiations it had seemed as if we were very close to it being a done deal (I know, it was like that in round one too), when Mayweather seemed to completely back away from knowledge or involvement in any negotiations at all. It was strange, and certainly did seem like an odd move for Mayweather. Rumors as to why have been vast, but the general consensus has been that Floyd did not want to fight again in 2010, be it for tax purposes or otherwise. We also know that since then, Floyd has ran into some public relations and legal troubles of his own.

So then, after becoming a Congressmen in the Philippines, Pacquiao declared that he still wanted to fight again this year to stay fresh, and to show that he could handle both professions. With Mayweather obviously playing hard to get, Pac-Man's promoter Bob Arum decided to move forward with a match against the much bigger, but highly controversial, Antonio Margarito (45-6).

In January 2009, Margarito was at the center of a controversy involving illegal knuckle pads inserted into his hand wraps that were discovered in the dressing room just before his TKO loss to Shane Mosley. The California State Athletic Commission subsequently suspended Margarito and his trainer, Javier Capetillo, for one year. Since then, there has been a massive amount of negativity directed at Margarito, labeling him a cheater and calling for him to be banned from the sport. Although the year has since passed, California has still denied Margarito a fighting license, and even though most states typically uphold the findings of commissions in other states, Margarito was cleared to fight in August by the Texas State Athletic Commission. This, naturally opened the door for Arum to call Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, and get the gears spinning towards a second fight this year at the new Cowboys Stadium in Arlington. The date was set for November 13, the contracts were signed, and now we are just over one month away from another great matchup in 2010.

Here is footage from the Press Conference for Pacquiao vs Margarito

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NltgHZ9_HzU

This is what I posted my latest blog about, and since it's just over a month away I figured we could use another thread on this fight.

[rockdawg21]

Already got my tickets and hotel room reserved, WOOHOO!!

==============================================

HBO has released the 24/7 schedule starting this Saturday, October 23 @ 10:30 PM ET/PT.

I don't get HBO so I'll check them on YouTube. Once I find the eps, I'll post the links on this thread.

http://www.boxingscene.com/?m=show&id=31959

Episode #1: Series Premiere.

Debut: SATURDAY, OCT. 23 (10:30-11:00 p.m. ET/PT)

Other HBO playdates: Oct. 23 (midnight), 24 (8:00 a.m.), 25 (7:30 p.m., 12:15 a.m.), 26 (12:30 a.m.), 27 (noon), 28 (4:00 p.m.), 29 (9:30 p.m., 2:45 a.m.) and 30 (11:00 a.m.)

HBO2 playdates: Oct. 24 (12:10 a.m.) and 26 (8:30 p.m.)

HBO On Demand availability begins: Nov. 1

Following the press tour announcing the fight, Manny Pacquiao (51-3-2, 38 KOs), the newly elected congressman from the Philippines, opens camp in Baguio City, Philippines, while the recently reinstated Antonio Margarito (38-6, 27 KOs) opens camp in Oxnard, Cal.

Episodes two and three of 24/7 PACQUIAO/MARGARITO debut on subsequent Saturdays – Oct. 30 (10:00-10:30 p.m.) and Nov. 6 (10:45-11:15 p.m.) – while the finale debuts Friday, Nov. 12 (9:30-10:00 p.m.), the night before the fight. All four episodes will have multiple replay dates on HBO and will be available on HBO On Demand.

The executive producers of 24/7 PACQUIAO/MARGARITO are Ross Greenburg and Rick Bernstein; senior producer, Dave Harmon; producers, Jonathan Crystal and Abtin Motia; writer, Aaron Cohen. Liev Schreiber narrates.

[J.B.]

That's awesome man, it's gonna be a great fight.

[rockdawg21]

Yeah, I'm mad excited. Just hope Pac is taking Margarito seriously. He may have been a cheater, but he always had an iron jaw. Regardless, I think Pac will be ready.

I'm excited to get there early for all of the festivities! I'll definitely be snapping tons of photos.

[J.B.]

I don't see how Antonio Margarito will be able to handle the volume that Manny throws. Margarito has never been the type of fighter it takes to beat Pac. He doesn't fight from the outside with the jab, and he's not slick like Floyd.

I think Manny will just come in...set his feet...let off 3-5 punches...step back and adjust....then repeat...

Long night for Margarito IMO.

Then, who knows...maybe Floyd will get his personal situations sorted out so we can finally see this fight we have all been waiting for next Spring, or maybe Floyd goes to jail and Manny ends up fighting JC Chavez Jr. in a giant spectacle in Manila or Mexico City before riding off into the Pinoy sunset alone on top of the Boxing world... at least that's the word on the street...lol

[rockdawg21]

Yeah, that's the thing I'm thinking as well. Margarito is tough and durable, but he's all straight forward. Manny should be too slick for him as long as he's working on his speed and Roach said he's getting there now and will peak at fight time. I see this being like Pac fighting DLH where speed kills.

As for Floyd, he's taking ducking Pac to a whole new level with the Ustream rant and beating up his ex. I mean, it was pretty bad when he was talking the steroid crap and Roger making up "a-side meth". But it became really obvious how badly whe wanted to avoid Pac when he beat up his ex and threatened his own children. Don't get your panties in a bunch JB, I'm joking here!

If Pac wants to ride out on top, it'd be hard to argue against being one of the top 3 P4P of all-time if he would fight and defeat Paul Williams. That would be incredible! Can't say I'd blame him for avoiding that one though, Williams is a f'ing best.

[J.B.]

Originally Posted by rockdawg21

Yeah, that's the thing I'm thinking as well. Margarito is tough and durable, but he's all straight forward. Manny should be too slick for him as long as he's working on his speed and Roach said he's getting there now and will peak at fight time. I see this being like Pac fighting DLH where speed kills.

As for Floyd, he's taking ducking Pac to a whole new level with the Ustream rant and beating up his ex. I mean, it was pretty bad when he was talking the steroid crap and Roger making up "a-side meth". But it became really obvious how badly whe wanted to avoid Pac when he beat up his ex and threatened his own children. Don't get your panties in a bunch JB, I'm joking here!

If Pac wants to ride out on top, it'd be hard to argue against being one of the top 3 P4P of all-time if he would fight and defeat Paul Williams. That would be incredible! Can't say I'd blame him for avoiding that one though, Williams is a f'ing best.

This is my 6,000 post, and I was trying to think of something good to use it on. So naturally when I read this I had to bite...

The Mayweather stuff, I could care less about. I've been up and down that road with numerous people, and I know how a lot of people feel about him. The truth is, people have always overly criticized Floyd's Boxing career since the De La Hoya fight and my thing has always been about seeing the whole picture for what it is and comparing it to history. Once people honestly sit back and do that, they see Floyd ain't much different from anybody else. As for Floyd "the person", he's obviously an imperfect one, but I also don't think he is the monster that writers like Rick Rockwell would have us believe. Also, speaking of writers, I'm going to give Michael Marley some brownie points this week for some comments he made this week on BTR about Arum being full of hot-air. Marley has written some hit pieces about Floyd and others that I never liked, but he does know the sport and from time to time he does break some good information.

Now, on to the real meat and potatoes of my response...

Top 3 P4P of All-Time if Pac beats Margarito and Williams? I can't agree with that.

Williams is a hell of a fighter, but he will always be criticized for exploiting smaller guys his entire career. The only guy in recent memory that was even as tall as Williams was Andy Kolle, but Williams has dwarfed basically every other opponent. Mayweather fought Marquez at 147 and everybody threw a hissy fit, but Marquez is 5'7 and Floyd is 5'9... WTF is a 6'1/82" reach Paul Williams doing fighting a 5'7/69" reach Verno Phillips?

Anyway, Pac is an All-Time-Great, but he and Mayweather still need to fight to answer some questions about this era, and even then it's hard for me to see either of them truly cracking the top 25 on a lot of lists. There are arguments that can be made for both men to put them inside the top 15, but no way either guy is top 5 in my opinion.

And that my friend is post 6,000...now it's time to blow this pop-stand and go pick up my copy of EA MMA

Margarito via plaster of paris

[J.B.]

Originally Posted by rearnakedchoke

Margarito via plaster of paris

Pacquiao via Plaster of Pinoy

[rockdawg21]

Can't find this on YouTube yet, but there is a VOB file available on MegaUpload:

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=TYXNRULM
Password: sweetboxing

Typical video programs like RealPlayer and Windows Media Player don't play VOB files, so you might want to download the VLC Media Player: http://www.videolan.org/vlc/