Doug Fischer
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 Margarito & "Moochie": The Expected and the Unexpected
By Doug Fischer (February 10, 2006) Photo © German Villasenor
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If I don’t make my way to at least one boxing gym a week, I don’t feel like I’m doing my job.
There are many ways for a fight scribe to cover this sport. Boxing writers can report on the before, during and aftermath of big fights and the fighters involved; they can follow the ever erratic and sometimes sublime business of boxing; or they can be the “eyes and ears” for fight fans in the gym, keeping a close watch on established and new talent.
I generally go for the “talent watch” for two reasons: one, there happens to be many gifted boxers in the greater L.A. area (so many that there are more than a few who have between 10 and 20 fights that I still haven’t seen fight) and two, having grown up in the Midwest (where there were hardly any boxing gyms let alone boxing talent) I always wanted to know what was going on in the gyms in boxing hotbeds like NYC, Philadelphia, Atlantic City, Las Vegas, Miami, of course L.A.
I loved it when the writers of The Ring (a magazine I have bought since 1980) or beat writers like Michael Katz (whose newspaper columns I would read every Saturday at the library of the local college) would report on the happenings and sightings of the established boxing gyms of their areas.
When visiting a boxing club to take notes on a world-class fighter preparing of his next fight, you see the kind of shape he’s in, the kind of form he has, and what his mood is – sometimes what you observe in the gym is a good indication of how he will perform during the fight. Being there also familiarizes you with the trainers, managers, and various “teammates” or “handlers” of your subjects and opens doors to sources of both information and, if you’re lucky, education.
However, the best thing about going to the gym is when you see someone or something that you weren’t expecting.
A few years ago I accompanied three or four other MaxBoxing writers to the Wild Card gym in Hollywood to watch James Toney spar in preparation for his ill-fated showdown with Jameel McCline. We saw a muscle-bound Toney have his way with a 250-pound goliath before a loud “pop” noise came from nowhere and Toney, who had tore his Achilles Tendon completely apart, dropped to the canvass as though someone on the ring apron had blasted out his calf out with a shotgun. It was a disturbing and surreal sight, Toney screaming and pounding the canvass in a mixture of rage, agony and disappointment. (Did you know that crazy bastard actually got up and hobbled around on one leg, demanding that the sparring session continue before Freddie Roach and manager John Arthur calmed him down?)
A few months ago I visited the Maywood Boxing Club to watch Vicente Escobedo spar with Urbano Antillon. The two 130-pound prospects put on quite an exhibition during their rounds together, but an unknown sparring partner, who took it to both fighters in the same session, stole the show.
The young man’s name was Dominic Coca (I nicknamed him “Vato Man” in my notes because I had no idea who he was but he looked and talked like an old-school Vato to my Mid-western eyes). Coca’s a 5-0 (2) junior lightweight gifted with exceptional hand speed and reflexes, who ain’t afraid to mix it up with anyone. At least that’s what I observed in the gym. The former gang banger who spent five years of his life in the pen could turn out to be a gym fighter, but he’s got undeniable talent and desire and he’s worth keeping an eye on.
So is Cleotis Pendarvis, known as “Moochie” to the Southern California gym community – and, no, I didn’t give him that nickname because I didn’t know his real name. I’ve known about Pendarvis, currently 3-0 (2), for a few years now.
Like Coca, Pendarvis grew up in a rough, gang-infested environment (Coca’s from Lynwood; Pendarvis hails from Compton), but unlike “Vato Man” Pendarvis resisted the lure of gangs and instead focused on his amateur career, which he completed in ’04 with an impressive 95-6 record.
Pendarvis, who made it to the Western Olympic Trials, is a 19-year-old southpaw with a blend of hand speed and power that reminds me of Zab Judah or Shane Mosley. He’s also a bright young man with an engaging personality.
I knew Pendarvis was talented, but I didn’t know the fighter himself until this past Saturday, when we were finally introduced at a media workout for Antonio Margarito at the Teamsters Boxing Club in El Monte, California.
In fact, I don’t think I’d ever seen the kid out of his headgear until this past weekend. I just knew that he was a teenager who had a veteran boxer’s moves in the ring.
I’d seen him spar with former WBO 130-pound titlist Mike Anchondo, welterweight prospect Larry Mosley and “my son” Edwin Valero. Pendarvis did very well with Anchondo, held his own with Mosley, but was TKO’d by Valero (no shame there; he sparred with the ‘V-Nom’ at Joe Hernandez’s tiny hotbox of a gym, where they typically do four-and-half-minute rounds; after two and a half rounds of Valero’s pressure and crunching power, the 17-year-old amateur simply got overwhelmed).
On Saturday, Pendarvis sparred four rounds after Margarito got his work in, going two rounds with ’04 Mexican Olympian Alfred Angulo (a 3-0 middleweight) and two with Jesus Soto-Karass (a 12-3-2 welterweight). The young man showed me that he has learned how to deal with pressure (Angulo jumped his ass from the get-go) and power (Soto Karass has 10 KOs in his 12 wins).
However, he still has a lot to learn. Angulo clearly weakened Pendarvis by concentrating on the prospect’s body every time he backed to the ropes. Pendarvis skillfully blocked many of the Mexican brawler’s shots but he stayed on the ropes too long, and he was too willing to engage in infighting with a naturally bigger guy who couldn’t touch him if he used his legs and jab more.
Still, this is what I wrote in my notebook during these rounds: “Moochie is a natural athlete – quick, mobile, good power, great reflexes”. But he’s also a tad flamboyant. He drops his hands a lot and launches power shots from odd angles without setting them up (like so many quick-fisted youngsters who grew up watching Roy Jones Jr. fight – Nonito Donaire and Jason Litzau come to mind).
He can get away with this against slow fighters like Jose Luis Cruz (who he sparred right-handed to help the Mexican prepare for Mosley) and Carlos Baldomir (who he helped get ready for Judah). In fact, he gave both veterans hell.
“He did a lot better with Baldomir than Judah did,” said Pendarvis’ co-trainer Luis Garcia. “The way Moochie dominated him I thought there was no way he would beat Judah.”
However, while sparring with Soto Karass, who has a bit of hand speed to go along with his ring experience, Pendarvis left himself open to right-hand counters to the body and head.
Margarito, who is preparing for his WBO welterweight title defense against Manuel Gomez, which takes place next Saturday at the Aladdin in Las Vegas, has always been open for the right hand, lead or counter. His straight forward aggressive style assures that he’s going to get hit when he steps in the ring. Margarito lacks the speed and fluidity that Pendarvis is gifted with, but what the Tijuana native lacks in natural talent he makes up with toughness and sheer will power.
As expected, Margarito punished his sparring partners (Angulo and Soto Karass) with non-stop pressure and punches. His technique looked sloppy at times, but he also showed a little veteran savvy, like catching in-coming punches with his gloves. I’m told he’s been working very hard for Gomez, who sports a journeyman’s record (28-10-2) but hasn’t lost a fight since 1998, going 10-0-2 in his last 12 fights (one of those draws was to Soto Karass).
It won’t be an easy title defense. Gomez knows this is his last shot at the bigtime and he’s always wanted to fight Margarito. The 40-fight veteran will bring his A-game. Margarito is expecting this and has been working just as hard for the Laredo, Texas resident as he did for Kermit Cintron.
Aside from Angulo and Soto Karass, Margarito has gone quality rounds with Sergio Mora and the middleweight prospect’s fellow “Contender” Alfonso Gomez (who I heard took a bit of a beating from the WBO belt holder). I’ve also heard that Margarito has been warring with a little-known Colombian prospect named Samuel Miller. I was told the junior middleweight has a 15-0 record, but BoxRec.com only verifies two of those wins (both by KO).
“This is not a fight Tony wanted,” said Margarito’s co-manager Sergio Diaz, “but he’s motivated for it because he wants to have a big fight this year and he can’t do that if he doesn’t beat this guy convincingly.”
Question is, if Margarito absolutely hammers Gomez into bloody submission the way he did Cintron and Sebastian Lujan last year, who’s going to want to fight him at 147 pounds?
If Floyd Mayweather spanks Judah like most believe he will, the Pretty Boy will have many options. He can drop back down to 140 pounds, where Ricky Hatton and Miguel Cotto await (and hopefully these two young guns face off this summer, giving Mayweather the winner), or he can take on the winner of the Shane Mosley-Fernando Vargas showdown (Sugar at 147; Feroz at 154). Oh yeah, Oscar De La Hoya has mentioned Mayweather as a possible final opponent this September.
So who needs Margarito?
“Bob Arum [promoter for both Margarito and Mayweather] keeps telling us he wants to make the fight, so we’re hopeful, but Tony won’t allow himself to get too excited,” said Diaz. “The thing I want the public to know is that we’ve never demanded that Top Rank deliver Mayweather. We just want a big fight, whoever ti may be. When they told us last year that a Mayweather fight was possible we were like ‘Wow!’ It was the kind of opportunity we wanted for years. And when we heard the money Top Rank offered Mayweather we thought he’d take the fight for sure, but he didn’t.”
Diaz says Margarito is interested in fighting Baldomir in order to gain universal recognition as the welterweight champ. He says the WBO wants Margarito to make a mandatory defense vs. Joshua Clottey after Gomez, but his is not sure they want their fighter to take on yet another unknown prospect for little money.
“We’re not too interested in that Clottey fight,” said Diaz. “For years Tony refused to give up his belt, but he might consider doing it now. He wants bigger and better things and these days it’s possible to have a mega-fight without a title belt on the line.”
Here’s a non-title fight I’d love to see: Margarito vs. Kassim Ouma at 154 pounds. I don’t know if that would be considered a “mega-fight” but it would feature mega-punches.
Diaz and I discussed some of his other fighters, including lightweight fringe contender Ivan Valle (who he was considering putting in with hardnosed Fernando Trejo – who’s sort of like a 130-pound Manuel Gomez – on a March 3rd Telefutura card, but opted not to) and WBO 108-pound titlist Hugo Cazares (who will be in action on a March 24th Telefutura card).
Diaz said he’s interested in putting Cazares in with WBA 108-pound titlist, Roberto Vasquez – now, that would be a scrap to remember.
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E-Mail Doug Fischer at dougie@maxboxing.com
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