Having taken over a 4 year retirement hiatus, former welterweight powerhouse Antonio "El Tornado de Tijuana" Margarito will continue his comeback attempt on Saturday night against the older brother of middleweight star Canelo Alvarez.
For much of the late 90's and early to mid 2000's, Margarito (39-8-0, 27 KO) was one of the most feared punchers in the sport. Part of this was potentially due to the fact he was caught before a 2009 bout with Shane Mosley as having loaded his gloves with elements similar to plaster of paris. Margarito was vilified by the media and boxing public, bringing about speculation of just how legitimate Margarito's victories had been in recent years.
After having toppled Miguel Cotto for a welterweight title in 2008, the "Tijuana Tornado" was on top of the boxing world until the loaded gloves fiasco came to fruition. Following that bout, Margarito faced Manny Pacquiao in 2010, a fight in which the Filipino mega-star mauled the Mexican's right eye into an absolute mess. It required multiple surgeries and a 13 month layoff, however Margarito is not one to call it quits so easily. He returned in December 2011 to face Cotto in a rematch, however the results were much different this time, with Cotto doing a number on the repaired eye of the Margarito.
After a tune-up bout in March against unknown Jorge Paez Jr., a fight in which the former champ looked like a mere fraction of his previous self, Margarito finds himself stepping into a tougher test in Ramon Alvarez (23-4-2, 15 KO), a fellow Mexican and unheralded older brother of Canelo Alvarez. While Alvarez is not a legitimate title contender himself, he is expected to be a major step up for Margarito in seeing how far his return will go. The 38 year old former title holder showed a lack of speed and power behind his punches against Paez that will not be as forgiving against an opponent such as Alvarez.
"I'll be better than in the fight against Paez Jr.", Margarito recently claimed before his contest on beIN Sports Saturday night, "I was rusty after nearly five years of retirement". While a good amount of ring rust is to be expected after such a long layoff, the amount of wars that Margarito has participated in, as well as the condition of his right eye, which has hindered him from being licensed to fight repeatedly, has to be a major concern going into a fight with someone like Ramon Alvarez.
"The war begins now" Alvarez exclaimed when questioned recently about his confidence heading into the fight. The fringe contender is 9-0 in his last 10 fights, with a no contest coming from an accidental head butt in his 2015 bout against Richard Gutierrez. The victor in Saturday night's fight will hope to parlay the high profile win into a title fight in the very near future.
