Our friends at BadLeftHook brought to attention a report from ESPN, saying that Antonio Margarito had a fractured orbital bone and will be having surgery on Tuesday. The Mexican lost a lopsided 12-round decision to Manny Pacquiao and was brought to the hospital following the bout. Pacquiao, who noticeably slowed his pace and let go of the gas pedal during the last round of their bout, said that the fight should have been stopped a few rounds earlier for fear that he might permanently injure his opponent:
The beating was so thorough that the congressman from the Philippines turned to referee Laurence Cole several times in the 11th round, imploring him to stop the fight.
“I told the referee, ‘Look at his eyes, look at his cuts,'” Pacquiao said. “I did not want to damage him permanently. That’s not what boxing is about.”
His trainer Freddie Roach echoed the same sentiments:
“He’s a very tough guy,” Roach said of Margarito (38-7, 27 KOs). “I was surprised how tough he was. He has the worst corner. They probably ruined his career by not stopping the fight.”
Majority of the people thought that the bout should have been waved off by the referee or his corner, but they left it for Margarito to decide, and the boxer would have nothing of it:
“There was no way I was going to quit. I’m a Mexican, we fight until the end”
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