By James Slater – With both fighters currently pushing themselves to the limit in training, and with the date for the fight rapidly approaching, the experts are weighing in with their opinions on Manny Pacquiao Vs. Antonio Margarito; the fight that will decide the vacant WBC light-middleweight title.
And while it appears most people think the faster, harder-hitting Pacquiao will win on Nov. 13th, one man thinks the fight could turn out to be a very demanding and gruelling fight for the pound-for-pound number-one.. John “Ice Man” Scully, the former top-ranked super-middleweight/light-heavyweight turned successful trainer/ESPN analyst, in speaking with Filipino Boxing Journal, predicted the possibility of a very testing fight for Pacquiao – one that the Filipino legend will win, but only after having been taken to the limit by the bigger, possibly stronger Mexican.
“I honestly think Margarito is one of the liveliest underdogs of recent times,” Scully told Filipino Boxing Journal. “Because of the hand wrapping scandal and the loss to Mosley, people seem to feel this will automatically be a blow-out win for Pac-Man. I think his relentlessness and toughness and his attitude could present problems for Pac-Man, assuming Antonio is the same fighter he was before the Mosley fight.”
And that may be the big question: is “The Tijuana Tornado” the same force he was before running into, and being run over by, “Sugar” Shane in January of 2009? Margarito’s one fight since then – a so-so points win over Roberto Garcia in May of this year proved little – and now the 32-year-old goes up against one of the greatest of all-time. Still, IF “Tony” has retained what physical ability he had pre-Mosley, Scully sees a tough night for Manny.
“Margarito, if he presses the fight and uses his jab in a big way, could really test the conditioning and the skills of Manny,” Scully continued. “It may turn out to be the toughest and most gruelling match of Manny’s career and while I think he has enough speed and shiftiness to overcome Margarito, I think he will only do so after being pushed to the full limit of his reserves.”
Scully knows his stuff, and maybe we will see Pac-Man pushed as hard as he’s ever been in November. For the record, Manny’s ace trainer Freddie Roach has come out and predicted a relatively straightforward 8th-round stoppage win for his man. From what Scully says, though, maybe we should prepare to see a 12-round distance fight. Could Roach have got it wrong for once?