Manny Pacquiao: 10 Bold Predictions About Antonio Margarito Fight
Manny Pacquiao and Antonio Margarito will meet in a colossal collison on Saturday night inside Cowboys Stadium.
The fight has received widespread criticism across the boxing landscape.
There are those who think the bout shouldn't happen because of Margarito's well-known cheating past.
Then, there are those who are against seeing the fight because of the extreme size discrepancy between the two fighters.
Regardless of what anyone thinks though, this mega-fight will go down tomorrow and has the makings of a brawl for the ages.
So what will happen when Pacquiao and Margarito duke it out in front of thousands of fans in Arlington?
Here are 10 bold predictions for Pacquiao vs. Margarito.
10. Pacquiao Will Be in "Manny Shape"
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Especially in recent weeks, we've heard numerous stories from Manny Pacquiao's trainer Freddie Roach that this has been one of the worst—if not the worst—training camps he's ever seen from Pacquiao.
It has been said that Pacquiao has been too distracted by his political duties and other issues outside the ring to focus on his training regimen.
Well, I'm not going to flatout say Pacquiao's camp is a bunch of liars, but I do think this has been nothing but smoke and mirrors.
Pacquiao will not enter this fight with poor endurance and be needing to suck oxygen between rounds.
He'll be in what his camp calls "Manny shape."
9. Pacquiao Will Take an Early Lead on the Scorecards
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One of the things you can say about Antonio Margarito's game is that he doesn't exactly shoot out of the gate like Secretariat at the Kentucky Derby.
In other words, Margarito is not going to bring his A-game at the beginning of the bout.
It generally takes him a lot longer than Manny Pacquiao to get into the flow of the flight, so I wouldn't expect him to get a leg up on Pacquiao in the early rounds.
Pacquiao should take advantage of Margarito's slow start and win the first two or three rounds.
8. There Will Be More Than Two Knockdowns
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Make no mistake about it, Manny Pacquiao is a better overall boxer than Antonio Margarito.
But there's something about the contrasting styles of these fighters that makes me think they'll each have their moments.
Pacquiao's so quick that he'll surprise Margarito, and Margarito's so large and powerful that he'll catch Pacquiao off guard.
For that reason, I think there will be at least three knockdowns over the course of the fight, though none of them will approach the 10-count.
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7. Go For the Headshot, Manny
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The only way I see Antonio Margarito winning this fight is if he hammers Manny Pacquiao with so many body shots that Pacquiao becomes more vulnerable to a knockout punch.
Conversely, the way I see Pacquiao winning this fight is by taking it straight to the head of Margarito.
He'll have to level Margarito's eye, his nose, his chin, whatever facial feature that's going to make Margarito back down a bit.
This is what Pacquiao's plan should be: just look at Margarito's face and destroy it.
6. Margarito Will Win the Middle-Later Rounds
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There is a general procedure to fights involving Antonio Margarito.
He loses the earlier rounds, waits for his opponents to get a little sluggish, then he comes in full-on attack mode to try to knock these guys to the canvas.
Well, I'm not expecting much of a difference in his fight with Manny Pacquiao.
Margarito will fall behind early, but put together a solid stretch in the middle rounds to even up the scorecards.
5. Height Won't Be an Issue
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Manny Pacquiao will enter this fight as the David to Antonio Margarito's Goliath.
At 5'11", Margarito has a solid 5.5-inch height advantage on Pacquiao, but I just don't see that playing into the bout as much as other people think.
Margarito is more of a toe-to-toe fighter, who often negates his height and reach advantage by fighting in close reach to his opponents and hunching his head.
Plus, Pacquiao showed against Oscar De La Hoya that he can sidestep or duck under those high punches against taller opponents, then use his quickness to surprise them with a flurry of punches.
4. ...But Overall Size Will
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I know some of you are probably thinking that "height" and "size" are the same thing, but to the contrary my friend.
When I refer to size, I'm just referring to the fact that Antonio Margarito will be an all-around bigger guy in this one.
Of course the weigh-in isn't until later today, but I'm obviously expecting Margarito to be a bit heavier than Manny Pacquiao.
And that will help Margarito absorb some of the impact when he's getting blasted with a barrage of punches by the much swifter Pacquiao.
3. Pacquiao Will Not Win By Knockout...
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Most of the predictions I've read have Manny Pacquiao winning by knockout somewhere in the later rounds, in that eight to 12 range.
Well, Pacquiao may be the favorite in most boxing circles, but I'm not sold on him knocking out the much larger Antonio Margarito.
Margarito will do a better job at protecting his body and absorbing blows than people think, so he's not going to let Pacquiao end this one by knockout or TKO.
2. Because The Fight Will Go 12 Rounds...
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Right off the get-go, I'll tell you that I will be incredibly disappointed if this is a short fight.
After the last fight I watched—UFC 121 with Brock Lesnar getting destroyed by Cain Velasquez—I'm not ready for another "blink and you miss it" bout.
Thankfully, though, I see Antonio Margarito landing enough body blows on Manny Pacquiao to stay alive for all 12 rounds and send this one to the judges.
1. And End in a Split Decision
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Us boxing fans can sit on the computer and debate what will happen in the fight between Manny Pacquiao and Antonio Margarito all day, but we really have no idea until it actually happens.
It could end in the first, third, fifth or 10th bout for all we know.
So I may be going out on a limb here, but I think this one will come down to the scorecards and be close enough to be decided on a split decision.
Winner: Pacquiao by Split Decision
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