If he shocks Pacquiao, Margarito moves from Hall Of Shame to Fame -- Examiner

By Michael Marley, Examiner.com

If I was a defendant in a criminal case in New York right now, the judge would want me to get the proverbial check up from the neck up.

They call it a 730 Exam, a mental probe designed to determine if a person is fit to stand trial, whether he or she has the capacity to understand the charges facing him or her.

First, I pumped out a reaching what if piece saying I can see Golden Boy staging a Paulie Maliganggi-Floyd Mayweather main event when it opens up Brooklyn's Barclays Center for boxing in 2012.

Now I will compound the craziness with another question which I pose to you, the boxing jury.

As things stand today, Antonio Margarito has one leg up for the Boxing Hall Of Shame.

But, if we know anything about Margarito-Pacquiao a week from Saturday in Arlington, it is that the Mexican's handwraps will be street legal, 100 percent pure for this match against the Pinoy Idol.

So now I ask you sincerely, what if Margarito shocks the world by beating Pacman, the minus 650 betting favorite?

I don't care if "Margacheato" wins on points or KOs Megamanny, would he thus be a candidate or a lock for the Hall Of Fame?

I say yes, absolutely and without doubt. If the Tijuana Giant slays the Puny Pinoy, then he deserves to go into boxing's shrine no matter how the rest of his career goes.

Dallas Examiner Matt Stolow thinks I'm out there where the buses don't run, a few sandwiches short of a picnic and like that.
"He'd have to beat Manny twice in my view," Stolow said.

I say why, when James "Buster" Douglas only had to shock Mike Tyson once?

There's no requirement that a Hall Of Fame candidate be a Boy Scout, an honest citizen or anything like that. The shrine in Canastota is not for Nice People In Boxing, it's a place for greatness and awesome feats.

Now, if it ever came out that Margarito's wraps be illegally loaded for Miguel Cotto and or Kermit Cintron or any other foe, then I say don't throw the bum into the Hall.

But we'll never know if Margarito cheated in any bout before he got caught plasterhanded before the whipping he took from Sugar Shane Mosley.

Margarito defeats Pacquiao ONCE, then he's a most serious Hall Of Fame prospect, I say.

What do you say, Mexicans, Filipinos and anyone else who cares about boxing?

In my next column, I promise a return to relative sanity.

(mlcmarley@aol.com)

Source: examiner.com