Trainer: Antonio Margarito lost fight by fourth round
Trainer Robert Garcia has spoken up about the memorable Manny Pacquiao – Antonio Margarito clash Saturday night, and he said by the time the fight was a third done, it was all but over.
Garcia, who trained Margarito, told FanHouse in an interview that he believes the fight changed for worse in round four, when his fighter took a solid uppercut from “Pacman.” The shot caused a bruise
and a cut to appear immediately under Margarito’s right eye.
Garcia said: “I think it was the fourth round where Tony got hit with a really solid left uppercut when he was trying to walk into Manny [that things changed]. That uppercut was where the bruise started
and that [the] cut opened up under his right eye. I mean, I heard that punch [...] it sounded like hitting two bones together. It was a solid punch. That changed the fight around."
The Oxnard, California based trainer also warded off comments that he should have stopped the fight as opposed to letting it go the distance. Garcia said that knowing the kind of fighter Margarito is
he wasn’t going to stop it, and that each round he checked on “The Tijuana Tornado” and received positive signs.
“The first thing that I would say to him when he returned to the corner was 'Tony, how are you feeling? Be real with me. Are you okay?' And he would be like, 'No, I'm doing good, Robert, I'm real good,'”
Garcia said. “He would say that he wasn't hurt, you know.”
According to most scorecards, Pacquiao, who weighed 17 pounds less than Margarito at fight time, won every round (save for the sixth). Pacquiao was able to exploit Margarito’s slowness and stay out of
the line of fire. Moreover, when he did pound Margarito, he would attack with combinations of six or seven punches to the torso and the head, all of which quickly had their effect on Margarito.
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