VANCOUVER -- British dyna­mo Bob Fitzsimmons has proven that in boxing, size doesn’t mat­ter -- as long as the protagonists are engaged in the same weight category. And prove he did when he pulverized the taller and heavier American Gentleman Jim Corbet in their world heavyweight title fight at the end of the 19th cen­tury when Filipinos were mourn­ing the death by firing squad of Dr. Jose Rizal.

Before the match, Fitzsim­mons, who would become the first world heavyweight champion from Great Britain (Lennox Lewis was the second a century later), boasted that in order to beat the champ known as Gentleman, he would “kill the body and the head will fall”, which was what exactly had happened. And the rest is history.

On November 13 at the spa­cious Cowboys Stadium in Ar­lington, Texas, Congressman Manny Pacquiao will try to ape Fitzsimmons when he tackles the notorious bleeder and former three-time world welterweight champion Antonio Margarito.

David and Goliath will dispute for 12 rounds the vacant WBC light middleweight crown and it will be Pacquiao’s second flirt in the heavier division after a scin­tillating terrorism in the 147-lb since hammering a shock upset win over Oscar De La Hoya in the same division nearly two years ago.

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Margarito (38-6, 27 KOs) came as a surprise package af­ter efforts by Top Rank boss Bob Arum to lure overbearing Floyd Mayweather Jr. to fight Pacquiao went pffft.
Taller and heavier, Margarito enjoys a reach advantage over the Filipino heavy hitter and packs wallops in both hands when they were not wrapped with plaster of parish.
Pacquiao (51-3-2, 38 KOs), the greatest Asian fighter of all time, is however installed as fa­vorite owing to his reputation of having erected a slaughterhouse for all hard-hitting Mexican fight­ers who never saw the light after being pummeled into submission one after the other in a wholesale massacre never felt before in fight business.

For having remarked that he would dedicate his upcoming fight against Margarito to “...John Arum and the entire Arum fam­ily”, Pacquiao has won the hearts of the Arum family. John Arum, 49, Bob’s lawyer son, passed away last week while on a hike in the North Cascades National Park which is located north of Seattle, Washington. “John was an (environmental) lawyer who fought for the people, the same way I fight for the peo­ple of the Philippines,” Pacquiao said. “Bob Arum is my promoter and my friend. I want to do this for the entire Arum family.”

Michael Koncz, chief advisor for Pacquiao, said “Manny asked me to go to Las Vegas and tell Bob personally, which I did.”
Pacquiao said “I will do my best against Margarito. He is big­ger and stronger.”

Pacquiao is in the Philippines getting training facilities arranged for the Nov 13 title bout. He will train in the Philippines, then head for the Wild Card Gym in Holly­wood, Calif. to complete training.
Pacquiao vs. Margarito on No­vember 13 is promoted by Top Rank in association with Cowboys Stadium. Pacquiao vs. Margarito will be available on HBO Pay Per View.

I pick Pacquiao to steamroll the notorious Mexican customer despite the height difference. Margarito will have no match to Pacquiao’s force and intensity and he will be easier to hit as he moves forward and is an easy tar­get. If Pacquiao was able to blitz the much feared De La Hoya, there is no reason why he can’t kill the Margarito’s body and figuratively putting away his head before the final bell of the 12-round fisti­cuffs.

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