By Ian S Palmer
Antonio Margarito returns to the ring this Saturday, March 5th when he takes on fellow Mexican Jorge Paez Jr. in a 10-round welterweight bout. Boxing fans can catch all of the action live from the Arena Ciudad de Mexico in Mexico City on the BeIN Sports TV network. This is Margarito’s comeback fight after sitting out the past five years. His last bout was a 10th-round stoppage defeat at the hands of Puerto Rico’s Miguel Cotto back in December of 2011. Margarito is a former IBF and WBA Welterweight Champion, but is now a couple of weeks shy of 38 years old.
Margarito, who has been inactive due to a problem with his right eye, will climb into the ring with a record of 38-8 along with 27 Kos while the 28-year-old Paez Jr. is 39-7-2 with 23 Kos to his name. Margarito originally suffered his eye injury during a 12-round points loss to Manny Pacquiao in 2010 when he left the ring with a torn retina and fractured orbital bone. The former champ underwent surgery on several occasions to repair the damage and then took on Cotto in a rematch for his second straight loss.
Margarito has to get past Paez if he has any chance of becoming a top-10 contender again and he’d also have to pass eye tests if he hopes to receive a license to fight in the U.S. Paez Jr. is a competitive boxer who sometimes looks like a contender and at other times looks to be out of his league. He’s lost two of his past three contests as both Jose Benavidez and Carlos Ocampo beat him last year. He’s also been beaten by Vivian Harris, Jose Lopez, Ricardo Cano, Oscar Meza, and Ramon Guevara with Guevara and Benavidez both stopping him. His biggest wins were over Jose Luis Castillo, Omar Chavez (twice), Ivan Hernandez and Daniel Echeverria.
There are many fans and boxing people who feel Margarito shouldn’t be allowed to compete anymore after being found guilty of illegal hand wraps before his 2009 TKO loss to former champion Shane Mosley. The Mexican was banned for a year and then fought three more times before hanging up his gloves. However, it’s widely believed that Margarito had been wrapping his hands illegally and hardening them with plaster of Paris for most of his career until getting caught. Since the scandal, Margarito’s power has been noticeably absent and his hand speed disappeared.
Margarito stands 5-feet-11-inches tall and has a reach of 73 inches. Paez Jr. is quite smaller as he’s 5-foot-7 with a 70-inch inch wingspan. Margarito also has a wide advantage in experience at the top level with 277 rounds under his belt since turning pro back in 1994. Paez has boxed 279 rounds since 2005, but mostly against Grade B opponents. As far as power goes, Margarito’s knockout ratio currently stands at 57 per cent while Paez’s is 47 per cent.
Margarito has lost three of his past four fights against Cotto, Pacquiao and Mosley and has also been beaten by Paul William, Daniel Santos, Rodney Jones, Larry Dixon and Victor Lozova. Cotto and Mosley were the only two to stop him. His biggest wins were over Cotto, Santos, Sergio Martinez, Danny Perez, David Kamau, Frankie Randall, Antonio Diaz, Andrew Lewis, Hercules Kyvelos, Kermit Cintron (twice) and Joshua Clottey.
Prediction
Sitting out for more than four years will affect any boxer, especially one who is aging and has seemingly lost his power and speed. Margarito has some impressive wins during his career, but nobody knows if they were legitimate or aided by his illegal hand wraps. Paez shouldn’t be underrated as he has a decent chin and enough skill to give anybody trouble when he’s on his game. Margarito’s power gives him a chance to win this fight and he’s still the better and bigger boxer, but I’ll go out on a limb and Paez will take a decision.
