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Manny Pacquiao/Antonio Margarito 24/7 Episode Recap & Review
The underlying motivation in some of these 24/7 episodes is both to hype the fight but also to
give the viewer the impression that the underdog has more of a chance than what the
conventional wisdom suggests. So far, the Pacquiao-Margarito series is no exception.
As reported in the first episode, Antonio Margarito has moved his training camp to Oxnard as
he is no longer under the jaundiced eye of Javier Capetillo. Robert Garcia is a good find for
Margarito. Garcia, a former champion, describes how he himself was “too nice” to be a fighter
and how he “never wanted to hurt anyone.“ One of his proteges, Brandon Rios, is on hand in
the gym to train alongside Margarito. Rios is one of the better prospects out there but he comes
across as a pre-teen punk in the interview. He uses the word “dude“ a lot and drops the F-
bomb with a forced street bravado. Margarito is diplomatic in describing Rios as “pushy”…I
don’t know what the Spanish phrase is for “annoying little fucker” but they should invent one so
Margarito can describe his new stablemate with more eloquence.
One “tell” that I noticed about Margarito was that he has grown his pointed beard out longer
than usual. Sometimes when a fighter is leery about being hit (i.e., Roberto Duran against
Thomas Hearns or the recent Brock Lesnar - Cain Velasquez MMA bout) he will grow out a
beard as a psychological cover. “I can take a punch better,” the thinking is, “because my beard
is thicker.” Some fighters go to other lengths like Joe Frazier shaving his entire head before his
rematch with George Foreman. Margarito may be following this same line of thinking.
HBO insists on using subtitles whenever Pacquiao speaks. His English has improved
dramatically over the years. When he first burst on the scene he would speak English in a stilted
manner but now he seems to be more comfortable with the language and I understood him fine.
Ditch the subtitles. Also, his singing is fantastic…just kidding.
Freddie Roach goes to great lengths to describe how mediocre the training camp in Baguio City
has been. They ordered a speed bag and it did not arrive until the day they were scheduled to
depart. We are given the impression that the five weeks spent in Baguio City was an exercise in
wasted time for Pacquiao. He is then shown coming back to Los Angeles and he again receives
a rock star welcome. One interesting segment shows Roach discussing Pacquiao’s Las Vegas
plans with his fitness trainer Alex Ariza. It turns out that Pacquiao has to go to Las Vegas at
“Arum’s request.” The reason? He is on the campaign stump for Senator Harry Reid. Pacquiao
is shown on the campaign trail with the opportunistic and clueless Reid. Why would Pacquiao
whore himself out to such a low rent politico? In Roach’s words, it was “ridiculous.”
There are now some eerie parallels in comparing the Pacquiao circus with the Ali circus in the
1970s. I’ll go into that further in a later installment.
The underlying motivation in some of these 24/7 episodes is both to hype the fight but also to
give the viewer the impression that the underdog has more of a chance than what the
conventional wisdom suggests. So far, the Pacquiao-Margarito series is no exception.
As reported in the first episode, Antonio Margarito has moved his training camp to Oxnard as
he is no longer under the jaundiced eye of Javier Capetillo. Robert Garcia is a good find for
Margarito. Garcia, a former champion, describes how he himself was “too nice” to be a fighter
and how he “never wanted to hurt anyone.“ One of his proteges, Brandon Rios, is on hand in
the gym to train alongside Margarito. Rios is one of the better prospects out there but he comes
across as a pre-teen punk in the interview. He uses the word “dude“ a lot and drops the F-
bomb with a forced street bravado. Margarito is diplomatic in describing Rios as “pushy”…I
don’t know what the Spanish phrase is for “annoying little fucker” but they should invent one so
Margarito can describe his new stablemate with more eloquence.
One “tell” that I noticed about Margarito was that he has grown his pointed beard out longer
than usual. Sometimes when a fighter is leery about being hit (i.e., Roberto Duran against
Thomas Hearns or the recent Brock Lesnar - Cain Velasquez MMA bout) he will grow out a
beard as a psychological cover. “I can take a punch better,” the thinking is, “because my beard
is thicker.” Some fighters go to other lengths like Joe Frazier shaving his entire head before his
rematch with George Foreman. Margarito may be following this same line of thinking.
HBO insists on using subtitles whenever Pacquiao speaks. His English has improved
dramatically over the years. When he first burst on the scene he would speak English in a stilted
manner but now he seems to be more comfortable with the language and I understood him fine.
Ditch the subtitles. Also, his singing is fantastic…just kidding.
Freddie Roach goes to great lengths to describe how mediocre the training camp in Baguio City
has been. They ordered a speed bag and it did not arrive until the day they were scheduled to
depart. We are given the impression that the five weeks spent in Baguio City was an exercise in
wasted time for Pacquiao. He is then shown coming back to Los Angeles and he again receives
a rock star welcome. One interesting segment shows Roach discussing Pacquiao’s Las Vegas
plans with his fitness trainer Alex Ariza. It turns out that Pacquiao has to go to Las Vegas at
“Arum’s request.” The reason? He is on the campaign stump for Senator Harry Reid. Pacquiao
is shown on the campaign trail with the opportunistic and clueless Reid. Why would Pacquiao
whore himself out to such a low rent politico? In Roach’s words, it was “ridiculous.”
There are now some eerie parallels in comparing the Pacquiao circus with the Ali circus in the
1970s. I’ll go into that further in a later installment.
| The Last Great Contenders Book available in Paperback or Hardcover. |
| Leo Randolph hangin' out with Leon Spinks. |
| Manny Pacquiao Career on DVD |
Antonio Margarito
Career on DVD
Career on DVD
