In comparison to the huge carnival of boxing entertainment that was going down this past Saturday night, this Saturday will be a pretty quiet night for fight fans. There are a few cards scheduled around the world, but the biggest, most interesting card will be the one taking place in Chihuahua, Mexico.
Former world champ and former fan-fave Antonio Margarito will continue his comeback as he faces tough and well-travelled contender Carson Jones in a super-welterweight bout. The card will also feature unbeaten welterweights Carlos Ocampo, 21-0 and Konstantin Ponomarev, 32-0, going at it in what should really be the fight of the night.
But Margarito, now aged 39 and 40-8(27) overall and 2-0(0) in his post-Miguel Cotto rematch comeback (this fight a nasty, eye-damaging stoppage loss for “Tony” in late 2011), remains an attraction – for good or for bad. As such, the ageing former long-reigning welterweight champ’s fight will attract the most attention.
Jones, 40-11-3(30), and a good deal younger than Margarito at age 31, has vowed to retire the Mexican bad boy right in his own country. When we take into consideration all the wear and tear Margarito has endured throughout his long and controversial career, Jones may well make good on his prediction. This is not to suggest Jones is fresh as a daisy – the warrior from Oklahoma having had to dig deep to get through wars with the likes of Kell Brook (twice) and another British fighter in Brian Rose (in their second meeting) quite recently.
Jones has won his last three (once again causing a British fighter problems in upsetting Ben Hall in November of last year) and the long-time contender has reportedly been pushing himself as hard as can be in training.
A Jones points win looks a good bet, but will too many people shed a tear if Jones does indeed end the career of Margarito? Probably not, but Saturday night’s fight may well prove to be an entertaining, even exciting affair despite its faults.