Manny Pacquiao Vs. Antonio Margarito: Review of HBO 24/7, Episode 1

Hello, fight fans. Let's review the key action that took place on HBO 24/7, Manny Pacquiao vs. Antonio Margarito, Episode 1. I know a lot of you fight fans do not have HBO and access to the 24/7 episodes, depending on where you may live, so this is for you guys. You are welcome.

So first off, in all honesty, when I heard they were going to a 24/7 for Pacquiao and Margarito I thought to myself, oh man, this will be the worst 24/7 ever. Let's keep it real, the No. 1 star of 24/7 is Floyd Mayweather Jr. because his alter ego, "Money May," is such a total douchebag, talking smack about all of his haters and opponents and really crossing the line.

We all know Manny is a humble man, and unfortunately that does not make for good reality programming. But this time around we see a more entertaining version of Manny. No, he is not talking smack or being a total cocky douchebag like Money May, but he has chosen to become more funny and interesting for the camera. We see this in Episode 1 when he does his impression of Margarito getting his hands wrapped, and he pretends to look away and cover his hands, saying come on, any fighter would know if they are getting their hands wrapped with illegal substances.

We also take a look into Manny's role as a congressman, as he explains his political affiliates must have immediate contact with him at all times, even when he is right in the middle of hitting the mitts with trainer Roach.

Manny proves himself a workaholic, as 24/7 shows what an average day of his looks like during training camp and other activities, including a marathon with 100,000 people and long hours of driving from event to event and back to training camp in Baguio City.

Manny performs for the camera, staring at a photo of himself in congress while he is in his training gear and giving the infamous hard-pointing finger directly at the camera as if to say to Margarito, "You are next to get destroyed by the Pac Man."

We see very colorful images of Baguio City and Sarangani. Many fans commenting on the fight forums have expressed that certain scenes of these areas are far more poverty-stricken than the Tijuana areas that Antonio Margarito hails from. However, we do not see a comparison between Margarito's hometown because all of Margarito's scenes seem to be taking place in the Oxnard area where his new trainer Robert Garcia holds his training camps.

The narrator mentions that whether you like it or not, Margarito is back. This is a comment on the overwhelming opinion that many are upset that Margarito is now allowed to fight back in the United States against the top fighter on the planet and make millions of dollars after being convicted of cheating with illegal substances on his hand wraps.

The 24/7 episode spends more than enough time trying to portray Margarito as a man who did not know what was going on and who has suffered enough as a result of his trainer's mistake. Margarito tries to explain how it was his trainer's fault and not his, and even his manager speaks on camera about how much Margarito has been suffering mentally since the scandal.

Team Pacquiao explains via adviser Michael Koncz that fighting Margarito despite his scandal makes the most sense since he brings the most money in a fight.

Manny even says Margarito has already suffered his punishment, and we all are only human.

Margarito is seen driving a pickup truck to his camp. It is rare to see a boxing superstar in 24/7 drive anything as humble and working class as a pickup truck since we are used to seeing Mayweather's V12s, Manny's SLK.

We all see several low-riders during one scene where the Garcia gym is having a car show fundraiser. At this car show are several Margarito fans, who are all showing their support for him. In one of the classic vintage cars comes middleweight champion Sergio Martinez, as well as another car carrying potential future boxing star Brandon Rios.

The Garcia family are well-known to be all-around good guys in the boxing world. They are hardworking, decent, humble people. I personally am glad to see them get the exposure and camera time that they did in this episode.

Garcia shows how hard he makes his fighters train by taking a wooden stick and hitting Margarito's stomach area nonstop for what seems to be a full round. Margarito's stomach is bright red as he takes the punishment all in, but then he smiles.

Just when you are so disgusted with Margarito being a no class-cheater who makes you mad, we see a scene where Margarito farts while getting his hand wrapped by trainer Garcia which makes both his trainer and wife run away in disgust.

Why this scene is included in 24/7 does not make sense to me. Is this scene supposed to lighten up the tension and our image of Margarito? Was it supposed to be funny? Well, keep this in mind, guys, the last guy who farted on 24/7 was another Pacquiao opponent, and he got beat so bad he pulled a "no mas" on his stool. Will this suggest the outcome of the fight?

Also keep in mind the 24/7 rituals/curses. Both fighters who showed their buttocks on 24/7 both got knocked out by Pacquiao. Yes, both Miguel Cotto and Ricky Hatton showed their butts on 24/7. If you see Margarito show his butt in this 24/7 series you can best assume he will be knocked out as well—if you are a believer in the 24/7 curse.

One scene that we have to discuss was a interesting scene of Freddie Roach at the mall in the Philippines. Roach is one of the biggest celebrities over there, and we finally see how famous he is when he is walking in the mall and is mobbed by a crowd of teenage girls. This was very 1999 Backstreet Boys-ish. Roach explains that if he can allow a fan to take a picture and make them happy, then he feels good.

The sparring scenes and mitt-target scenes are probably the most exciting scenes that Manny is in. Manny does not look himself in these scenes, though, for both his speed and power do not seem to be as great as we remember them. Is this due to the many political distractions? Or is this just a ploy to give Margarito a false sense of confidence, or even to get the general public thinking that the fight will be more competitive than we think it will be?

Manny again is more verbal and open to commenting on his opponents than we are used to. Through Roach we learn that Manny feels Margarito is not too big for him and that he feels he will destroy him.

Also, we hear from Manny's own mouth that he is fine if the Mayweather fight never materializes because he is content with his own accomplishments and legacy already—but is Mayweather?

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