Doug Fischer
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 Southern California Notebook
By Doug Fischer (June 28, 2007) Photo © German Villasenor
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The first time I saw Antonio Margarito fight was 11 years ago (to the day) at a club show that took place in Culver City.
He lost that fight, a 10-round decision to the bigger and more mature Rodney Jones, who used a stiff southpaw jab and nice footwork to control and out-point the Mexican up-and-comer.
Margarito had a little bit of a buzz going in L.A.’s Spanish-speaking boxing community. His managers at the time boasted that their young buck would take on anyone, anywhere, anytime. They were so confident of the Tijuana resident’s considerable strength and durability that they didn’t bother screening his opponents.
They should have checked out Jones, a 6-foot-1 junior middleweight southpaw with solid boxing skills. I covered the fight for a local newspaper and recall writing something to the effect that Margarito was “nothing special”.
That was then. I had no idea Margarito was 18 years old. I had no idea that Jones, who won his next 12 fights (including a stirring 11th-round stoppage of Shibata Flores) en route to a respectable challenge to formidable former 154-pound titlist Harry Simon, was as good as he turned out to be.
Now I know that Margarito is special in his own way.
He’s not the fastest fighter out there. He’s not very smooth or fluid in his athleticism. He’s not much of a technician and he’s certainly not a defensive wizard, but in a sport where toughness (both mental and physical) and tenacity counts, he’s a force to be reckoned with.
I realized this five years ago, when Margarito won the WBO’s 147-pound title from former junior welterweight standout Antonio Diaz.
Despite ringing off 16 consecutive victories (which included devastating KOs of dangerous prospect Alfred Ankamah and veteran David Kamau) after his loss to Jones, I thought Margarito would get out-pointed and out-gutted by the smaller but more-experienced Diaz.
I watched Margarito prepare for what was at the time the biggest fight of his career at the now-closed L.A. Boxing Club without any idea that he was a fighter that I would cover numerous times, both in the gym and ringside, in the coming years.
I also made the drive to the desert town of Coachella to observe Diaz train for his second shot at a welterweight title. (Diaz’s first shot come 16 months earlier against Shane Mosley, which was the only loss in his previous 30 bouts).
After viewing the respective camps, I was fairly certain that Margarito would be a sucker for Diaz’s big right hand, and this would be the bigger man’s eventual undoing. I was half-correct in my analysis. For about five or six rounds, Diaz landed his right hand at will as a tense Margarito tried to box with the smaller man on the outside. However, once Margarito decided to impose his size (and will) on Diaz over the second half of the title bout, which took place at Bally’s in Las Vegas, the fight quickly became brutally one-sided.
Margarito won by 10th-round stoppage and I’ve been a believer ever since.
As far as boxing writers go, it’s a pretty small club, one that’s headed up by MaxBoxing colleague Steve Kim.
Most fight scribes are lukewarm at best on the longtime WBO title holder.
Ask them why and they’ll state that his deliberate, often technically sloppy, come-forward style is simply not the stuff of elite fighters or boxers worthy of any sort of praise. They will also note his 10-round technical decision loss to former junior middleweight title holder Daniel Santos and his struggle with Joshua Clottey last December.
Fighters who lose to Santos, these journalists tell me, have no right call out the likes of Floyd Mayweather Jr. and would no doubt be dominated if they ever found themselves in the same ring as the Pretty Boy.
Fair enough, although I disagree with the assumption that the relentless 5-foot-11 welterweight would not present a contest to Mayweather, a natural lightweight.
I’d like to point out that Santos, who represented Puerto Rico in 147-pound division of the same ’96 Olympic boxing tournament that Mayweather won his bronze medal at 125 pounds, is a 6-foot-1 southpaw who weighs in at 154 pounds and fights at a solid 170 pounds.
I don’t see many comparisons between Santos and Mayweather in terms of size, stature or style.
However, Margarito’s next opponent, Paul Williams, does compare to Santos, the last man to beat the Tijuana Tornado.
Williams, a freakishly rangy 6-foot-2 southpaw, also stacks up comparably to Jones, the last man to beat Margarito at welterweight.
Is it any wonder why so many fans, members of the press, and boxing insiders are picking the undefeated (32-0) 25-year-old South Carolina native to upset the long-reigning WBO titlist when the two face off at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California two weeks from now?
“It’s no surprise to me,” said Ben Lira, the care taker of the South El Monte Teamsters Boxing Club, where Margarito has trained for his last three fights. “Williams is a left handed fighter and he’s got the advantage of size and quickness over Margarito. People who’ve seen him fight think he’s better than Margarito in every department. They might be right, except for the level of experience – and that’s the difference in this fight as far as I’m concerned.
“Margarito has been in with tough fighters; he’s been in tough fights; Williams hasn’t. When it gets heated in the ring, we know what Margarito will do; he will fight on no matter what. We don’t know what Williams will do yet.”
Lira’s prize pupil, 24-year-old lightweight prospect John Molina, an avid boxing fan and observer, thinks Williams will get burned once the heat is on.
“With Margarito, you’re going into the kitchen whether you like it or not,” said Molina, who improved his record to 7-0 (5) with a six-round decision over late sub Marcus Brashears this past Friday night. “The deciding factor in this fight, as far as I’m concerned, is power.
“I don’t think Williams is the puncher he’s made out to be. I saw his last fight, against this late sub [Santos Pakau], who was TINY! Williams hit him everything he had for six rounds and the little guy didn’t go anywhere.
“You think he’s going to do something to Tony? I don’t think so. I think Williams’s best punches are going to be like someone opening a window and letting in a cool breeze to Margarito.
“The thing about Margarito, and I know ‘cause I’ve sparred with him, is that all of his punches are heavy. They all hurt no matter how sloppy they might look or where they land. Even when he’s holding back like he does with me, every single punch hurts.
“Another key factor in this fight is that it’s taking place in California. They’re going to be wearing eight-ounce gloves in there; not 10-ounce gloves like they do in Las Vegas.”
The gloves the two giant welterweights will swap punches with on July 14th will be considerably smaller than the sparring gloves they used when they sparred for a two-week period prior to Margarito’s loss to Santos in September of ’04.
The differing stories on a particular sparring session – one in which Williams claims that he cut Margarito and hurt him to the point that the brisk gym work had to be halted – have added spice to the build-up to the welterweights’ showdown and have even transformed the intriguing bout into a grudge match.
Williams, usually a soft-spoken and respectful young man, made brash predictions such as: “I’m going to mop the floor with Margarito”; “I’m going to stop him in the fifth round”; and “I’m going to make him quit on his stool”.
Margarito, usually an easy going sort, seemed uncharacteristically moody and surly at the press conference for the bout that was held at a steakhouse in Burbank at the beginning of this month.
However, the mood of his training camp for Williams, now eight weeks old, has been nothing but positive and often jovial.
“The best way to describe this training camp is intense but fun,” said Ernest Gabion, the chief administrator for MaxBoxing’s message boards who has aided Team Margarito in rounding up the sparring partners for this camp. “Tony’s co-manager, Sergio [Diaz], told me that this is the hardest he’s ever seen Tony work, but it’s also the most relaxed.”
That’s good news for Margarito’s fans.
One thing I’ve noticed about Margarito after watching him train for the last seven years, although he always comes to fight, he’s only really sharp or “on” when he has a good camp.
“For some reason everything has just fallen into place for this training camp,” said Diaz, who co-manages Margarito along with Francisco Espinosa. “It reminds me of his camp for Kermit Cintron; good sparring, good mood and no injuries.”
The last eight weeks have been a far cry from the complete disaster of a camp Margarito had for Clottey, where an injured hand and a severely sprained right ankle only compounded the frustration the fighter had with his promoter (Top Rank, which was not able to secure a meaningful fight or payday for him in ‘06) and his management had with finding suitable sparring (at least a dozen notable prospects and veterans turned down their offer or failed to show up).
The injuries, inactivity (nine months), and sub-par sparring made for a disgruntled and rusty Margarito, who took five rounds to get going against the underrated Ghanaian welterweight contender, who suffered a hand injury of his own and faded badly down the stretch.
However, in preparation for Williams, who many believe is a more formidable opponent than Clottey, Margarito has been all smiles.
“I think he’s very inspired for this fight,” said Brian Ramirez, a 21-year-old junior lightweight prospect who has trained along side Margarito for the last four years. “He’s always in great shape, he’s always strong, but for this fight he’s more active. I see him moving more in the ring, throwing even more punches than usual.”
Molina, who is works out at the South El Monte gym and has been present for Margarito’s last three camps, says this camp is by far the best he’s seen of the title holder.
Ironically, Margarito’s chief sparring partner has been Rodney Jones. The Stockton, California resident, who was 11-2 when they met in the ring 11 years ago, is now a 38-year-old veteran of 42 fights (37-4-1).
Backing up Jones has been 14-1 Andy Kolle (who was sent home a few weeks ago after he suffered a badly cut lip), 12-1-1 Keenan Collins, 10-0 Austin Trout, and 4-0 Craig McEwan.
The five sparring partners fight at 154 and 160 pounds, but weighed an average of 170 pounds during this camp, which is good since Williams will likely weigh that much on fight night.
They’ve given Margarito quality work; and the young ones like 21-year-old Trout and 25-year-old McEwan, who is also sparring with Bernard Hopkins, are receiving a fistic education. They are finding out that athletic talent and impressive amateur credentials aren’t everything in the world of professional boxing.
Trout, who was often last in the four-man sparring rotation with Margarito (when the 29-year-old veteran went nine to 12 rounds), was able to use his superior hand and foot speed to good effect for one round, but quickly found himself smothered by the ‘TJ Tornado’ in the following two rounds.
McEwan, who bested the likes of John Duddy and Andy Lee in a storied 376-bout amateur career, has learned the virtues of conditioning. His greater size and better technique only served him well for so long against the non-stop pressure and volume punching from Margarito. Since he began sparring with Margarito, the affable Scotsman has vowed to do his roadwork every day (something he hadn’t always done) and add a professional conditioner to his training team.
“Craig told me that it’s tougher sparring with Tony than it is with Bernard Hopkins,” said Molina.
The only concern for Margarito’s management is to make sure the welterweight workhorse does not over-train, something I believe he did prior to his fight with Santos.
In the past, I’ve witnessed Margarito spar 15 hard rounds with as many as four different sparring partners and then do eight rounds of mitts with his drill sergeant-like trainer Javier Capetillo.
“We have to watch Tony closely,” admitted Diaz. “He’s a proud Mexican and so is Capetillo. Tony’s the kind of guy that wants to show you when you say he can’t do something. If you tell him ‘You can’t climb that mountain’, he’ll race right up it to prove you wrong. So, he’ll do 15 rounds of sparring just to show Capetillo that he can do it, but we’ve been careful of that for this camp, and Capetillo has cooperated with us.
“A couple of weeks ago, Tony sparred 12 HARD rounds with four different guys. We could tell that he was getting worn out, so we had him take the week off in terms of sparring. It was Capetillo’s idea. Tony trained – he did his roadwork on the Santa Monica beaches and in the mountains of Azuza and he did all of his floor work in the gym – but he didn’t step into the ring to spar until the following Tuesday when he did 12 rounds again, and he looked great. The next day he did nine rounds, and then he did six rounds that Thursday and six rounds again that Friday. He took the weekend off.”
So far, the less-is-more approach is working for Margarito.
“He’s weighing about 152 pounds now,” said Diaz. “He’s done with the 12-round sparring sessions and sparring with the big guys. We sent Jones, Collins and McEwan home. We’re keeping Trout because of his hand speed, but we’re bringing in smaller guys for him to spar with so he can get acclimated to more speed. Right now he’s just staying loose.”
I dropped by the South El Monte Boxing Club yesterday (unannounced and uninvited as usual) to see just how loose Margarito is staying.
It was a light workout by his standards.
Wednesday’s training was comprised of three rounds of warm-up shadow boxing in front of a mirror (old-school calisthenics that consisted of up-and-down “yes-and-no” nodding and head shaking to wake up the neck muscles, and dance-like scoop-down motions where he leaned his upper body forward to touch his hands to the floor in-between the usual air punches), four rounds of sparring (with a quick-fisted 25-year-old amateur lightweight named Eric Godoy), three rounds of mitts (one round with Capetillo, one round with assistant trainer Jesus Armando Perez, who employs a rapid-fire style, and one round with Capetillo using “the pillow” body-protector type cushion used to refine body attacks), two rounds on the speed bag, two rounds of shadow boxing in the ring (with gauze hand wraps tied together and stretched four ways across the canvas with their ends tied to the top turnbuckle of each corner so Margarito could practice head and upper-body movement by ducking and dipping under them as he moved about the ring, throwing quick air combinations), and finally jaw and neck exercises.
Margarito was supposed to do six rounds of sparring, three with Montebello’s Godoy and three with Trout. However, Trout, who hails from Las Cruces, New Mexico, suffered a jaw injury in his last sparring session with Margarito, so he took the day off. He might be back by this Saturday.
Trout could be joined by Victor Ortiz next week, the last week of sparring for Margarito, provided the Oxnard-based 140-pound standout takes care of business in his Telefutura-televised bout vs. Maximino Cuevas tomorrow night without any injuries.
“We’re almost finished with the hard work,” signed Capetillo, who has also trained former title holders Jorge Paez, Alejandro “Cobrita” Gonzalez, Julio Barboa and Isidro “Chino” Garcia in the past 10 years. “Tomorrow is our last day of sprints.”
Those “sprints” are six 300-meter intervals that are run uphill in Hollywood’s Griffith Park.
MaxBoxing members will get to see some of Margarito’s road work (the beach runs along the Santa Monica coastline), as well as his intense mitt work and shadowboxing, in the first part of a three-part mini-documentary now playing on Max-TV that our talented video editor Brian Harty has dubbed “the Path to the Punisher”.
Part one is entitled “the grind” (for obvious reasons), while part two, which will be posted next week, highlights his grueling sparring sessions with Jones, McEwan & company. Part three, due out on fight week, will focus on the promotional events of the July 14th main event such as today’s media conference call with both fighters and a public workout scheduled to take place at the Plaza Mexico in Lynwood next Tuesday.
Fight clips of Williams’ recent bouts plus an in-depth interview with Margarito will also highlight the third part of the series.
It’s special coverage for a special fighter and what we hope will be a special fight.
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E-Mail Doug Fischer at dougie@maxboxing.com
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