ANTONIO MARGARITO| Beast But Not Legend
Hello guys, this is @bhaiyas once again and am here to feed you on this boxing beast little story he is nicknamed “Tijuana Tornado”, Antonio Margarito. The nickname, according to the story, was coined by that gale of blows with which he was used to suffocating his rivals regardless of what he received in such a company, a style well known in the pages of Mexican boxing and that of great gladiators such as the great Pipino Cuevas or many others were worth many nights of glory with the so-called “Mexican style”. Go to the front with all aggressiveness as in those bullfights in the legendary and monumental Plaza de Toros México where bullfighting and bullfighting lives were at stake, but in the end only one would win.
Margarito started boxing at a very young age and with only 15 years he made his professional debut, an age that may seem somewhat hasty, but it is relatively common in a country with a great boxing tradition but also marginalization and lack, rented boxing promises a decent pay for to cover the rent of a modest flat and to eat a diet barely adequate for sports. This made him start his career with ups and downs, winning his first 5 fights in a row and losing the next 3 in a kind of win-loss curve, however, from his commitment to the Ghanaian Alfred Ankamah he resumed an important streak of more than 20 fights without knowing the defeat and where names such as the legendary Frankie Randall or the young Sergio Martínez appear, whom he knocked out, until his first commitment with the Puerto Rican Daniel Santos which was declared no contest, his coronation as world champion against Antonio Diaz and his second commitment to Santos, which he would lose.
Losing to Santos in his native Puerto Rico off balance makes him take on big names and this is where his most outstanding commitments come like his knockouts against Puerto Rican Kermit Cintron, his close fight against Paul Williams or his knockout against contender Golden Johnson but undoubtedly the night of glory and consecration would arrive that distant July 28, 2008 at the MGM Grand Arena against the undefeated Puerto Rican and future legend Miguel Cotto, a fight that most analysts saw as lost and which further increased his merit when the He won after losing unanimously and unquestioningly on the cards with an unexpected knockout, a night that would make him a star and celebrity but the honeys of glory would celebrate them for a short time.
And that is when paradise and Olympus turns like a storm that comes suddenly on a warm summer afternoon into a real nightmare. On the night of January 24, 2009, the two best welters of that time faced each other for the Association Title in its Super version, our protagonist and the legend Sugar Shane Mosley, where Margarito was seen as weak and distant and Mosley was strong and impressed. , but as if the tornado's state of mind was only the vestige of what was coming to him in addition to a knockout that did not allow him to continue further, an illegal substance was later detected in his gloves and which is called in boxing slang as "plaster of paris".
The Tornado's reputation completely fell apart and in addition to the imposed suspension time, he was no longer allowed to train with his coach Javier Capetillo. And although his career continues and allowed him to have big matches later, like his meeting with Manny Pacquiao or his rematch against Miguel Cotto, he could never regain that final momentum that allowed him to be remembered as a superstar. On the contrary, he is remembered by many as a cheater, even though he has grown weary to the end of trying to defend his reputation and trying to be remembered for his legacy.