On Nov. 13th at Cowboys Stadium, David beat Goliath. All the worry about Pacquiao’s weight, his height, and his so-so training camp in the Philippines was buried in the much bigger Margarito’s busted up face. Pacquiao’s performance was simply stunning.
That isn’t to say Margarito didn’t get his shots in, too. At times, he was able to pin Pacquiao against the ropes and get off, but Pacquiao always managed to slip away. And what did the pound-for-pound king do then? What he did the vast majority of the fight: land preternaturally fast combinations. It’s fair to say Margarito didn’t see ’em coming. By the final bell, Pacquiao had swollen up both of Margarito’s eyes, one of which was also badly cut. Nasty.
About those times when Pacquiao hit the ropes. It appeared Pacquiao purposely allowed himself to get pinned and punished. But he confirmed in his post-fight interview that Margarito did hurt him. Nevertheless, even in the eighth when Margarito stuck him on the ropes as if with a nail and fired away, Pacquiao managed to squirt out and let fly. Throughout the fight he went upstairs and down at will on a very tough Margarito, whose head must be made of stone. That Margarito never dropped is a miracle unto itself.
Two other interesting bits from the post-fight interviews: Manny didn’t expect Margarito to be so strong, and Margarito didn’t expect Pacquiao to be so fast. And, of course, in Margarito’s case, the fact that both his eyes were swollen up didn’t help. Seeing may be believing, but in boxing, so is feeling.
In the 12th, Pacquiao mercifully released the gas; and Margarito survived. The judges scored it 120-108, 118-110, and 119-109. And Pacquiao walked away with a hard-fought, history-making eighth title in eight divisions. The phenomenon continues.
