An early assessment of Pacquiao and Margarito's strategies for N0vember 13th

by: Scott Heritage

• September 23rd, 2010 3:56 pm ET

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As Manny Pacquiao and Antonio Margarito begin to train for their November 13th meeting, the contrasting strategies that either will adopt for the fight are becoming more apparent, and it appears at this early stage to be the larger Margarito who will be making the most changes to his normal approach.
Pacquiao's trainer Freddie Roach has been open as always about how they plan to defeat Margarito, which essentially seems to consist of staying off the ropes and using Pacquiao's greater speed to force the much taller man onto the back foot and keep him there.
What Margarito's strategy will be on the night is less apparent, with his trainer Robert Garcia having mentioned both roughing Pacquiao up against the ropes and keeping him at a distance with Antonio's longer reach in the past few months.
If he attempts to outbox Pacquiao, as he seemed to be doing for portions of his most recent fight against Roberto Garcia, then it will be interesting to see how this affects both fighters. Pacquiao has traditionally struggled against better technical boxers and counter-punchers, neither of which will ever be used to describe Margarito. Even if his technique is much improved, his lack of speed will probably mean that his reach won't count for enough that he can keep Pacquiao at bay.
How Margarito's boxing will look after the first exchange is also a factor, which against Garcia didn't really come into play. Against someone able and willing to test his chin and exchange punches with him though, it will undoubtedly be difficult for Margarito not to revert to type and try to brawl, which in this case plays into his opponents hands.
Those who are either predicting or hoping for a Margarito win, are usually doing so on the proviso that he will come into the ring ready to push Pacquiao back, take the center of the ring and be able to absorb as many punches as Pacquiao cares to throw at him.
Whether his chin is still up to task has been questioned by many after he was completely dismantled by Shane Mosley in his last fight against an elite opponent. But given the mental impact of the hand wrap incident that began unfolding backstage before that fight, it's difficult to write him off completely based on that one fight.
Going back slightly further than that, Margarito's chin looked it's usual solid self against both Miguel Cotto and Kermit Cintron, both of whom are big punchers and both of whom also landed cleanly on Margarito throughout. Whether as some suggest those wins should now be called into question because of the hand wrap scandal is irrelevant in this case because  that had little impact one way or another on Margarito's ability to take punches.
Assuming that the Mosley fight is an anomaly that can be put down to Margarito not being focused on the night, then he might be very difficult for Pacquiao to stop. Conversely if the Mosley fight was a sign of things to come, then Pacquiao should have little trouble stopping the Tijuana Tornado, perhaps even faster than Mosley was able to.
The only other factor that could affect the outcome is the size of either fighter and how that affects them individually. Margarito with as much extra bulk as he can pack on after the weigh in might be better able to deal with Pacquiao's punches than he would be at welterweight for example. Equally Pacquiao adding yet more weight to what is essentially still a lightweight's frame could potentially slow him down in the later rounds.

Sam Morales, Erie: "The boxing thing Margarito's trainer said must have been a bluff, he hasn't boxed in his whole career like he did against Garcia and it won't work in this fight"
Thomas Ford, Pittsburgh: "Margarito's best bet is to practise serious weight cutting like wrestlers have to and try to come into the fight at about 180lbs. Then he might be able to take Pac's punches and bully him around"