Antonio Margarito...the next Winky Wright...or Vivian Harris?

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Antonio Margarito: The next Vivian Harris or Winky Wright?

07.04.06 - By Travis Marks: Andrew “Six Heads” Lewis, Kermit “Killer” Cintron, Antonio Diaz and David Kamau are not names that are going to strike fear into the hearts of any world class boxers but they are significant nonetheless. These four men are the best opponents that boxing’s most avoided fighter, Antonio Margarito, has beaten thus far. Antonio Margarito for years has been calling out the best fighters in the welterweight only to be ignored. But is Antonio Margarito the next Vivian Harris or is he the next Winky Wright?

At this point last year Vivian Harris was the reigning WBA light welterweight champion. Like Margarito, Harris made it known to anyone who would listen that he was being avoided and ignored by the top fighters in his weight class. Harris became the champion when he dethroned Diosbelys Hurtado by knocking him out in the second round of their bout. The expectation was for that win to propel him into stardom but he was brought back to reality when he was kept off of television for his first three title defenses.

Harris was forced to go to Germany twice to defend his title against local favorite and very tough Oktay Urkal. After successful defenses he began calling out “Pretty Boy” Floyd Mayweather, Miguel Cotto, Ricky Hatton and Arturo Gatti. The brunt of Harris’ attack was aimed at Mayweather.. Vivian made the substantiated claim that Floyd had turned down the opportunity to fight him. There was much speculation amongst the boxing public that Floyd was avoiding Harris, similar to the situation going on today with Margarito. Harris is a tall strong puncher with an educated jab and those attributes are said to be the neutralizers for speed. Floyd is blessed with tremendous speed and Harris seemingly would have been a tough opponent for him.

With the spotlight on him on the under card of Mayweather’s challenge to Gatti for the WBC light welterweight title, Harris failed miserably. Harris was looking to steal the show by to knocking out little known challenger Carlos Maussa early in their bout. Vivian used all his energy trying to accomplish this goal. An exhausted Harris was eventually knocked out by Maussa in the seventh round. He not only lost his title but he lost all credibility.

Unlike Harris, Margarito has steered clear of the upset bug. But parallels can be drawn because both Margarito and Harris are talented fighters who were not in the mix because they were not given the opportunity to fight the best.

Winky Wright for years was in the same boat that Margarito and Harris have found themselves in. Wright claimed that all of the top fighters were ducking him. A professional of 16 years, Wright suffered setbacks early in his career when he stepped up in class against Julio Cesar Vazquez (50-1) in August of 1994 and again in August of 1998 against Harry Simon (16-0).

Two fights after the bout against Simon, Wright fought young superstar Fernando Vargas. Wright lost a very close majority decision (112-116, 113-115, 114-114) that many felt he had won. For four years after that loss, Wright was regulated to fighting mis-mandatories on Roy Jones Jr. under cards. Wright was frustrated because he knew that he was a great fighter but all of them were refusing to fight him.

When Oscar De La Hoya insisted that he receive more money than his two time conqueror in a proposed third bout, “Sugar” Shane Mosely felt slighted and instead stepped up and challenged Winky Wright. Wright dominated Mosely in their first encounter, legitimizing his claim that he was of boxing’s best kept secret. Despite the rematch being closer on the scorecards, Wright was once again the victor. The victory further cemented his spot amongst boxing’s elite. Wright next big test came when he fought Felix “Tito” Trinidad. Wright soundly defeated the Puerto Rican legend, arguably winning every round. With that victory Wright secured himself at the very top of most pound for pound list.

Twenty Eight year old Antonio Margarito longs for such recognition. But who is Antonio Margarito really? As a boxer, he is a strong relentless puncher, he has a good chin and he is a legitimate 147 pound fighter. He has good power and is very confident. His professional record is 38 wins against 4 defeats with one no contest. He has never avenged any of his losses. However, Antonio can be excused from those setbacks because he was a very young fighter when he was defeated in three of those matches. He lost to Victor Lozoya when he was only 16, Larry Dixon when he was 17 and Rodney Jones at the age of 18. After losing to Jones, the only blemishes on Antonio record were the result of two fights against former WBO light middleweight champion, Daniel Santos (one loss and a no contest when the fight was called off due a bad cut in the first round.)

A two round demolition of former WBA welterweight champion Andrew “Six Heads” Lewis brought Margarito to the forefront. His impressive win over Lewis piqued HBO’s interest. Margarito was put on the HBO Boxing After Dark series against undefeated and unheralded Hercules Kyvelos of Montreal, Quebec Canada. While Margarito won by technical knockout in the second round, he did not impress. He looked very sloppy and nothing close to elite.

HBO gave Margarito a second chance by matching him against Daniel Santos for Santos’s WBO light middleweight championship. Santos gave Margarito problems because of his size (Margarito went up one weight class to light middleweight for the fight) and southpaw stance. Margarito again looked sloppy and was hurt several times in the fight. Margarito began to turn the tide in the fight when it was stopped because of a bad cut that to his eye. Antonio suffered the fourth loss of his career that night by technical decision in the ninth round. At that point HBO was no longer interested in him.

Margarito went back to the ESPN circuit. First he defeated the 5’6 three year pro Sebastian Andres Lujan in a competitive bout by TKO. Next he obliterated young and undefeated KO artist Kermit Cintron on ESPN’s first pay per view card in five rounds. This past February, Margarito continued his winning ways when he destroyed mis-mandatory and journeyman Manuel Gomez in one round.

So the hype has been built. Bob Arum is trying to get his number one fighter, Floyd Mayweather into the ring with Margarito. Since he promotes both fighters, the fight can be made. Arum has hinted that Mayweather doesn’t want to fight Margarito. In many interviews, Floyd has intimated that Margarito has done nothing to distinguish himself. Floyd doesn’t see a real reason to fight Margarito. However, there is momentum building for this fight. Like Harris, there is a strong contingent that feels Margarito is the perfect man to beat Floyd. His work rate and size can pose problems for the undersized pound for pound king.

This fight will tell us a lot. Does Floyd have enough pop to keep Margarito off? Will Margarito be able to deal with the speed and skill of Mayweather? One thing for sure is that all the die-hard boxing fans are very anxious to see if Margarito is the real deal. A fight with Mayweather seems imminent and Margarito will get his opportunity. Is Margarito going to ascend to greatness or will he fall flat on his face?

Contact Writer at travioso76@yahoo.com

Nice article,CC. Well,I don't think he will be a Harris as he has surpassed him already and the Floyd fight is a win win as long as he performs well,I mean it is against P4P number 1(Number 2 in my list!). Margarito may very well look sloopy as it says against Kyvelos but it was still a crushing victory and the combo he put together was awesome! Margarito has waited all his life for the big fight,I sooooo hope he gets it, and I am confident he will not dissappoint. I think(/hope) he walks through Floyd and stops him,that would be awesome! I'm already thinking about tickets if this fight goes ahead,soooooooo excited!!!!

I think what Wright to Mosley or Trinidad is completely different than what Margarito would do to Floyd Mayweather if he could even beat PBF.