Quote Originally Posted by Rantcatrat View Post
Quote Originally Posted by GAME View Post
Tony has been brought in to make Pac look good. If he wasnt an Arum fighter he wouldnt have got this chance. Not sure how he deserves a world title fight at light middle.Also the catchweight has taken away whatever credibility this fight had.

Pac will be too fast and Tony wont be able to block whats coming at him. If he wasnt knocked sensless by Mosley I dont think theyd take the risk because Margarito use to be dangerous but with the hand wrap revelation its clear that his best wins were probably due to cheating. The two times we know he HASNT got plaster in his gloves he looks awful. No surprise that he's suddenly got a big fight because he is there for the taking so they want Pac to beat him and gets some glory before another washed up 38 year old does.

Afew years ago it would have been a good fight but I think we will be in for a disappointment. Lets hope Haye vs Audley delivers.
I agree with a lot of this post. Pac should be too fast for Tony and the punches that hurt the most are the ones a boxer doesn't see coming. I also agree that in the past Margarito was dangerous but it appears that was mostly due to the use of illegal hand wraps. He looked bad in the two fights where we know for certain he didn't use illegal wraps.

As people have mentioned, what Margarito has going for him is his advantages in size. If you look at all the fights Margarito didn't look his best in, including his last two, they were against big welterweights or junior middleweights (e.g. Paul Williams, Shane Mosley, Joshua Clottey, and his last opponent). Here, Pacquiao is a small welterweight (and in my opinion, he really is a junior welterweight). There is the potential for the disparity in size to play a big role in this fight.

On the other hand, the cynic in me thinks that Manny is fighting Margarito now because Top Rank knows Margarito isn't too tough without his concrete wraps. Pacquiao is being matched carefully at these higher weights. There can be no denying that. Cotto and Hatton were on the slide and Clottey is too defensive for a fast fighter like Pacquiao. I'm not saying those wins weren't great wins, because they were, but if Top Rank is matching Pacquiao against someone other than Mayweather with the Mayweather fight on the horizon (at least when this fight was signed), I don't see them taking a big risk, not with that much money potentially available in the near future.

The first part of Games' post I don't agree with is that this fight isn't intriguing. It may be at a catchweight, which is stupid, but Margarito really is a junior middleweight anyway you look at it. He'll walk into the ring probably close to 165. So, even with advantages in speed and boxing skills, Pacman is fighting a much bigger dude who has a proven chin, which means Pacquiao will have to fight tough for 12 rounds. That to me is intriguing. What's also intriguing is that if Manny wins, he's effectively cleaned out the welterweight division other than Shane and Floyd (I know this fight is at 151). When you consider that Floyd has only fought 1 top welterweight in his career, what Manny is doing is pretty damn remarkable.

The other part of Games' post that I disagree with is that he insinuated that Haye-Harrison is more intriguing than this card. First, why not both? Second, the card is pretty stacked. Vera brings the fight so even if Pavlik dominates, it should be exciting while it lasts. Also, you get Rigondeux and Mike Jones versus a credible opponent for the first time. And the fight is in Dallas stadium, which means there will thousands of people there cheering it one, which should make for an exciting atmosphere.
I wasnt saying Haye vs Harisson is more intruging. I said Pac vs Tonty will be a disapointment so lets hope Audley vs Haye isnt a letdown too or it will be a bad night of boxing.

You make some good points about Tonys physical advantages but in terms of what he brings to the table you may be over estimating him. A pre Mosley/handwrap exposed Margarito would have been a good fight for Pac and may well have beaten him but thats not we are dealing with here. After a year out and after getting blown away by Shane Tony looks awful against a nobody. Now he is matched against a speedy guy in his prime?! Tony is not what he was and dont let the media fool you by bringing his past acheivements. What we have is a shopworn fighter getting 1 last payday because is a toprank fighter and is there for the taking. Pac will have to have a really bad night if he is to come a cropper in this one.