FOR THOSE OF you who are absolutely certain Manny Pacquiao will blow through Antonio Margarito in the same emphatic manner in which he destroyed Oscar De La Hoya and Ricky Hatton, remember the possible parallels between the Nov. 13 bout in Cowboys Stadium and the April 22, 2001, first matchup of Lennox Lewis and Hasim Rahman in Brakpan, South Africa.
Even overwhelming favorites can be brought down if they make the mistake of believing they’re invincible, or if they take shortcuts in training, or allow themselves to become distracted. And if a fighter is guilty of all of those transgressions, he stops tap-dancing on the brink of disaster and runs the very real danger of plunging into the abyss.
Oh, sure, Pacquiao (51-3-2, 38 KOs) looks to be a sure thing, or close to it, as he bids for the vacant WBC super welterweight championship, which would be his record eighth title in a different weight class. But if his behavior in recent weeks is any indication, the chances of Margarito (38-6, 27 KOs) pulling off an upset as a nearly 5-1 underdog aren’t quite as long as the Vegas sports books would have you believe.
Spanish philosopher George Santayana observed that those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it, and an overconfident, possibly underprepared Pacquiao appears to have forgotten what happened to Lewis when he made similar mistakes in the lead-in to his WBC/IBF heavyweight title defense against Rahman, a 20-1 longshot.
Lewis, who should have known better, given his second-round stoppage by Oliver McCall in their Sept. 24, 1994, title bout in London, was so assured of his superiority over Rahman that he weighed in at a career-high 253 1/2 pounds, evidence of his lack of focus in training. Even worse, the big Brit was a pudgy 268 just 2 days before officially stepping on the scales.
But an indifferent training regimen was only part of the reason why Lewis was starched by Rahman. The champion did not spend nearly enough time preparing for the nearly 6,000-foot altitude of the Carnival City Casino venue, and he arrived in South Africa just 10 days before the fight. That also did not help him become acclimated to the 9-hour time difference from Las Vegas, where he had set up his camp in part because he was shooting scenes for the movie, “Ocean’s Eleven.”
South African promoter Rodney Berman, when asked about Lewis’ itinerary, said, “It’s bizarre. Pure crazy.”
Rahman, on the other hand, trained with a zeal that suggested he believed he had a real chance, and he flew into South Africa a month in advance to minimize the effects of altitude and the time difference on his performance.
Now consider what Pacquiao did in Baguio City, the Philippines, for that segment of his camp before he came to the U.S. last week to continue working out at the Wild Card Gym in Hollywood, Calif., which is operated by his obviously concerned trainer, Freddie Roach.
Pacquiao opted to play pickup basketball some nights with his friends instead of getting in road work, and there were more than a few occasions when he left Baguio City and made the 6-hour drive to Manila, the Philippines’ capital, to fulfill his duties as the newly elected congressman representing the province of Sarangani.
If all that weren’t enough, don’t forget that size does matter. Margarito’s star may have been tarnished by his involvement in a hand-wraps scandal, but he is 5-11 and his walking-around weight is 20 or more pounds more than what Pacquiao is used to carrying on his 5-6 1/2 frame between fights. The “Tijuana Tornado” might not need hardened hand wraps if he lands a big shot to the jaw of the smaller Pacquiao, whose distinct advantage in speed could be negated if he proves to be even a smidgen less quick than in the past.
I’m not saying Margarito will do unto Pacquiao what Rahman did to Lewis – an outcome I predicted in this space, by the way – but you never know. But it would sure quiet the drumbeat for putting on a Pacquiao-Floyd Mayweather Jr. megafight, wouldn’t it?
Holyfield goes Indian
Those multimillion-dollar paydays are a thing of the past for 47-year-old, cash-strapped Evander Holyfield (43-10-2, 28 KOs), whose fringe WBF heavyweight title will be on the line against Sherman Williams (34-11-2, 19 KOs ) on Nov. 2 in Detroit’s Joe Louis Arena.
Commander Vander is sinking a big chunk of what’s left of his ring fortune into a string of fitness centers in India. Plans call for Holyfield to help launch three 20,000-square-foot gyms, four 4,000-square-foot fitness centers and at least four boxing academies in the world’s second most-populous nation within the next 3 years.
And if that doesn’t work out, maybe he and Sherman Williams can go partners in a string of paint stores.
Williams signs with Shaw
Philadelphia junior welterweight prospect Julian Williams (2-0, 2 KOs) has signed a promotional contract with Gary Shaw Productions. *
