Antonio Margarito?s time within the sport of boxing has been well documented and full of twists and turns. The former two-time Welterweight champion is still suffering from the after-effects that came with his one-year suspension from the California State Athletic Commission in February of 2009 and he is looking at his upcoming November 13th fight with Manny Pacquiao as his chance to redeem his legacy. But for far too many reasons the fight just doesn?t feel right.
Margarito was born in Torrance, California on March 18th, 1978 and spent his childhood in Tijuana, Mexico. He began his professional career in January 1994 with a four round decision over Jose Trujillo. Just a wily fifteen-year old at the time, very few could have imaged the journey that the sport would end up taking him on. Margarito would fight his first ten fights in Tijuana and suffered a few losses along the way. His eleventh fight would see him drop a ten round decision to future title challenger Rodney Jones and at that point there weren?t any visions of greatness you could associate with Margarito.
Margarito would press on, however, and found himself fighting mainly on the West Coast with a few Las Vegas appearances scattered in between. Victories over Sergio Martinez, Danny Perez, and David Kamau soon followed and Margarito began creeping towards contender status.
He won his first world title by pounding out a tenth round stoppage over Antonio Diaz in March of 2002, netting the WBO welterweight crown. Successful defenses against the likes of Perez in their rematch, Andrew Lewis, and Hercules Kyvelos showed Margarito?s strengths as a fighter as his aggressive style and punching power was on full display.
If ever there was a man who could be looked at as Margarito?s foil perhaps it would be Puerto Rican Daniel Santos, whom snatched a split decision over Antonio when they met in September of 2004 in Hato Rey. The two men had fought to an inconclusive no contest three years prior after a clash of heads caused a nasty gash over Margarito’s right eye and something about the southpaw?s style seemed troubling to Margarito.
2005 and 2006 were solid years for Margarito as he scored victories over a solid list of suspects in Sebastian Lujan, Kermit Cintron, Manuel Gomez, and Joshua Clottey. Margarito was workmanlike against Lujan, devastating against Cintron and Gomez, and had to dig down to pull out a tough decision over Clottey.
Margarito would lose his title in a wild fight in July of 2007 against Paul ?The Punisher? Williams. Margarito came painfully slow out of the gates and saw round after round slip out of his midst as Williams? non-stop activity gave him the early edge. Margarito would storm back late in the fight but it was too little, too late as he would end up losing a unanimous decision.
Margarito?s crowing moment as a fighter came roughly a year later when he went all in against highly-touted WBA champion Miguel Cotto at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Cotto would get off to a fast start but Margarito?s aggression would pay dividends later as he broke Cotto down with an accumulation of punishment on his way towards an 11th round stoppage. The victory was like ecstasy for Margarito and will likely go down as the highlight of his career.
Unfortunately for Margarito, and the rest of the boxing world for that matter, he was caught with elements of Plaster of Paris in his gloves prior to his January 2009 loss to Shane Mosley. Moments later he would make his way to the ring and proceed to get beaten from pillar to post by the future hall of famer, suffering a 9th round stoppage of his own at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. After further investigation the California State Athletic Commission would suspend Margarito for a year soon thereafter and he has had a black cloud of suspicion hanging over his head ever since.
Still not licensed to fight in California or Nevada, Margarito returned to the ring earlier this year with a pedestrian ten-round decision over Robert Garcia in Aguascalientes, Mexico. Now 32 years old and fighting as a Jr. Middleweight, Margarito seems to be a few steps slower and facing an uphill battle to reclaim his glory in the ring.
Pacquiao had been eyeing a clash with Floyd Mayweather before Margarito got the call as a replacement and that is one of the many reasons why the fight hasn?t been welcomed with open arms by the boxing community. There are those who feel that Antonio Margarito shouldn?t be fighting as a professional again, period, let alone having a crack at the world?s premier fighter. Due to his still standing suspension from fighting in many locations in the States, the bout is also without a concrete location for the moment, further adding to the frustration.
For as much hate and animosity that has been directed his way, Antonio Margarito is soon to find himself on the big stage yet again and there doesn?t seem to be anything we can do about it. There is a long list of opponents who are more worthy of a fight against Pacquiao and to see it handed to Margarito is disappointing. Top Rank promoter Bob Arum, who oversees both fighters, has elected to keep the contest ?in house? and in doing so he has turned many the other way. But whatever happens everyone will likely be watching on the 13th and at the end of the day that?s exactly what Margarito wants.
Despite his reputation taking a beating, there have still been many highs in the career of Antonio Margarito. To continue reading ?Words of War? on Antonio Margarito please check out the image gallery below for a picture by picture look at Margarito?s career and the words that have defined him…
