-What Will be Answered when Manny Pacquiao & Antonio Margarito Finally Enter the Ring-
The junior middleweight battle between Manny Pacquiao and Antonio Margarito is mere days away. We’ve all read and seen the hype, which has been nonstop for weeks, and got started months ago, when the fight was originally announced.
But there are a few major questions that we still don’t know the answers to, and these questions will dictate how the fight plays out, and who emerges as the winner. Take a look at the 4 most important questions that need to be answered for the Pacquiao vs. Margarito contest.
Has Pacquiao really been that unfocused in training?
All throughout the 24/7 show we have heard how Manny Pacquiao has been distracted with politics and various other events and interests during training. Trainer Freddie Roach says that it has been their worst camp ever, and Alex Ariza has expressed concerns about Pacquiao’s strength and fitness. Both Roach and Pacquiao have since gone back on their comments a bit, but the concerns and the questions are lingering. Just how unfocused has Pacquiao really been in training, or has this all been hype to help sell the Pacquiao vs. Margarito PPV?
Even with his new responsibilities in the political arena, it’s unlikely that Pacquiao has slacked off in training. He has expressed that this is one of the biggest fights in his career, the opportunity to win a title in an 8th weight division. There’s also still the matter of a potential clash against Floyd Mayweather. With that lurking in the future, it’s doubtful that Pacquiao would overlook an opponent in a big showcase bout such as this.
Is this really a new and improved Margarito?
One other major element of the hype and buildup for Pacquiao vs. Margarito has been how this is a new and improved Antonio Margarito. The Tijuana Tornado has been hell bent on proving everyone wrong, and shutting everyone up who says that he’s a cheater and he doesn’t deserve to be in the ring with Manny.
In the past, we’ve seen Margarito get off to slow starts in bouts against Paul Williams and Joshua Clottey. But now he’s apparently in the best condition of his life, he’s been right on weight for weeks, and he’s spitting fire and bullets in the gym getting ready for the battle and to shock the world.
Will Margarito really fight with that kind of renewed vigor, intensity, power, and even skill? Or will we see the same Margarito we’ve always seen, a good but not great, strong, pressure fighter, that deals punishment via accumulation and displays some weaknesses in the speed and technical skill departments, in addition to those slow starts?
Will Margarito show any signs of rust, or any signs of his beat down from Shane Mosley?
Margarito hasn’t been in a meaningful contest since January of 2009. He’s only fought once since then, against middling opposition in Mexico. Considering that time off, will Margarito be displaying any signs of ring rust, particularly since his first main opponent back happens to be the reigning pound for pound king in the sport?
Additionally, prior to the bout with Shane Mosley, Margarito had been seen as somewhat indestructible. Mosley broke him down, beat him up and knocked him out. Once a fighter has been taken out in that fashion, the story usually goes that it’s much easier for it to happen the next time. Something just changes, both physically and mentally, and it wouldn’t be visible until it’s actually fight time. Will Margarito be showing the effects of that beat down, or has he completely recovered and moved past that?
What will the real weight, size and speed differences be?
Roach has said that on fight night, he expects there to be about a 20 lb difference in weight between Manny and Margarito. Manny has been training at around 147 or 148 lbs, so might get up to 150 lbs or so, but it’s unlikely that Margarito rehydrates all the way to 170 lbs, because he’s been right on weight for quite some time.
Margarito being that heavy could work to his advantage or disadvantage. It would make the speed disparity between the two even greater, but it would raise his power and size advantage to another degree. What’s the real weight difference going to be on fight night, and how will it affect the way these two fight one another? Will it lead Margarito to walk right through Manny’s assault to land his own damaging blows, or will he be enchanted by Pacquiao’s speed, unable to catch up to his darting movement?
Within these four questions you’ll find all of the answers you need for how Pacquiao vs. Margarito is going to play out. For what it’s worth, I believe Pacquiao hasn’t been too distracted; we will see a rejuvenated Margarito who isn’t showing any rust or signs of damage from the Mosley bout; but Pacquiao’s speed is simply going to be too much for Magarito to deal with. Changes to any of these answers though changes the way the bout will play out.
On Saturday night, come back to ProBoxing-Fans.com, when we will be featuring a live round by round blog of the main event, and updates on the entire PPV, available exclusively on our Pacquiao vs. Margarito results page.
