Boxing Preview: Manny Pacquiao vs. Antonio Margarito

Multi-weight wonder Manny Pacquiao climbs in the ring once again tonight when the 31 year old southpaw meets Antonio Margarito for the vacant WBA light middleweight title at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, TX.

After winning world titles at flyweight, super bantam, featherweight, super feather, lightweight, light welter and welterweight, Pacquiao, 51-3-2 (38), will now try his hand at light middleweight.

In the opposite corner will be Margarito, 38-6 (27), who previously held the WBO, IBF and WBA belts at welter and, with a five inch height and considerable reach advantage, represents a very tall hurdle for Pacquiao to clear.

The key to this contest will be Pacquiao’s quickness and he will almost certainly use his advantage in this department to offset the edges that Margarito holds in other areas.

Neither Shane Mosley or Miguel Cotto had difficulty in finding the target against Margarito and it’s almost a certainty that Pacquiao will be able to enjoy the same success.

But will Pacquiao be able to take the punches of Margarito? Pacquiao is not easy to hit but at some point in the bout, Margarito is likely to land some meaningful shots and it will be interesting to see what effect that has on the outcome of the bout.

Eric Morales was able to use his height and a good right hand to nullify Pacquiao’s speed and southpaw style in the first fight between the two, and thus the blueprint is there but Margarito will have to pull off the best performance of his career if he is to match the feat of “El Terrible”.