Ears To You Antonio Margarito
by
Buster Paris
2/19 - No, I will not make a bad Mike Tyson joke and I promise not to quote bad lines like “Friends, Romans, Countrymen, lend me your ears.” Even though it’s incredibly appropriate. Caesar’s Palace, Mark Antony, c’mon…
If you watched Friday Night Fights on ESPN2 then you know what I’m referring to. Sebastian Lujan almost had his ear ripped off his head.
Friday night, February 18, at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas WBO Welterweight Champion Antonio Margarito took on #2 ranked Sebastian Lujan.
This was Sebastian’s first fight in the U.S. and his first fight with this caliber of fighter. Lujan looked really good in the first four rounds. He reminded me of one of the Rockem Sockem Robot’s, the red one.
Actually, he won the first four rounds of the bout. He had great head movement and his punches seemed harder, better and more on target than Antonio’s.
I’m not too familiar with Margarito and couldn’t understand why the ESPN2 crew kept lavishing him with praise, but I was to find out soon.
At the end of round four, Margarito had the opportunity for target practice and was teeing off on Lujan. This is where the table had turned and I began to see what ESPN’s commentator (and one of the best trainers to ever work a corner) Teddy Atlas was talking about when he and the crew kept insinuating Antonio’s superiority.
Round six was the beginning of the dismantling of Sebastian and was impressed at the dramatic turn around and as the rounds progressed the better Antonio looked and the better he fought. I was even more impressed that he had thrown 144 punches in the 6th round.
In rounds seven and eight, Margarito was skillfully putting punches together and Lujan was slowing down and started to go move backwards for the first time in the fight. Sebastian was throwing a bit wild, but did demonstrate some excellent lateral movement.
Antonio passed the 1,000 punches thrown in a fight mark in the 9th and we begin to notice blood coming out of the left ear of Lujan.
Lujan's ear not looking to good, it’s bleeding and looking funny in the 10th. Referee David Fields calls for time to have the doctor look at the ear and then we all notice. That thing is swollen 3 times it’s original size, is flapping around like a cartoon dragon’s wing and looks like it’s about to fall off.
Thankfully Sebastian’s corner throws in the towel and the fight’s over.
Lujan fought very well for the first four rounds. He has nothing to be ashamed of and this will be a great experience for him to learn and grow from. I’m not sure if Margarito was just waiting him out or is a slow starter, but in my opinion he lost the first 4 rounds, but he did finish strong and showed some good skills, however I wasn’t overly impressed.
Antonio next fights Kermit Cintron on April 23rd back at Caesar’s.
My advise to Kermit Cintron:
(1) Go after him early, you’ll bank those first 4 to 5 rounds
(2) Keep away from any named Brutus
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