Manny Pacquiao Vs Antonio Margarito

Another Pacquiao fight – another drubbing of a much larger opponent, and Pacquaio’s legend as a boxer grows. But the fight between Manny Pacquiao and Antonio Margarito produced not just a memorable pay-per-view experience worth every penny of the $64.95 it cost – it produced, for this observer at least, some moments of clarity that helped me better understand what makes the Filipino “National Fist” so much more than just a great athlete.

The True Tale of How the Fight Unfolded, and How Pacquaio Had to Fight Through Early Adversity to Gain Control.

First, if you didn’t see the fight but have read about it, you probably have read that Pacquiao dominated; that he won every round or almost every round; that he cut Margarito to shreds so much so that everyone, including Pacquiao, had legitimate concerns about Margarito’s health and whether the fight should continuing the later rounds.

That rendition of the fight is accurate up to a point – but it fails to capture the genuine peril that Pacquaio faced in the early rounds, the genuine threat that Margarito represented, and thus the challenge that Pacquiao overcame to prevail against Margarito – a fighter who was in the best shape of his life and weighed 165 to Pacquiao’s 148 on fight night – an advantage of not just 17 pounds but 12% of of body weight – a Goliath to Pacquiao’s David and a disgraced Mexican warrior on an epic quest for redemption. Could Margarito have been more prepared or more motivated? I don’t see how. That’s what Pacquiao was up against. Read more