Manny Pacquiao does it again
Was there ever any doubt that Manny Pacquiao was going to beat Antonio Margarito and secure his eleventh belt at nine different weight levels?
Of course not, boxing’s very own superhero destroyed the disgraced Margarito over the course of 12 rounds. This secured Pacman’s light-middleweight crown which is an absolutely incredible achievement when you consider that he started off at flyweight.
The fight itself was as clear cut as could be with Margarito well out of his depth against the fast fisted Filipino. The disgraced Mexican could have used plaster handwraps and he still would have lost such was the gulf of class on show at the Cowboys Stadium.
Pacquiao won basically every round of the fight and gave Margarito a torrid and drawn out beating. The Judges scored it 120-108, 119-109 and 118-110 in the multi-weight champion’s favour and Margarito only made it to the last bell by clinging on with his trademark steely chin.
Margarito may regret his decision not to touch gloves when Pacquiao extended his at the start; it was typical of Margarito and if he wanted to give more reason for Pacquiao to go all out then that did it.
From the first bell, Margarito tried to get his jab going but Pacquiao was a throwing typically fast combinations and showing that the vast size difference would make little difference. Margarito was trying to keep his distance by throwing out the jab but Pacquiao was letting go of combinations and stopping Margarito in his tracks.
Pacman's breakthrough came in the fourth when he caused a cut just below Margarito’s right eye which he then targeted hard. There were a lot of tough blows thrown by Pacman, but to be fair to Margarito he took the shots well and started to work his way back in with the middle rounds trapping Pacquiao on the ropes a few times and landing some decent shots.
It wasn’t enough though as Pacquiao kept throwing those lightning quick combos and soon the cut on Margarito eye had become horrific. Such is the class of Pacquiao that he appealed to the ref to stop the fight but Margarito wanted to fight on, it wasn’t long until Pacman had it wrapped up comfortably in 12 but he could have been even sooner.
Where will Pacquiao stop? Will he be a heavyweight world champion? He could probably make a better go of it than Audley Harrison. You could argue that Floyd Mayweather needs him more than he needs Mayweather right now, who knows if that megafight will happen? Who cares as long as we get to keep watching Pacquiao master classes like this one?
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