GATTI ON THE COMEBACK TRAIL AND MARGARITO TO BE TESTED SATURDAY ON HBO
Posted on | July 13, 2007 | No Comments
SATURDAY NIGHT FIGHTS PREVIEW BY:
PATRICK MCELLIGOTT
HBO is featuring a welterweight triple-header on Saturday, July 14. Two of the fights are important, and will help determine the future of one of the most exciting divisions in boxing. More, these two fights are – at least on
paper – of a much higher quality than two PPV cards also scheduled for Saturday.
The PPV cards feature John Duddy (20-0, with 15 KOs) versus Alessio Furlan (19-8-5, with 8 KOs), and Roy Jones, Jr. (50-4, with 38 KOs) versus Anthony Hanshaw (21-0-1, with 14 KOs). Duddy’s return to Ireland presents some excitement for his home-town fans, but until he takes a step up in competition, his fights may be hard to sell to the American audience on any day other than March 17.
Roy Jones was an amazing talent in his prime, but is no longer adding to his legend. It is assumed that Hanshaw was picked because he poses little threat to Roy, but at some point, the sad truth is that even a young lion like Anthony will flatten the shell of a once-great boxer.
The HBO card does feature one Jones-like match: Arturo Gatti fights Alfonso Gomez. As with the boxers in the two PPV cards, neither of these men are ranked in the top 10 by The Ring. However, Gatti remains of value to promoters looking to sell tickets.
The HBO card opens with Kermit Cintron (27-1, with 25 KOs) fighting Walter Matthysse (26-1, with 25 KOs). Cintron, ranked #7 by The Ring, is one of the more exciting fighters in the middle weight classes. His only loss came in a war against Antonio Margarito. And Matthysse’s lone defeat came against Paul Williams.
I do not consider a loss on a fighter’s record to be significant in and of itself. The questions about loses tend to be simple: how did the fighter lose? And how does he deal with defeat? If a fighter quits, it tells you something about their heart. Also, how do they react after the fight? Some guys are destroyed emotionally by a loss. Examples are Mac Foster and Gerry Cooney. Other boxers become focused on revenge. The best examples are Floyd Patterson wanting to get back in the ring with Ingemar Johansson, and Muhammad Ali wanting the return match with Joe Frazier.
This is a fight that could end in one round. Both men have real power. Cintron is certainly the favorite to win, but if the fight goes beyond 5 rounds, he might face some serious problems.
The main event features Antonio Margarito (34-4, with 24 KOs) versus Paul “the Punisher” Williams (32-0, with 24 KOs). This is one of the most important fights of 2007, and it could be one of the most fan-friendly.
Margarito is ranked #2 by The Ring; he is “defending” his WBO “title.” Many boxing people believe that he is the best in the division, and that the “big names” are afraid to fight him. They point out that Floyd Mayweather Jr.,
had been offered $8 million to fight him last year. Other people think he is untested, and make note of his turning down a fight with Miguel Cotto in order to fight Williams.
Margarito is a good example of a fighter who has improved after early loses. Three of his defeats were in his first 12 fights; the other one was a disputed TD that resulted from a head butt that opened a serious cut on
Margarito.
Margarito has some impressive victories. He has defeated Frankie Randall, Antonio Diaz, Joshua Clottey, and most impressively, Kermit Cintron. He has good offensive tools: he punches hard, and has outstanding endurance and heart. He is not gifted at defense, in part because he does not seem to believe that anyone can last by trading punches with him. The Clottey fight showed that he can be out-boxed by an opponent with above-average speed, and side-to-side movement.
Williams is ranked #10 by The Ring. He may pose more of a threat to Margarito than Cotto would. At 6’ 1″ (or 6’ 2″, depending on the source), he is a bit taller than his 5’ 11″ foe. He is also a southpaw. Some people are
comparing him to a young Tommy Hearns. I do not think he has the Hit Man’s defensive skills, but he is showing the ability to put his punches together well, and he hits very hard. No one at welterweight wants to get hit twice
by Williams.
Although Williams is younger – he turns 26 this month, compared to Margarito’s being 29 – he would be best served by not making this a war of attrition. Margarito will look to make it a rough, physical contest, in which he wears the thinner opponent out. Williams needs to keep the fight in the middle of the ring, at arm’s length. Margarito should try to come in under his jab, and nullify William’s reach advantage.
The odds-makers have Margarito a 6-5 favorite two days before the fight. If Margarito wins, he will reportedly be fighting Cotto at the end of the year. But he’s a smart guy, and he isn’t looking past the Saturday night fight.
It’s going to be a heck of a night for boxing fans. I hope that you enjoy the fights!