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It’s hard to question what a fighter might do in a situation when they’re put up against an opponent who outweighs them by 17 pounds and surpasses them by 4-and-a-half inches in height.
When world-class Filipino boxer Manny Pacquiao stood in the ring last Saturday night in front of a crowd of 41,734 at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, he decided the best way to contend with the misfortune was to absolutely dominate his opponent.
Pacquiao (52-3-2) defeated the Tijuana Tornado, Antonio Margarito (38-7-0), by a lopsided unanimous decision to capture his 52nd career win and the vacant WBC super welterweight world title. Pacquiao’s major promoter, Bob Arum, announced the fight would occur back on July 23, and since then, the fight had gained supreme popularity.
Pac-Man landed 474 punches to Margarito’s 229, combining four-punch combinations that consistently snapped back the head of his opponent. He won every single round of the battle, turning Margarito’s face into a sheer mess, closing his right eye and opening a cut on his cheek. The official scorecard concluded the fight to be 120-108 and Margarito was transported to the hospital for treatment immediately after the bout.
The fight marked Pacquiao’s 13th straight win since his third career loss against Érik Morales back in 2000, as well as the Fighting Pride of the Philippines’ eighth world title in his eighth weight class. Pacquiao is guaranteed $15 million for the victory.
Perhaps the most humane part of the fight was the smaller Pacquiao’s unwillingness to inflict further punishment upon his opponent during the last round of the fight. Nearing the end of the battle, Pacquiao paused to glance toward the referee in the hope he would call the match and give mercy to Margarito.
Robert Garcia, Margarito’s trainer, added that Pacquiao “is the best fighter in the world. He is just too fast and very, very quick.”
