Image by Getty Images via @daylifeARLINGTON, Texas – Antonio Margarito entered the ring standing five inches taller and weighing 17 pounds more than Manny Pacquiao.
By the ninth round, Margarito’s right eye had been nearly closed. His nose was bent. The rest of his face was bloodied and bruised. So pronounced was the destruction that Pacquiao kept turning to the referee and begging him to stop the fight, to end his massacre of this bigger, stronger man.
Somewhere Floyd Mayweather had to be watching this beatdown. He had to be watching this incomparable talent defy all known properties of size and strength. And he had to feel reassured about his recent career decisions.
For Mayweather, ducking Manny Pacquiao has never seemed so smart.
If Mayweather has any brains – and for all his fool’s antics, he most certainly does – he’ll keep dodging the superfight the world wants.
Mayweather (41-0) is a different class of fighter than those men. He’s a darting, defensive wizard who would offer the most formidable technical challenge to Pacquiao. It’s why everyone wants to see the fight made.
At this point, though, Pacquiao has separated himself and each hellacious beating he hands out serves as a new round of caution. Pacquiao isn’t just fast. He isn’t just skilled. He is a destructive force. And increasingly he’s shown to possess a formidable chin. If Pacquiao can put his back on the ropes and take the best shots of Margarito and Cotto, you wonder how the lighter-punching Mayweather could possibly hurt him.
Legal woes should serve as one more roadblock that Mayweather can use. If you’re Floyd Jr., what’s the rush anyway? How many opponents need to be sent to the hospital to try to avoid being the next one?
Mayweather has never faced a relentless force like this. They just don’t exist. Pacquiao threw an astounding 713 power punches and landed an equally astounding 53 percent of them. It’s what carved Margarito’s face to bits.
It was ugly. It was violent. It was an unmistakable message to the one opponent everyone wants to see next.
No one dodges a punch like Mayweather. And the best way to slip Pacquiao’s blinding combination is to keep finding a way to stay out of the ring.
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