Pacman slammed for fighting Margarito
IF Manny Pacquiao really believes Antonio Margarito cheated in his fight against Shane Mosley back in January 2009, the Filipino boxing icon should not have agreed to share the spotlight and a seven-figure payday with the Mexican on Nov. 13 at the Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
This was the view aired by Martin Rogers of Yahoo! Sports, who claimed Pacquiao, in agreeing to fight Margarito, has become "a conspirator in this ugly spectacle that will only serve to sully boxing’s name further."
A day after hyping up their fight in Los Angeles, Pacquiao and Margarito brought the hype to New York on Wednesday.
In his column on Yahoo! Sports, Rogers said Pacquiao "could have done himself, and boxing, a big favor by dropping his shoulder and swaying clear of anything to do with Margarito."
Pacquiao, tops on the Yahoo! Sports pound-for-pound list and currently boxing’s biggest attraction, said last Tuesday he believes Margarito had full knowledge of the illegal hand wrap that earned him a year-long ban from the sport and ruined his reputation.
"He is the one who wraps his hands and he doesn’t know what’s in there?" said Pacquiao, speaking during the press conference in Beverly Hills to promote the fight. "Of course he knows. What do you think? My belief is he knows that. He is just making some kind of alibi."
Margarito was banned from boxing for a year after the illegal wrap was discovered just before his defeat to Mosley. Despite proclaiming his innocence, he was denied a license to fight in California. Texas, however, granted him a license, earning him a fight with Pacquiao before an expected crowd of around 70,000.
Concluding his column, Rogers said: "Pacquiao had the power to prevent it (fight from happening) and chose not to."