Boxing: Manny Pacquiao's Former Rival Rues Failure To Surrender Early, Admits Underestimating Pacman

KEY POINTS

Antonio Margarito admits underestimating Manny Pacquiao
Margarito said he should have surrendered early during the bout against Pacman
Pacquaio obliterated Margarito to become an eight-division world champion

Ten years after getting badly beaten up by Manny Pacquiao, former boxing champion Antonio Margarito spoke about the fight and took the guts to admit that he regrets underestimating the Filipino slugger.

Margarito, at 5’11, had the obvious size advantage over Pacquiao entering their WBC Junior Middleweight title bout on November 13, 2010 at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. But the Pacman, being the offensive juggernaut that he is, technically dominated and physically obliterated the Tijuana Tornado to win via unanimous decision and earn his eighth division world title.

Looking back, Margarito said taking Pacquiao lightly was a huge mistake on his part as he was seen visibly destroyed by the flurry of punches from the then at peak Pacman.

“You can say many things when you see a fighter, but being up there in the ring is different. I said that there would be no problems, I said that I did not mind him hitting me six (punches) at a time, because when I caught him, I was going to put him away because of this weight limit,” Margarito said in an interview by ESPN Deportes, per Boxing Scene.

“But I was wrong because Pacquiao, apart from being accurate, was very fast and had a good shot and hit very hard. The problem was getting a hold of him. But I am happy for what I accomplished.”

The top-notch boxing skills of Pacquiao were in full display during the fight that, at one time, he even took it upon himself to ask the referee to stop the fight. Heck, even Margarito’s corner was about to throw in the towel just to stop the punishment that the Mexican-American was receiving.

But Margarito insisted to continue to fight – a decision he now seems to deplore.

“The truth was they (corner) mentioned that to me when I went back to the corner, that (my face) was very bad. And I told them not to stop the fight,” said Margarito. “But I was really wrong.”

Margarito decided to hang his gloves in 2017, ending his career with a professional record of 41 wins with 27 knockouts, eight losses, and a bout even.