By Teddy Silk
Good ol’ Bob Arum, he thinks he knows best, but the public already has a bad taste in their mouth after hearing this farce of a boxing match Manny Pacquiao vs. Antonio Margarito is happening since the Floyd Mayweather vs. Manny Pacquiao fight isn’t going to happen.
If you read the boxing websites and message boards, you would see that the people are not dumb, they are not going to order another Manny Pacquiao fight again especially after his poor showing against Joshua Clottey.
The boxing fans don’t like the idea of a man who has been caught cheating getting a fight with Manny Pacquiao and earning multi-million dollars for it. You shouldn’t be rewarded for cheating. If Arum was to put Margarito against any other fighter he should have let Miguel Cotto rematch him and punish Margarito, this time Margarito would be without his illegal handwraps.
The casual fans, who don’t know anything about boxing will probably order the Manny Pacquiao vs. Antonio Margarito fight because they will enjoy the slugfest that will ensue. The hardcore boxing fans won’t order the fight or stream it.
I feel if Arum was going to do an in-house fight he should have at least put Manny Pacquiao against Kelly Pavlik at middleweight or Manny Pacquiao against Miguel Cotto at Jr. Middleweight for Miguel’s title.
Both Pavlik and Cotto are more deserving of a huge mega-fight against Pacquiao and a huge payday because they are both honest hardworking fighters. Margarito doesn’t deserve this type of super star fight because he is a disgrace to the sport of boxing.
The fight I thought was gonna be made since the Mayweather vs. Pacquiao fight fall out was the rematch between Manny Pacquiao and Miguel Cotto. I saw how strong and powerful Miguel looked at 154-pounds against Jewish fighter Yuri Foreman, who was taller and bigger than Cotto. Miguel Cotto showed patience and improved boxing skill and we must thank Emanuel Steward for that. Also, remember, Yuri Foreman was the same fighter that Manny Pacquiao avoided stating that he was too big and tall for him and Cotto destroyed the man that Manny Pacquiao avoided.
Steward, who also has a sideline job as an HBO boxing analyst, is also a legendary trainer, he trained the likes of Tommy Hearns, Oscar De La Hoya, Prince Naseem Hamed, Lennox Lewis, Wladimir Klitschko to name a few. It would also be interesting to see two great boxing trainers go head to head with Freddie Roach (Pacquiao’s trainer) and Emanuel Steward (Cotto’s trainer).
With Emanuel Steward in the corner of Miguel Cotto, you have a chemistry that was missing in Cotto’s camp, Steward is not the type to demand or boss a fighter around like Cotto’s uncle Evangelista Cotto. This is why Steward and Cotto are a perfect match because Steward understands Cotto’s personality and in turn Cotto obeys Steward’s instructions because of the respect they have for each other.
Bob Arum doesn’t give Steward any credit for Cotto’s win over Yuri Foreman. Arum was really hyping Foreman up to be this new Jewish boxing superstar and is probably bitter that Cotto and Steward beat Yuri, ruining his plans for Foreman. Arum knows that Cotto has improved under the guidance of Emanuel Steward and now Cotto has a better chance at beating his cash cow Manny Pacquiao. If that fight happened, I would strongly favor Miguel Cotto at 154-pounds. Cotto had no trainer when he fought Manny Pacquiao the first time but this time he has Emanuel Steward one of the greatest trainers of all time and that is something he was missing for many years.
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