The Return of Antonio Margarito

Jeff Pryor assesses Antonio Margarito's performance in his recent return against Roberto Garcia, and takes a look at the former welterweight star's future chances of success.

"The Tornado" blew back into town recently and showed a few new wrinkles in his game, when Antonio Margarito came off his long suspension and outpointed a game, strong, bigger, but limited opponent in Roberto Garcia. What was most interesting about the fight however was not that the Tijuana toughman won the return bout, but the way he went about it.

While the signature toughness was on display, Margarito's aggression took a back seat for once and he boxed for long stretches of the bout. His combination punching in particular seemed improved and more varied than the fighter we had grown accustomed to. There was a moment in the bout, when Margarito threw a multi-punch combo that included straight left and right hands, a hook to the body and an up-jabbing uppercut; a name popped into my head. One of the preeminent combo punchers of the era, Juan Manual Marquez.

I'm not saying Margarito has become a counter punching genius or some pugilist dissecting maven like Marquez has been on his best nights. But there was a noticeable difference and improvement in the variety of punches he was tossing.

The other change that was apparent in Margarito was a new sense of movement. At least on this night, Margarito was not a face first attacker; after scoring an early knockdown, which seemed to anger Garcia more than hurt him, Margarito was largely content to punch in combination and then move. Often skating along the ropes and evading the aggressive Garcia.

Unheralded Roberto Garcia, for his part, gave a spirited effort, and pressed the second half of the fight. Physically bigger and stronger, he hit Margarito flush as everybody does, but just like the good old days, nothing seemed to harm Margarito. In turn, when Garcia was caught with flush bombs, particularly the left uppercut, he would routinely scrunch up his face and haughtily play it off as though it had no effect. After a round or two of this, Margarito decided to play along and after landing a clean shot or two would shrug at Garcia's dismissal of the blows, as though to say whatever... they may or may not hurt, but I'm smacking you in the face pretty easy. For a few rounds, they both took to jawing at each other, and made the bout into more than just a comeback special for Margarito.

By the mid-stanza's Margarito's corner was instructing Antonio to "play with him", a role to which the Tijuana Tornado took to with aplomb. Proving to be more elusive than we've seen before, Margarito made the former middleweight swing and miss to the delight of the crowd which began to treat the bout as a bull and matador exhibition. Margarito played along, flouncing an invisible cape to entice Garcia into charging.

What became apparent as they rounded the corner and headed into the final stretch of the fight was that Garcia was a little to slow to hit Margarito with the big left hook he kept trying, and Margarito was a little too small to damage Garcia much with all the big shots he landed.

Which brings us to a point not touched upon in the broadcast; does the Jr. Middleweight division seem like a good idea for Margarito?

I do not think so.

Garcia, though limited in his skills and talents, seemed to press Margarito and make it difficult for him to work inside. The Margarito who fought from the outside in this fight, is one who seemed evicted from his natural home, where he normally is crouched on the inside ripping uppercuts and battering his opponent with sweeping salvos.

The size disadvantage was visibly apparent and going against bigger guys is going to be tough for Margarito unless he can transform himself into even more of a boxer. If this last fight was any indication, doling out punishment is more difficult for him at the higher weight, and it must be mentioned, perhaps without augmented gloves.

The sad truth there is that whether he was aware of and culpable for the calamity that unfolded before his match with Mosley, it is now a part of the lexicon that must be used when talking about his career, pre and post glove-gate.

Margarito has always been a volume puncher with more thudding force than explosive one punch power. That, combined with bigger opponents, and the possibility that our perceptions of Margarito's punching capabilities may have been at least partially predicated on tainted gloves, only points to the difficulties he will face when in with bigger opponents.

Another concerning element there to be seen by discerning Margarito fans is that in the later rounds he looked a little tired; could have been from the extended layoff, could be from the new more mobile style he employed, or it could be that something was left in the ring from his war with Cotto and beat down from Mosley.

Whatever the reason, I had the distinct feeling that Margarito was running out the clock from the midway point on. His corner was telling him that he didn't need a knockout, which was sound advice, but their "play with him" comment also could be read as, "kill some time" for they might have spotted the heaviness in Margarito's breathing as well.

All that said, Margarito's skills looked improved and his style adjusted for a longer shelf life. He was never in jeopardy of losing, and he handled a resilient foe as handily as can be asked.

One gets the feeling that there are questions to be asked of Margarito's body after the events of the past few years, and they won't truly be answered until he steps back into the ring with a high level opponent.

A few of those names being bandied about include Sergio Martinez, now the middleweight champ and former Margarito victim ten years ago before they each had made their marks. Martinez would be a good fight, though moving up to 160 to challenge would be ill advised for Margarito. Martinez has been fighting at 154 going back almost to their first meeting and has grown into the size. Margarito would be the smaller, slower man, and it's safe to say Martinez has improved his skills in the intervening time as well. It might be a tough proposition for Margarito, and probably doesn't give him the best chance to excel in his style.

One who might give him that opportunity to shine would be Alfredo Angulo, a fighter who has been compared to Margarito for his tenacious offense and face forward battering. Again Angulo would likely be the bigger man, having fought at 154 for his entire career, but the styles would match well and the bout couldn't help but be punishing and exciting to watch.

We also have the winner of Miguel Cotto and Yuri Foreman; Cotto in particular would make for a strong event, taking into account their first guns blazing fight and that Cotto has personal feelings against Margarito after the wrap scandal. That would be a natural match and easy to make since both fighters are under Top Rank Promotions. Each would come in feeling they have something to prove.

On the other hand Foreman, particularly if he beats Cotto, would have a growing ethnic fanbase to propel a matchup with Margarito. Still this matchup would probably be the least appealing to team Margarito; least money and a style matchup that might prove difficult.

Andre Berto would be, not only a great foil, but a respectable opponent for Margarito. An interesting matchup up, it would give legitimacy to the winner and probably produce fireworks in the ring.

But perhaps the smart play for Margarito is to bide his time with a lesser opponent and look towards the Pacquiao sweepstakes of later this year. Should the Mayweather negotiations fail again, I would think Pacquiao-Margarito will be swiftly made by Arum. A solid and entertaining matchup, that one would have been hard pressed to imagine ever being conceived just a year or two ago.

Whichever big name Margarito steps in with down the line, it seems apparent we won't know just how much a force of nature "The Tornado" still is, until he's tested against quality.

Time will tell if the man formerly dubbed "The most avoided man in boxing", will be able to shed his current moniker "The most derided man in boxing".

It won't come easy, and he'll have to earn it.

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