Margarito vs Pacquiao – the Prediction

By: Rab Romulo

Antonio Margarito should be in cloud nine as he finally booked a date with the world’s catch weight king from the Philippines Manny Pacquiao.

Margarito has many reasons to smile in spite of his past suspension from boxing as he is now back with a bang. It was a blessing in disguise for this man who now has the inside track of capturing the pinnacle of his colorful career.

He has a legitimate crack at Manny Pacquiao. Yes, I am a Filipino and my heart is for Manny but I can’t be so patriotic this time because the odds against the pinoy superstar are very high. He is up against a bigger guy who stands like a basketball player. The weight disadvantage of Pacquiao might not matter but at 151 pounds he is again goes up in weight and I doubt if he can still be as quick as he was when he fought Miguel Cotto.

More than the weight is the height advantage of Margarito. It will be interesting how Margarito uses his height against the diminutive Filipino southpaw. But if those above mentioned advantages are not enough, hold on to your seats folks because Margarito also has an iron chin.

As a matter of fact it takes Shane Mosley only one punch to staggered Floyd Mayweather jr but it took him a barrage of the same punches to the chin of Margarito with the same result. It means Margarito has a very strong chin something that the camp of Manny Pacquiao should be wary about.

Manny Pacquiao on the other hand has also an iron chin but he was not hit much since his Marquez bout. The only time he felt the punch of a legitimate welter was when he won against Miguel Cotto. But the match is so one sided that it won’t be a gauge how strong the chin of pacman.

While Margarito’s chin is widely known to be so strong, he also possesses a very lethal uppercut and jabs well against his opponents. He has better lateral movement over Cotto, Dela Hoya, Hatton and Clottey combined.

His strongest suit is his experience in the higher class compared to Manny Pacquiao who strives to dominate the catch weights divisions. And the only reason why Margarito is underdog is because of his illegal hand wraps.

This fight will not go the distance, and it would be Margarito in 7th round.