BBC Sport
Ryan Rhodes believes he is closing in on a clash with Mexico's Antonio Margarito for the vacant WBC world light-middleweight title.
The 33-year-old from Sheffield will first have to defend his European light-middleweight belt against Lukas Konecny in Birmingham on 18 September.
"Margarito is number one with the WBC and I'm number two," said Rhodes.
"It is a dream fight for me and it appears like it can happen if I can beat Konecny on 18 September."
Part of promoter Frank Warren's 'The Magnificent Seven', the billing at the LG Arena in Birmingham will also feature Nathan Cleverly, Kell Brook, Michael Jennings, James DeGale, Enzo Maccarinelli and Derek Chisora.
Margarito made a winning return to the ring in May after his license was revoked for 12 months for attempting to fight Shane Mosley with an illegal plaster-like substance placed inside his hand wraps.
Rhodes added: "Margarito is an unbelievable fighter, though not as strong and aggressive as when he was at welterweight.
"I'd be too fast and too strong for him. I campaigned for seven or eight years at middleweight and more than held my own."
"Fighting him is a mouth-watering prospect and would be a dream fight for me.
"He hasn't reapplied for his license to fight in the United States but of course I'd go to Mexico to face him.
"There's a shadow over his win against Miguel Cotto because of his ban after the Mosley fight, but it was a lovely fight to watch but terrible to be involved in.
"By the end of this year I should be fighting for a world title, preferably against Margarito for the WBC belt."
Source: news.bbc.co.uk
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Kamis, 01 Juli 2010
Mundine considers Waters way to world title -- Sydney Morning Herald
By BRAD WALTER, The Sydney Morning Herald
ANTHONY MUNDINE will consider taking up a challenge from fellow light-middleweight Ryan Waters if the fight can help land a bout with the division's No.1 boxer, Miguel Cotto.
Waters crashed the ring immediately after Mundine's first fight in the 69.9-kilogram division against tough Argentinian Carlos Aden Jerez at Brisbane Entertainment Centre to call out the three-time world champion. With WBA and WBO top-10 rankings, Waters could be an avenue to another title shot for the former Dragons star.
''He's a world-ranked fighter, so maybe that could happen,'' Mundine said. ''He's rated in the top 10 by the WBA [7th] and in the top five by the WBO, so maybe that could be an eliminator for a world title.''
While Mundine acknowledged after the fight that he needed to work on his power and strength as a light-middleweight, his performance against the hardworking Jerez gave him confidence that he could become the first boxer to win world titles in three weight divisions in descending order.
To do so, the two-time WBA super-middleweight champion and former IBO middleweight titleholder is aiming to win either an interim title fight or an eliminator bout.
Already ranked the No.2 contender by the WBA, he then hopes to force Cotto into a mandatory title defence. Fights against Mexico's Antonio Margarito, the WBA's No.1 contender, and interim titleholder Nobuhiro Ishida of Japan are other options.
However, Margarito may be off the radar as he has been linked with a bout against Manny Pacquiao after negotiations for the Fillipino pound-for-pounder to fight Floyd Mayweather jnr again appear to have broken down.
Mundine eventually hopes to fight Mayweather and believes that the way to achieve that is by beating Cotto to claim the light-middleweight crown.
Before then, he has to honour an agreement to fight The Contender champion Garth Wood, possibly in December.
Mundine will look to fight again before then and Waters is now looming as a likely opponent. ''He's Australian so I am giving another Australian a pay day and a day to shine,'' Mundine said.
Source: smh.com.au
ANTHONY MUNDINE will consider taking up a challenge from fellow light-middleweight Ryan Waters if the fight can help land a bout with the division's No.1 boxer, Miguel Cotto.
Waters crashed the ring immediately after Mundine's first fight in the 69.9-kilogram division against tough Argentinian Carlos Aden Jerez at Brisbane Entertainment Centre to call out the three-time world champion. With WBA and WBO top-10 rankings, Waters could be an avenue to another title shot for the former Dragons star.
''He's a world-ranked fighter, so maybe that could happen,'' Mundine said. ''He's rated in the top 10 by the WBA [7th] and in the top five by the WBO, so maybe that could be an eliminator for a world title.''
While Mundine acknowledged after the fight that he needed to work on his power and strength as a light-middleweight, his performance against the hardworking Jerez gave him confidence that he could become the first boxer to win world titles in three weight divisions in descending order.
To do so, the two-time WBA super-middleweight champion and former IBO middleweight titleholder is aiming to win either an interim title fight or an eliminator bout.
Already ranked the No.2 contender by the WBA, he then hopes to force Cotto into a mandatory title defence. Fights against Mexico's Antonio Margarito, the WBA's No.1 contender, and interim titleholder Nobuhiro Ishida of Japan are other options.
However, Margarito may be off the radar as he has been linked with a bout against Manny Pacquiao after negotiations for the Fillipino pound-for-pounder to fight Floyd Mayweather jnr again appear to have broken down.
Mundine eventually hopes to fight Mayweather and believes that the way to achieve that is by beating Cotto to claim the light-middleweight crown.
Before then, he has to honour an agreement to fight The Contender champion Garth Wood, possibly in December.
Mundine will look to fight again before then and Waters is now looming as a likely opponent. ''He's Australian so I am giving another Australian a pay day and a day to shine,'' Mundine said.
Source: smh.com.au
Selasa, 29 Juni 2010
Miguel Cotto's Trainer Talks Pacquiao, Margarito Rematches -- FanHouse
By Lem Satterfield, FanHouse
Trainer Emanuel "Manny" Steward works with WBO and IBF heavyweight champ Wladimir Klitschko
, as well as newly-crowned WBA junior middleweight (154 pounds) titlist Miguel Cotto (pictured above, at left), whose ninth-round knockout victory dethroned Yuri Foreman (pictured above, at right) on June 5 during their first bout together at Yankee Stadium in New York.
Steward has been credited with helping the 29-year-old Cotto (35-2, 28 knockouts) resurrect a career that had been damaged during knockout losses to Antonio Margarito and WBO welterweight (147 pounds) king Manny Pacquiao.
In this Q&A, Steward talks about Cotto's resurgence as well as potential rematches with Pacquiao and Margarito.
FanHouse: What do you think about potentially being in Miguel Cotto's corner for a rematch with Manny Pacquiao?
Manny Steward: Well, any time that anybody in the world fights Manny Pacquiao, they've got a hard fight, OK? That's just a fact. It would be a different fight, I'm quite sure. One reason is that they'd be fighting at 154 instead of 145 for Cotto the last fight that they had.
Do you believe that being forced to fight at a catch weight of 145 pounds against Pacquiao in some way hurt or hampered Miguel Cotto?
Well, when I talked to Miguel and I was asking him, 'What happened in the fight?,' he didn't say anything about having to lose weight or anything about that being a factor. All that he said was, basically, 'I couldn't handle his speed.'
And I said, 'You're kidding?' And he said, 'Nope. I couldn't handle his speed.' So he just couldn't handle Manny's speed.
So neither you nor Miguel Cotto believes that extreme weight loss had anything to do with the loss to Pacquiao?
You know, Miguel has never mentioned that. I don't think that he would ever say that. I just asked him what the difference in the fight was because he was doing so good earlier on in the fight in the early rounds with his jab.
Miguel just said, 'later on I couldn't keep up with his speed.' But with me in there, it would be totally different because Miguel is a different fighter right now than he was then.
How would you, as a trainer, neutralize Manny Pacquiao's speed against Miguel?
Well, that would not be a problem with me this time because I specialize in fast sparring partners. That's something that I insist on. I've never had a fighter come back at the end of a round and tell me that 'I've got a problem because I can't handle his speed,' you know?
But any time anybody's fighting Manny Pacquiao, you have your work cut out for you any way that you cut it.
Would you look forward to testing yourself as a trainer against his trainer, Freddie Roach, and Manny Pacquiao with yourself in Miguel Cotto's corner?
You know, I don't go into any fight really looking at it that way. I go into a fight trying to get my man in the best shape for the fight that I can. I've never gone into a fight anxious to face any other trainer or this guy or that guy.
If we did fight Pacquiao, though, that, I guess, would be good for boxing. But to be honest, I've never thought too much about it.
But you do have a history, by extension, having gone against the late Eddie Futch, who was Freddie Roach's mentor. Can you tell me about that?
Well, I went up against Eddie Futch with Evander Holyfield against Riddick Bowe in the second of their three fights, and I went against Eddie Futch with Tommy Hearns against James Shuler in a fight.
So that was twice that he had undefeated fighters. And that was twice where we won both of those fights [Holyfield by decision; Hearns by first-round knockout.]
How about a rematch for Miguel Cotto against Antonio Margarito?
These are questions that [HBO's] Jim Lampley brought up to him during the fighter meetings before we fought Yuri Foreman. He asked Miguel if, clearly, 'would he be interested in trying to settle the score with Margarito and Pacquiao?'
But Miguel doesn't show a lot of emotions, you know. He was like, 'they were just fights.' And he said that with very little emotion. It wasn't like 'Margarito just beat me.'
Do you have a preference for whom Miguel Cotto fights, whether it's Manny Pacquiao, Antonio Margarito or Julio Cesar Chavez?
No, not really. Whatever fight they make, I would just start training Miguel for the fight. I have no personal feelings about it at all. I think Margarito, even if you take away the badly taped hands, he's still one tough sonofab****, you know?
How so?
I'm down in Los Angeles while he was training once, and he just trains really, really hard. Regardless of what may have been in his hands, he was always in great shape.
When he lost to Shane Mosley, you may say that part of his confidence may have been effected. You may say that his confidence before that came from the fact that he may have felt that his illegal hands gave him an advantage.
But, emotionally, the night that he fought Shane, he may have been all confused and mixed up because of what went on with the commission that night. By the time that the fight came up, I mean.
But I have a lot more respect for him as a fighter than most people do, I think. It seems like everyone is saying that he got as far as he did because of the hand wraps. But as far as I'm concerned, he's always in unbelievable condition.
You and Miguel seemed to have really bonded during training and the night of the Yuri Foreman fight. How much fun was that?
Well, I learn from each one of my fighters. And I learned the art of being relaxed from Miguel Cotto. I've never had a fighter who was going into such a high intensity fight go into it as relaxed as he seemed to be.
During the promotion, everything was about Yuri Foreman and this and that, and I have to tell you that I was a nervous wreck at times. But Miguel Cotto, this guy, he was the definition of the word 'cool.'
Before the fight, he was out there watching the undercard fights. After the fifth round of the fight with Foreman, he came back to the corner and he gave me a little wink. He's just not one to get emotional about a lot of things.
He was not all wired up, you know? And he's not all wired up about getting revenge. With Miguel Cotto, it just seems like nothing bothers him.
Source: boxing.fanhouse.com
Trainer Emanuel "Manny" Steward works with WBO and IBF heavyweight champ Wladimir Klitschko
, as well as newly-crowned WBA junior middleweight (154 pounds) titlist Miguel Cotto (pictured above, at left), whose ninth-round knockout victory dethroned Yuri Foreman (pictured above, at right) on June 5 during their first bout together at Yankee Stadium in New York.Steward has been credited with helping the 29-year-old Cotto (35-2, 28 knockouts) resurrect a career that had been damaged during knockout losses to Antonio Margarito and WBO welterweight (147 pounds) king Manny Pacquiao.
In this Q&A, Steward talks about Cotto's resurgence as well as potential rematches with Pacquiao and Margarito. FanHouse: What do you think about potentially being in Miguel Cotto's corner for a rematch with Manny Pacquiao?
Manny Steward: Well, any time that anybody in the world fights Manny Pacquiao, they've got a hard fight, OK? That's just a fact. It would be a different fight, I'm quite sure. One reason is that they'd be fighting at 154 instead of 145 for Cotto the last fight that they had.
Do you believe that being forced to fight at a catch weight of 145 pounds against Pacquiao in some way hurt or hampered Miguel Cotto?
Well, when I talked to Miguel and I was asking him, 'What happened in the fight?,' he didn't say anything about having to lose weight or anything about that being a factor. All that he said was, basically, 'I couldn't handle his speed.'
And I said, 'You're kidding?' And he said, 'Nope. I couldn't handle his speed.' So he just couldn't handle Manny's speed.
So neither you nor Miguel Cotto believes that extreme weight loss had anything to do with the loss to Pacquiao?
You know, Miguel has never mentioned that. I don't think that he would ever say that. I just asked him what the difference in the fight was because he was doing so good earlier on in the fight in the early rounds with his jab.
Miguel just said, 'later on I couldn't keep up with his speed.' But with me in there, it would be totally different because Miguel is a different fighter right now than he was then.
How would you, as a trainer, neutralize Manny Pacquiao's speed against Miguel?
Well, that would not be a problem with me this time because I specialize in fast sparring partners. That's something that I insist on. I've never had a fighter come back at the end of a round and tell me that 'I've got a problem because I can't handle his speed,' you know?
But any time anybody's fighting Manny Pacquiao, you have your work cut out for you any way that you cut it.
Would you look forward to testing yourself as a trainer against his trainer, Freddie Roach, and Manny Pacquiao with yourself in Miguel Cotto's corner?
You know, I don't go into any fight really looking at it that way. I go into a fight trying to get my man in the best shape for the fight that I can. I've never gone into a fight anxious to face any other trainer or this guy or that guy.
If we did fight Pacquiao, though, that, I guess, would be good for boxing. But to be honest, I've never thought too much about it.
But you do have a history, by extension, having gone against the late Eddie Futch, who was Freddie Roach's mentor. Can you tell me about that?
Well, I went up against Eddie Futch with Evander Holyfield against Riddick Bowe in the second of their three fights, and I went against Eddie Futch with Tommy Hearns against James Shuler in a fight.
So that was twice that he had undefeated fighters. And that was twice where we won both of those fights [Holyfield by decision; Hearns by first-round knockout.]
How about a rematch for Miguel Cotto against Antonio Margarito?
These are questions that [HBO's] Jim Lampley brought up to him during the fighter meetings before we fought Yuri Foreman. He asked Miguel if, clearly, 'would he be interested in trying to settle the score with Margarito and Pacquiao?'
But Miguel doesn't show a lot of emotions, you know. He was like, 'they were just fights.' And he said that with very little emotion. It wasn't like 'Margarito just beat me.'
Do you have a preference for whom Miguel Cotto fights, whether it's Manny Pacquiao, Antonio Margarito or Julio Cesar Chavez?
No, not really. Whatever fight they make, I would just start training Miguel for the fight. I have no personal feelings about it at all. I think Margarito, even if you take away the badly taped hands, he's still one tough sonofab****, you know?
How so?
I'm down in Los Angeles while he was training once, and he just trains really, really hard. Regardless of what may have been in his hands, he was always in great shape.
When he lost to Shane Mosley, you may say that part of his confidence may have been effected. You may say that his confidence before that came from the fact that he may have felt that his illegal hands gave him an advantage.
But, emotionally, the night that he fought Shane, he may have been all confused and mixed up because of what went on with the commission that night. By the time that the fight came up, I mean.
But I have a lot more respect for him as a fighter than most people do, I think. It seems like everyone is saying that he got as far as he did because of the hand wraps. But as far as I'm concerned, he's always in unbelievable condition.
You and Miguel seemed to have really bonded during training and the night of the Yuri Foreman fight. How much fun was that?
Well, I learn from each one of my fighters. And I learned the art of being relaxed from Miguel Cotto. I've never had a fighter who was going into such a high intensity fight go into it as relaxed as he seemed to be.
During the promotion, everything was about Yuri Foreman and this and that, and I have to tell you that I was a nervous wreck at times. But Miguel Cotto, this guy, he was the definition of the word 'cool.'
Before the fight, he was out there watching the undercard fights. After the fifth round of the fight with Foreman, he came back to the corner and he gave me a little wink. He's just not one to get emotional about a lot of things.
He was not all wired up, you know? And he's not all wired up about getting revenge. With Miguel Cotto, it just seems like nothing bothers him.
Source: boxing.fanhouse.com
Selasa, 11 Mei 2010
Manny Pacquiao's rage against the machine: Like whipping Mayweather, Mosley, Margarito -- Examiner
By Michael Marley, Examiner.com
MICHAEL MARLEY'S PHILIPPINE DIARY, PART 24:
What I Learned At Philippine National Elections, 2010
GENERAL SANTOS CITY—I doubted but then I came and I saw.
I was unsure as to whether political novice Manny Pacquiao, a fistfighter first and foremost albeit the best in the world including anyone named Floyd Mayweather, could demolish the deeply entrenched, dynastic political machinery known as the Chiongbians.
In rural, poverty stricken Sarangani Province, the Chiongbian clan, in cahoots the also rich and powerful Alcantra and Dominguez clans (an incestual group to be sure), has had a two decades long jron grip on everything from bullets to ballots, from fishing to farming and from electrical power to mining.
Pacman knocking out the Triad of Chiongbian-Alcantra-Dominguez?
In a political vein translated to boxing, that would be like Manny knocking out Mayweather, Shane Mosley and Antonio Margarito on the same night.
Pacquiao, a measly millionaire competing with longtime billionaires, was like a mouse attacking an elephant, like some Joe Blow trying to topple the Mayor Daley regime in Chicago or to defeat a Kennedy in Massachusetts. It could be compared to battling someone named Bush deep in the heart of Texas.
I doubted, I came, I saw, I believe as Pacquiao, learning valuable lessons from his electoral spanking in hometown Gensan at the hands of clever Dazzling Darlene Antonino-Custodio in a Congressional mismatch in 2007, was intelligent enough to put together a team of James Carville, Rahm Emmanuel, Donna Brazile types, veterans of Pinoy politics.
Now, in the wake of a resounding victory which may wind up a 2 to 1 ballot battering, Pacquiao must render unto Cesar what is Cesar's.
In this case, Cesar is a bright fellow named Cesar Y. Yamuta, a Borneo native and political operative who now works out of Iligan City.
Yamuta, working closely with Mayor Tanny Pepito and Zaldy Du, spearheaded the People's Champ Movement with Pacquiao as its standardbearer.
In the wee hours Tuesday morning, at the so called “Pacquiao Pentagon” fortress where a team of youthful workers worked the phones and computers tabulating results, Yamuta explained to me and promoter Bob Arum the winning strategy.
“We aimed our Pacquiao pitch at the poorest of the people in Sarangani, the masses of the people who have gotten nothing out of the established powers that used to be,” Yamuta said.
“Our message was simple, we asked the poorest people, 'Is Manny your idol? If he is your idol, then you should help him so he can go to Congress and help you.' We asked every person who respinded favorably to that to extend our reach, we asked them to reach out to 10 other people with the same mesaage.”
Personally, I saw if not understood the efficacy of Pacman's emotional but also factual appeal to the pobrecitos in Saragani.
When Manny thumped his chest and spoke of sleeping on the street, of peddling cigarettes to get a bowl of rice, of having next to nothing in terms of creature comforts, the “least of them” got the message.
Here is a boxing idol who has not forgotten from whence he came and who might be able to deliver a hospital, school supplies and free medicatuions in a Third World country where it is often said the majority of the people exists on less than $5 per day.
They came to see their ring hero, they listened intently and then they turned out in droves at the polling places despite some scattered reports of harrassment from the other side.
The people of Sarangani have not merely spoken.
They certainly did not whisper.
They shouted it from the rooftops of tin shacks and straw huts, from the rice fields and the tuna fishing boats.
Pacquiao is The People's Champion and The People's Choice.
All hail the Honorable Congressman from the 15th Congressional District.
Or, as he was referrred to by his happy supporters Monday night and into Tuesday, Landslide Manny.
I doubted, I came, I saw.
I consumed kinilaw, balut and quaffed frosty San Miguel Light.
I believe.
Massive popularity, genuine humility, absolute sincerity. His message ran loud and it rang true.
How long before Manny Pacquiao becomes president of the Philippines?
Not long, not long at all.
You can make book on that.
(mlcmarley@aol.com)
Source: examiner.com
MICHAEL MARLEY'S PHILIPPINE DIARY, PART 24:
What I Learned At Philippine National Elections, 2010
GENERAL SANTOS CITY—I doubted but then I came and I saw.
I was unsure as to whether political novice Manny Pacquiao, a fistfighter first and foremost albeit the best in the world including anyone named Floyd Mayweather, could demolish the deeply entrenched, dynastic political machinery known as the Chiongbians.
In rural, poverty stricken Sarangani Province, the Chiongbian clan, in cahoots the also rich and powerful Alcantra and Dominguez clans (an incestual group to be sure), has had a two decades long jron grip on everything from bullets to ballots, from fishing to farming and from electrical power to mining.
Pacman knocking out the Triad of Chiongbian-Alcantra-Dominguez?
In a political vein translated to boxing, that would be like Manny knocking out Mayweather, Shane Mosley and Antonio Margarito on the same night.
Pacquiao, a measly millionaire competing with longtime billionaires, was like a mouse attacking an elephant, like some Joe Blow trying to topple the Mayor Daley regime in Chicago or to defeat a Kennedy in Massachusetts. It could be compared to battling someone named Bush deep in the heart of Texas.
I doubted, I came, I saw, I believe as Pacquiao, learning valuable lessons from his electoral spanking in hometown Gensan at the hands of clever Dazzling Darlene Antonino-Custodio in a Congressional mismatch in 2007, was intelligent enough to put together a team of James Carville, Rahm Emmanuel, Donna Brazile types, veterans of Pinoy politics.
Now, in the wake of a resounding victory which may wind up a 2 to 1 ballot battering, Pacquiao must render unto Cesar what is Cesar's.
In this case, Cesar is a bright fellow named Cesar Y. Yamuta, a Borneo native and political operative who now works out of Iligan City.
Yamuta, working closely with Mayor Tanny Pepito and Zaldy Du, spearheaded the People's Champ Movement with Pacquiao as its standardbearer.
In the wee hours Tuesday morning, at the so called “Pacquiao Pentagon” fortress where a team of youthful workers worked the phones and computers tabulating results, Yamuta explained to me and promoter Bob Arum the winning strategy.
“We aimed our Pacquiao pitch at the poorest of the people in Sarangani, the masses of the people who have gotten nothing out of the established powers that used to be,” Yamuta said.
“Our message was simple, we asked the poorest people, 'Is Manny your idol? If he is your idol, then you should help him so he can go to Congress and help you.' We asked every person who respinded favorably to that to extend our reach, we asked them to reach out to 10 other people with the same mesaage.”
Personally, I saw if not understood the efficacy of Pacman's emotional but also factual appeal to the pobrecitos in Saragani.
When Manny thumped his chest and spoke of sleeping on the street, of peddling cigarettes to get a bowl of rice, of having next to nothing in terms of creature comforts, the “least of them” got the message.
Here is a boxing idol who has not forgotten from whence he came and who might be able to deliver a hospital, school supplies and free medicatuions in a Third World country where it is often said the majority of the people exists on less than $5 per day.
They came to see their ring hero, they listened intently and then they turned out in droves at the polling places despite some scattered reports of harrassment from the other side.
The people of Sarangani have not merely spoken.
They certainly did not whisper.
They shouted it from the rooftops of tin shacks and straw huts, from the rice fields and the tuna fishing boats.
Pacquiao is The People's Champion and The People's Choice.
All hail the Honorable Congressman from the 15th Congressional District.
Or, as he was referrred to by his happy supporters Monday night and into Tuesday, Landslide Manny.
I doubted, I came, I saw.
I consumed kinilaw, balut and quaffed frosty San Miguel Light.
I believe.
Massive popularity, genuine humility, absolute sincerity. His message ran loud and it rang true.
How long before Manny Pacquiao becomes president of the Philippines?
Not long, not long at all.
You can make book on that.
(mlcmarley@aol.com)
Source: examiner.com
Minggu, 09 Mei 2010
Antonio Margarito Earns Unanimous Decision over Roberto Garcia -- FanHouse
By Lem Satterfield, FanHouse
Mexican-born Antonio Margarito
scored a first-round knockdown, benefited from two points being deducted from his opponent, and roundly won Saturday night's 10-round, unanimous decision over Roberto "La Amenza" Garcia in a junior middleweight (154 pounds) clash before more than 17,000 at the 17,900 capacity La Feria de San Marcos , in Aguascalientes, Mex.,
Margarito won 100-88, 99-90, and, 99-89, on the three judges' cards, meaning that he lost only a combined two rounds over the course of the bout.
In victory, the 32-year-old Margarito improved to 38-6, with 27 knockouts, while the 30-year-old Garcia (28-3, 21 KOs) -- who was twice penalized for head butts -- had a five-year, 14-bout unbeaten streak ended that had included 10 knockouts.
The performance ended a more than one-year ring absence for Margarito, who had been suspended by the California State Athletic Commission after a January, 2009, ninth-round knockout loss to Shane Mosley dethroned him as WBA champion.
Margarito's ring exile resulted from Mosley's trainer, Naazim Richardson's discovery that the Mexican's fist wrappings included a plaster-like substance that was subsequently removed and confiscated prior to the fight.
With promoter, Bob Arum, CEO of Top Rank, being a chief support, Margarito has a number of options.
The best of the scenarios involves a potential match up opposite seven-division titlist, Manny Pacquiao (51-3-2, 38 KOs), who is the current WBO welterweight (147 pounds) champion.
Reached in the Philippines where he is supporting Pacquiao during his run for congress, Arum told Nancy Gay of FanHouse that Margarito's rustiness in the fight was "expected."
"I think he looked rusty after 15 months, and he needed to fight," said Arum. "He needed the fight under his belt after the long absence."
Margarito has fought in California more than a dozen times during his career, but was unable to return to the ring for the undercard of Pacquiao's, March 13, unanimous decision victory over Joshua Clottey, at The Dallas Cowboys' Stadium for a proposed bout against Oklahoma City resident Carson Jones (26-7-1, 15 KOs).
Arum believes, however, that Margarito's next fight "will be in the United States," mentioning that he hoped "to get Margarito licensed in various states, as he should be," such as "Nevada, or Texas, one of those places."
Arum said that a Pacquiao-Margarito fight would sell out Dallas Cowboys Stadium, where some 51,000 witnessed Pacquiao-Clottey.
"The most significant thing was the Mexican crowd, and how they greeted him," Arum said of Margarito's return against Garcia. "I think that any commission in the United States to whom he applies for a license will have to take that into account."
There is the chance, perhaps, to face the winner of a June 5 WBA junior middleweight title bout between former three-time world champion Miguel Cotto (34-2, 27 KOs) and champion, Yuri Foreman (28-0, eight KOs) to be fought at the new Yankees Stadium in New York.
Another potential fight involves a rematch with Lou DiBella-promoted, southpaw WBC junior middleweight king, Sergio Martinez (45-2-2, 24 KOs), whom Margarito knocked out in the seventh round in February of 2000.
Martinez is coming off of last month's unanimous decision over Kelly Pavlik (36-2, 32 KOs), whom he dethroned as WBO and WBC middleweight (160 pounds) champion.
"Antonio wants Pacquiao. That's all that he talks about," said Margarito's trainer, Robert Garcia, who is not related to Roberto Garcia. "Antonio wants it. The fans want it. We are ready right now."
Source: boxing.fanhouse.com
Mexican-born Antonio Margarito
scored a first-round knockdown, benefited from two points being deducted from his opponent, and roundly won Saturday night's 10-round, unanimous decision over Roberto "La Amenza" Garcia in a junior middleweight (154 pounds) clash before more than 17,000 at the 17,900 capacity La Feria de San Marcos , in Aguascalientes, Mex.,Margarito won 100-88, 99-90, and, 99-89, on the three judges' cards, meaning that he lost only a combined two rounds over the course of the bout.
In victory, the 32-year-old Margarito improved to 38-6, with 27 knockouts, while the 30-year-old Garcia (28-3, 21 KOs) -- who was twice penalized for head butts -- had a five-year, 14-bout unbeaten streak ended that had included 10 knockouts.The performance ended a more than one-year ring absence for Margarito, who had been suspended by the California State Athletic Commission after a January, 2009, ninth-round knockout loss to Shane Mosley dethroned him as WBA champion.
Margarito's ring exile resulted from Mosley's trainer, Naazim Richardson's discovery that the Mexican's fist wrappings included a plaster-like substance that was subsequently removed and confiscated prior to the fight.
With promoter, Bob Arum, CEO of Top Rank, being a chief support, Margarito has a number of options.
The best of the scenarios involves a potential match up opposite seven-division titlist, Manny Pacquiao (51-3-2, 38 KOs), who is the current WBO welterweight (147 pounds) champion.
Reached in the Philippines where he is supporting Pacquiao during his run for congress, Arum told Nancy Gay of FanHouse that Margarito's rustiness in the fight was "expected."
"I think he looked rusty after 15 months, and he needed to fight," said Arum. "He needed the fight under his belt after the long absence."
Margarito has fought in California more than a dozen times during his career, but was unable to return to the ring for the undercard of Pacquiao's, March 13, unanimous decision victory over Joshua Clottey, at The Dallas Cowboys' Stadium for a proposed bout against Oklahoma City resident Carson Jones (26-7-1, 15 KOs).
Arum believes, however, that Margarito's next fight "will be in the United States," mentioning that he hoped "to get Margarito licensed in various states, as he should be," such as "Nevada, or Texas, one of those places."
Arum said that a Pacquiao-Margarito fight would sell out Dallas Cowboys Stadium, where some 51,000 witnessed Pacquiao-Clottey.
"The most significant thing was the Mexican crowd, and how they greeted him," Arum said of Margarito's return against Garcia. "I think that any commission in the United States to whom he applies for a license will have to take that into account."
There is the chance, perhaps, to face the winner of a June 5 WBA junior middleweight title bout between former three-time world champion Miguel Cotto (34-2, 27 KOs) and champion, Yuri Foreman (28-0, eight KOs) to be fought at the new Yankees Stadium in New York.
Another potential fight involves a rematch with Lou DiBella-promoted, southpaw WBC junior middleweight king, Sergio Martinez (45-2-2, 24 KOs), whom Margarito knocked out in the seventh round in February of 2000.
Martinez is coming off of last month's unanimous decision over Kelly Pavlik (36-2, 32 KOs), whom he dethroned as WBO and WBC middleweight (160 pounds) champion.
"Antonio wants Pacquiao. That's all that he talks about," said Margarito's trainer, Robert Garcia, who is not related to Roberto Garcia. "Antonio wants it. The fans want it. We are ready right now."
Source: boxing.fanhouse.com
Sabtu, 08 Mei 2010
Margarito-Garcia set after weigh-in -- ESPN
By Dan Rafael, ESPN.com
Disgraced former welterweight titlist Antonio Margarito isn't doing much talking about doctored hand wraps, license revocations or anything else to do with the scandal that engulfed him and former trainer Javier Capetillo last year.
Margarito would rather move on and get back in the ring, which he will do in a scheduled 10-round junior middleweight bout against Roberto Garcia of Texas in the main event of Top Rank's "Latin Fury 14" on Saturday night (9 ET, Top Rank PPV, $39.95) at Aguascalientes, Mexico. Besides the bouts on the pay-per-view card, Top Rank is offering the untelevised undercard for free beginning at 7 p.m. ET on its website at www.TopRank.com/TRLiveStream.
"I have been working in the gym for over one year but it is not the same as getting into the ring and fighting before a crowd and without headgear," said Margarito, who has steadfastly denied knowledge of what was in his wraps, blaming Capetillo. "Saturday night can't come soon enough for me."
Of course, Margarito and his team would like to distance themselves from the unseemly incident that occurred just before he entered the ring to defend his welterweight title against Shane Mosley on Jan. 24, 2009, before more than 20,000 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.
Mosley's trainer, Naazim Richardson, objected to the way one of Margarito's hands had been wrapped. When the gloves was cut off to be examined by the California commission inspector, an illegal pad coated in a plaster-like substance was discovered. Then another one was found in the other hand wrap.
Margarito's hands were re-wrapped and the fight went ahead. Mosley dominated Margarito and knocked him out in the ninth round for the upset. A few weeks later, Margarito and Capetillo had their licenses revoked by California regulators, meaning neither could participate in boxing in the United States for at least a year.
Margarito (37-6, 27 KOs) could have fought outside the United States during his revocation, but decided to wait and honor the punishment. After the year was up in February, Margarito was free to apply for a license in any state. Top Rank attempted to get Margarito licensed in order for him to fight on the Manny Pacquiao-Joshua Clottey undercard in Texas on March 13, but didn't follow though because of the red tape involved and short time frame.
Instead, Margarito's comeback will take place he will welcomed with open arms, Mexico.
"I am anxious to fight in Mexico, the first time in 11 years," said Margarito, who cut ties with Capetillo and is now being trained by former world titleholder Robert Garcia, who is not related to his opponent. "I want to thank the fans who have always supported me. I feel good and I am ready to get back to work. It's been a long time away from the ring and I am very happy to be back."
Margarito may still face hurdles getting licensed in the United States, but his lawyer, Daniel Petrocelli, said last month in a teleconference with reporters that Margarito had served his punishment and wanted to move on.
"He sat on the sidelines, and now he wants to move forward," Petrocelli said. "And most importantly, he wants to remove this cloud over what has been a completely unblemished reputation throughout his career. He has been a model citizen in the boxing community. He has been a role model, and this has been a horrendous experience for him, and he wants to clear his reputation and move forward."
Margarito, who has never taken responsibility for what was in his hand wraps or apologized for the incident, said he is focusing on the fight and not the past.
"I am really looking forward to this fight like it was my first," he said. "I am still very hungry and still have a lot to accomplish in my career. This fight Saturday against Garcia is very important because I want to come back and give the fans a great fight."
Top Rank promoter Bob Arum said he is supporting Margarito because he's served his punishment and he doesn't believe Margarito knew what was in his wraps.
"I'm supporting him because I believe he's gotten a really bad shake from everybody from people who haven't followed this as closely as I have," Arum said. "I truly believe he didn't know anything about what was in the gloves, absolutely zero. The inspector supported that [at the hearing].
"The punishment he got was based on him being the captain of the ship, not that he had any knowledge of what was in the gloves. He served his time of the one-year period. He didn't go to Mexico and fighting during it. Now it's time to allow this guy back into the ring to fight."
Garcia (28-2, 21 KOs) hasn't let the scandal go to waste, using it to taunt Margarito.
"The difference between Margarito and me is simple. I can fight in the U.S. and he can't," said Garcia, who trained for the fight with Freddie Roach, although co-trainer Eric Brown will be in the corner with him Saturday. "This is my championship fight. I have worked very hard to get to this point and will not let this great opportunity pass by. I have come to win this fight and that is what I will do on."
Said Brown, "I promise Margarito is going to get his ass kicked. I promise you that."
The confidence of Garcia and his team comes from Margarito's long layoff. They don't believe he will be sharp.
"Margarito has been off too long and is not going to win this one," said Julio Marines, Garcia's manager. "Look at what happened to Mosley (against Floyd Mayweather last week) -- off way too long. He paid the price. Sorry, but that's what will happen to Margarito too. Ring rust, that kind of stuff. I know in my heart Roberto Garcia will win on Saturday night."
Arum said he is not sure what to expect from Margarito.
"Do I know whether he has anything left or not? I have no idea," Arum said. "Garcia [the trainer] says he looks terrific in the gym. I have not seen him train. But Garcia is a no nonsense guy. He would have told me, 'Hey, he looks rusty.' But he has been very bullish.
"I would like to see the old Margarito, a free-punching tornado. That's what endeared him to people. Whether that returns or not, who the hell knows?"
Dan Rafael is the boxing writer for ESPN.com.
Source: sports.espn.go.com
Disgraced former welterweight titlist Antonio Margarito isn't doing much talking about doctored hand wraps, license revocations or anything else to do with the scandal that engulfed him and former trainer Javier Capetillo last year.
Margarito would rather move on and get back in the ring, which he will do in a scheduled 10-round junior middleweight bout against Roberto Garcia of Texas in the main event of Top Rank's "Latin Fury 14" on Saturday night (9 ET, Top Rank PPV, $39.95) at Aguascalientes, Mexico. Besides the bouts on the pay-per-view card, Top Rank is offering the untelevised undercard for free beginning at 7 p.m. ET on its website at www.TopRank.com/TRLiveStream.
"I have been working in the gym for over one year but it is not the same as getting into the ring and fighting before a crowd and without headgear," said Margarito, who has steadfastly denied knowledge of what was in his wraps, blaming Capetillo. "Saturday night can't come soon enough for me."
Mosley's trainer, Naazim Richardson, objected to the way one of Margarito's hands had been wrapped. When the gloves was cut off to be examined by the California commission inspector, an illegal pad coated in a plaster-like substance was discovered. Then another one was found in the other hand wrap.
Margarito's hands were re-wrapped and the fight went ahead. Mosley dominated Margarito and knocked him out in the ninth round for the upset. A few weeks later, Margarito and Capetillo had their licenses revoked by California regulators, meaning neither could participate in boxing in the United States for at least a year.
Margarito (37-6, 27 KOs) could have fought outside the United States during his revocation, but decided to wait and honor the punishment. After the year was up in February, Margarito was free to apply for a license in any state. Top Rank attempted to get Margarito licensed in order for him to fight on the Manny Pacquiao-Joshua Clottey undercard in Texas on March 13, but didn't follow though because of the red tape involved and short time frame.
Instead, Margarito's comeback will take place he will welcomed with open arms, Mexico.
"I am anxious to fight in Mexico, the first time in 11 years," said Margarito, who cut ties with Capetillo and is now being trained by former world titleholder Robert Garcia, who is not related to his opponent. "I want to thank the fans who have always supported me. I feel good and I am ready to get back to work. It's been a long time away from the ring and I am very happy to be back."
Margarito may still face hurdles getting licensed in the United States, but his lawyer, Daniel Petrocelli, said last month in a teleconference with reporters that Margarito had served his punishment and wanted to move on.
"He sat on the sidelines, and now he wants to move forward," Petrocelli said. "And most importantly, he wants to remove this cloud over what has been a completely unblemished reputation throughout his career. He has been a model citizen in the boxing community. He has been a role model, and this has been a horrendous experience for him, and he wants to clear his reputation and move forward."
Margarito, who has never taken responsibility for what was in his hand wraps or apologized for the incident, said he is focusing on the fight and not the past.
"I am really looking forward to this fight like it was my first," he said. "I am still very hungry and still have a lot to accomplish in my career. This fight Saturday against Garcia is very important because I want to come back and give the fans a great fight."
Top Rank promoter Bob Arum said he is supporting Margarito because he's served his punishment and he doesn't believe Margarito knew what was in his wraps.
"I'm supporting him because I believe he's gotten a really bad shake from everybody from people who haven't followed this as closely as I have," Arum said. "I truly believe he didn't know anything about what was in the gloves, absolutely zero. The inspector supported that [at the hearing].
"The punishment he got was based on him being the captain of the ship, not that he had any knowledge of what was in the gloves. He served his time of the one-year period. He didn't go to Mexico and fighting during it. Now it's time to allow this guy back into the ring to fight."
Garcia (28-2, 21 KOs) hasn't let the scandal go to waste, using it to taunt Margarito.
"The difference between Margarito and me is simple. I can fight in the U.S. and he can't," said Garcia, who trained for the fight with Freddie Roach, although co-trainer Eric Brown will be in the corner with him Saturday. "This is my championship fight. I have worked very hard to get to this point and will not let this great opportunity pass by. I have come to win this fight and that is what I will do on."
Said Brown, "I promise Margarito is going to get his ass kicked. I promise you that."
The confidence of Garcia and his team comes from Margarito's long layoff. They don't believe he will be sharp.
"Margarito has been off too long and is not going to win this one," said Julio Marines, Garcia's manager. "Look at what happened to Mosley (against Floyd Mayweather last week) -- off way too long. He paid the price. Sorry, but that's what will happen to Margarito too. Ring rust, that kind of stuff. I know in my heart Roberto Garcia will win on Saturday night."
Arum said he is not sure what to expect from Margarito.
"Do I know whether he has anything left or not? I have no idea," Arum said. "Garcia [the trainer] says he looks terrific in the gym. I have not seen him train. But Garcia is a no nonsense guy. He would have told me, 'Hey, he looks rusty.' But he has been very bullish.
"I would like to see the old Margarito, a free-punching tornado. That's what endeared him to people. Whether that returns or not, who the hell knows?"
Dan Rafael is the boxing writer for ESPN.com.
Source: sports.espn.go.com
Jumat, 07 Mei 2010
Antonio Margarito: 'I Want to Prove Everybody Wrong' -- FanHouse
By Lem Satterfield, FanHouse
If Antonio Margarito defeats Roberto "La Amenza" Garcia in Saturday night's 10-round, junior middleweight (154 pounds) clash at La Feria de San Marcos , in Aguascalientes, Mex., the 32-year-old fighter will open himself up to a plethora of career options.
At least three of them involve fighters who are his promotional stablemates under Bob Arum, CEO of Top Rank Promotions.
Another potential bout involves a rematch with Lou DiBella-promoted, southpaw WBC junior middleweight king, Sergio Martinez (45-2-2, 24 KOs), whom Margarito knocked out in the seventh round in February of 2000.
Martinez is coming off of last month's unanimous decision over Kelly Pavlik (36-2, 32 KOs), whom he dethroned as WBO and WBC middleweight (160 pounds) champion.
"I have been working in the gym for over one year, but it is not the same as getting into the ring and fighting before a crowd, and without headgear," said Margarito, who will headline Top Rank Promotion's Latin Fury 14. "Saturday night can't come soon enough for me."
That's because it has been more than a year since Margarito has been in the ring, having been suspended by the California State Athletic Commission after a January, 2009, ninth-round knockout loss to Shane Mosley dethroned him as WBA champion.
Margarito's ring exile resulted from Mosley's trainer, Naazim Richardson's discovery that the Mexican's fist wrappings included a plaster-like substance that was subsequently removed and confiscated prior to the fight.
A native of Reynosa, Tamaulipas, Mex., who resides in Weslaco, Tex., Garcia (28-2, 21 KOs) is riding a five-year, 14-bout unbeaten streak that includes 10 knockouts.
"This is a big fight. which is why I left my home in Texas to work with Freddie Roach at the Wild Card in Hollywood, California. I had six great weeks of hard training and unbelievable sparring," said the 30-year-old Garcia.
"Freddie had me in the ring with Alfredo Angulo and other great fighters," said Garcia. "I am ready to get it on in the big bullring in Aguascalientes and play matador to Margarito."
During a recent video interview with Elie Seckback of FanHouse, Garcia, stood next to co-trainer, Eric Brown, held up his bare right fist and extended it toward the camera.
"You see these? These rocks are natural. You see? There's a difference," said Garcia, who has stopped his past four opponents. "These ain't Plaster of Paris. They're natural. They don't need to be loaded."
Margarito claims no knowlege of the illegal wrappings, instead blaming his trainer, Javier Capetillo, for the substance in his gloves.
Still, there is speculation that Margarito's gloves may have been loaded against vanquished rivals such as Cotto, and, Kermit Cintron, whom Margarito savagely and bloodily defeated before scoring knockouts. Margarito stopped Cintron twice.
"I think he had stuff in his gloves, but that's just my opinion," said Cintron, who was stopped by Margarito in April of 2005, and, 2008, in five, and, six rounds. "You look at those losses, and I don't know how it happened. You guys saw what he did before they caught him."
Margarito has been unable to successfully regain his license with the CSAC, whose verdict has been supported by U.S. commissions in general -- hence, his fighting in Mexico.
"I've always had the strength to hit as hard as I do, and I'm just ready," Margarito told Elie Seckback. "I want to prove everybody wrong, without anything in my hands."
Margarito received at least one vote in his favor concerning speculation as to whether or not his gloves were loaded during his July, 2008, 11th-round knockout of Cotto, whom he dethroned as WBA welterweight king after beating him bloody over the course of their bout.
That assertion came from none other than Keith Kizer, director of the Nevada State Athletic Commission which oversaw Margarito-Cotto at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
"I know that he wasn't rigged during the Cotto fight because we had our inspectors check him out and everything, as did Cotto's people. He was fully checked out. One of our referees, Jay Nady, was back there, we had our inspectors back there. Cotto's guy was back there. They all checked him out and everything was fine," said Kizer of Margarito, whose very next fight was against Mosley.
"They felt the hand wraps and everything, and we have an inspector who I've seen check the hand wraps before, and he checks them out thoroughly," said Kizer. "He watched the hand wraps that night. If you don't have experienced inspectors, you can probably slip something through."
Speaking while attending a press conference promoting last Saturday unanimous decision by Floyd Mayweather (40-0, 25 knockouts) over Mosley, Kizer said he would, nevertheless, proceed with caution before granting Margarito a license to fight in Las Vegas.
"I would not feel comfortable at this point simply granting Margarito a license to fight here in Nevada," said Kizer, adding that he would consider doing so only after Margarito endured a hearing before the commission chairman and a panel that would thoroughly review his case.
"I would have some questions that he would need to answer from me," said Kizer. "And if he doesn't answer them truthfully, then I would recommend not granting a license to him."
Regardless, Garcia's manager, Julio Marines, is confident that his man will emerge victorious.
"Margarito has been off too long and is not going to win this one. Look at what happened to Shane Mosley - off way too long. In fact. Margarito has been off as long as Mosley, and Mosley paid the price," said Marines of Mosley, who ended a 16-month ring absence against Mayweather.
"Sorry, but that's what will happen to Margarito too," said Marines. "Ring rust, that kind of stuff. I know in my heart RobertoGarcia will win on Saturday night."
Source: boxing.fanhouse.com
If Antonio Margarito
defeats Roberto "La Amenza" Garcia in Saturday night's 10-round, junior middleweight (154 pounds) clash at La Feria de San Marcos , in Aguascalientes, Mex., the 32-year-old fighter will open himself up to a plethora of career options.At least three of them involve fighters who are his promotional stablemates under Bob Arum, CEO of Top Rank Promotions.
Arum has said that Margarito "could be a potential opponent for" seven-division titlist, Manny Pacquiao (51-3-2, 38 KOs), "if Margarito wants to come down to welterweight," possibly at The Dallas Cowboys Stadium, where Pacquiao debuted boxing with a March 13, unanimous decision over Joshua Clottey (35-4, 20 KOs) before 51,000 fans.
There is also the potential for Margarito (37-6, 27 KOs) to face the winner of a June 5 WBA junior middleweight title bout between former three-time world champion Miguel Cotto (34-2, 27 KOs) and champion, Yuri Foreman (28-0, eight KOs) to be fought at the new Yankees Stadium in New York.
Another potential bout involves a rematch with Lou DiBella-promoted, southpaw WBC junior middleweight king, Sergio Martinez (45-2-2, 24 KOs), whom Margarito knocked out in the seventh round in February of 2000.
Martinez is coming off of last month's unanimous decision over Kelly Pavlik (36-2, 32 KOs), whom he dethroned as WBO and WBC middleweight (160 pounds) champion.Before losing by disputed majority decision to three-time titlist, Paul Williams (38-1, 27 KOs) in December, Martinez had gone 28-0-1, with 18 knockouts since the loss to Margarito.
"I have been working in the gym for over one year, but it is not the same as getting into the ring and fighting before a crowd, and without headgear," said Margarito, who will headline Top Rank Promotion's Latin Fury 14. "Saturday night can't come soon enough for me."
That's because it has been more than a year since Margarito has been in the ring, having been suspended by the California State Athletic Commission after a January, 2009, ninth-round knockout loss to Shane Mosley dethroned him as WBA champion.
Margarito's ring exile resulted from Mosley's trainer, Naazim Richardson's discovery that the Mexican's fist wrappings included a plaster-like substance that was subsequently removed and confiscated prior to the fight.
A native of Reynosa, Tamaulipas, Mex., who resides in Weslaco, Tex., Garcia (28-2, 21 KOs) is riding a five-year, 14-bout unbeaten streak that includes 10 knockouts.
"This is a big fight. which is why I left my home in Texas to work with Freddie Roach at the Wild Card in Hollywood, California. I had six great weeks of hard training and unbelievable sparring," said the 30-year-old Garcia.
"Freddie had me in the ring with Alfredo Angulo and other great fighters," said Garcia. "I am ready to get it on in the big bullring in Aguascalientes and play matador to Margarito."
During a recent video interview with Elie Seckback of FanHouse, Garcia, stood next to co-trainer, Eric Brown, held up his bare right fist and extended it toward the camera.
"You see these? These rocks are natural. You see? There's a difference," said Garcia, who has stopped his past four opponents. "These ain't Plaster of Paris. They're natural. They don't need to be loaded."
Margarito claims no knowlege of the illegal wrappings, instead blaming his trainer, Javier Capetillo, for the substance in his gloves.
Still, there is speculation that Margarito's gloves may have been loaded against vanquished rivals such as Cotto, and, Kermit Cintron, whom Margarito savagely and bloodily defeated before scoring knockouts. Margarito stopped Cintron twice.
"I think he had stuff in his gloves, but that's just my opinion," said Cintron, who was stopped by Margarito in April of 2005, and, 2008, in five, and, six rounds. "You look at those losses, and I don't know how it happened. You guys saw what he did before they caught him."
Margarito has been unable to successfully regain his license with the CSAC, whose verdict has been supported by U.S. commissions in general -- hence, his fighting in Mexico.
"I've always had the strength to hit as hard as I do, and I'm just ready," Margarito told Elie Seckback. "I want to prove everybody wrong, without anything in my hands."
Margarito received at least one vote in his favor concerning speculation as to whether or not his gloves were loaded during his July, 2008, 11th-round knockout of Cotto, whom he dethroned as WBA welterweight king after beating him bloody over the course of their bout.
That assertion came from none other than Keith Kizer, director of the Nevada State Athletic Commission which oversaw Margarito-Cotto at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
"I know that he wasn't rigged during the Cotto fight because we had our inspectors check him out and everything, as did Cotto's people. He was fully checked out. One of our referees, Jay Nady, was back there, we had our inspectors back there. Cotto's guy was back there. They all checked him out and everything was fine," said Kizer of Margarito, whose very next fight was against Mosley.
"They felt the hand wraps and everything, and we have an inspector who I've seen check the hand wraps before, and he checks them out thoroughly," said Kizer. "He watched the hand wraps that night. If you don't have experienced inspectors, you can probably slip something through."
Speaking while attending a press conference promoting last Saturday unanimous decision by Floyd Mayweather (40-0, 25 knockouts) over Mosley, Kizer said he would, nevertheless, proceed with caution before granting Margarito a license to fight in Las Vegas.
"I would not feel comfortable at this point simply granting Margarito a license to fight here in Nevada," said Kizer, adding that he would consider doing so only after Margarito endured a hearing before the commission chairman and a panel that would thoroughly review his case.
"I would have some questions that he would need to answer from me," said Kizer. "And if he doesn't answer them truthfully, then I would recommend not granting a license to him."
Regardless, Garcia's manager, Julio Marines, is confident that his man will emerge victorious.
"Margarito has been off too long and is not going to win this one. Look at what happened to Shane Mosley - off way too long. In fact. Margarito has been off as long as Mosley, and Mosley paid the price," said Marines of Mosley, who ended a 16-month ring absence against Mayweather.
"Sorry, but that's what will happen to Margarito too," said Marines. "Ring rust, that kind of stuff. I know in my heart RobertoGarcia will win on Saturday night."
Source: boxing.fanhouse.com
Rabu, 05 Mei 2010
Margarito Returns; is He a Pugilistic Pariah? -- SecondsOut
By Steve Kim, SecondsOut.com
This Saturday night marks the return of “The Tijuana Tornado,” Antonio Margarito, who faces the rugged Roberto Garcia in Aguascalientes, Mexico, as the headliner on Top Rank’s “Latin Fury 14.” It’s his first outing since he was dismantled in nine rounds by Shane Mosley on January 24th, 2009 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. But the loss wasn’t even the worst part of that night.
In the lead-up to that fight, illegal hand-wrappings were caught on Margarito, which eventually led to an indefinite suspension by the California State Athletic Commission for him and his trainer, Javier Capetillo.
Worse than getting knocked out, Margarito’s reputation was forever damaged. A man who was once thought as one of the most honest, hard-working fighters in the sport, was now thought of as a cheat. All his past accomplishments are now tainted. Everything he had done, to that point, will now be questioned. Was it his iron will that allowed him to capture three world titles and beat the likes of Miguel Cotto and Kermit Cintron- or loaded wraps?
It’s a fair question. In light of what was uncovered, just how legitimate is this career?
When asked if he doubts his own accomplishments, Margarito, through his manager, Sergio Diaz, answered without hesitation, "No, not at all. What happened was a big surprise for me. I’ve always been a clean fighter; I’m aware that Cintron and Cotto, they’ve been talking about me fighting dirty. But I’ve never fought dirty; I’ve always been a clean fighter and that’s something I’m going to prove, starting in this fight. I have a lot to prove. I feel I need to prove it to people and I’m going to show it beginning this fight."
Margarito makes it clear that he had no knowledge of any illegal activities that took place.
"As far as a fighter knowing what’s going on, I put my hands out there and I believe that the trainer’s going to do his job," he explained. "I give my full trust to my trainer. I put my hands out; I believe that the trainer is going to do what needs to be done by the commission law. And as far as what he does after that, I don’t know."
That answer will be met by a host of detractors, who believe that A) Margarito had to have known or B) he should’ve, regardless. But Robert Garcia, Capetillo’s replacement, says, "I’ve been wrapping fighters for years already, wrapped for [Nonito] Donaire, for Brian Viloria, Brandon Rios, everybody, and not one single fighter has ever asked me, ’What’s in the wraps? Let me see.’ Because they trust me. What I’m doing, nobody has ever hurt their hands. I guess I do a good job. Margarito’s liking it so far. Not one single time has he asked me, ’Can I see the padding? Can I see what’s in there?’ All the controversy is on Margarito, but me, as a former fighter and now as a trainer, wrapping hands, I never asked my coach, ’Let me feel the wraps. What are you putting on my hands?’ Hey, I’m there listening to music. It’s just the way it is."
But on the night of May 8th, expect Margarito to have the most heavily scrutinized hand-wraps in the history of boxing.
"Y’ know what? That doesn’t even come to my mind because I know I’m going in wrapping him. You’ll see the wrapping I do; everywhere I go, they always tell me that’s one of the best- if not the best wraps- they’ve ever seen," said Garcia, last week from his Oxnard Boxing Academy. "And Margarito, so far, likes it. I’ve already wrapped him the way I’m going to wrap him in the fight and he loves it. Every other day is different; I don’t use the same things that I do when it comes to the fight. But come fight night, people are going to be surprised. There’s no need to put anything illegal; I do a good job."
But the question marks do not surround Garcia, who has a pristine reputation; this is about Margarito, who, if he suddenly turns into a soft, Punch-and-Judy hitter, will have even more doubts cast about his résumé.
Does he still have heavy hands?
"Very heavy hands," said Garcia, who works the pads with him on a daily basis. "He has the power to hurt anybody. Physically, he’s a very strong person."
One of his main sparring partners for this camp was Bryan Brooks, who has moved around with Margarito since his days at the LA Boxing Club a decade ago. When you ask him if the Mexican still packs a punch, Brooks answers, "Margarito doesn’t need that. I don’t know who you want to point the finger at, but he’s such a tremendous body-puncher, a hard-worker, that I don’t think he needs that. So the controversy between that, he already has power. That right there is something I can’t comprehend."
There is a certain code among boxers. While they are there to do battle, there are ethics that are followed and maintained. You’d figure that getting caught with what Margarito did, was a severe breach of that code. So did a guy like Brooks have any concerns or reticence in working once again with Margarito?
"Nah, I didn’t have any reservations at all," he said, a week-and-a-half ago. "Like I said, I’ve been working with Margarito for years; I know it’s hard work. At one point in time, I was probably one of the only guys to give Margarito work, so I’m accustomed to his hard work ethic. So no, I didn’t have a problem with that."
But putting that aside, the bottom line is he took a horrific beating from the fast hands of Mosley, who gave Margarito his first knockout loss. A chin that was thought to be unbreakable was bent and mangled. This coming off a very physical fight against Cotto. In that fight, while he came out victorious, there was a heavy price to pay.
"I had a bad night," is the way Margarito explains his decisive defeat to Mosley. "I felt very, very weak. I came in a little overweight; I suffered making weight. I definitely felt weak going into that fight. It just wasn’t my night." But here’s the thing, Margarito is not a stylist; he doesn’t finesse his way through fights. If he has lost his ability to walk through oncoming fire, well, then there isn’t much else to draw on.
Brooks states, "He has a lot left; some fighters, they get knocked out like that; they come back ’shot’ fighters. I don’t see that in Margarito. He’s still hungry, still has a hard work ethic, still is a good puncher." But that’s with 14-ounce gloves and headgear. What will be telling is how Margarito reacts inside the ring on Saturday against live bullets. Helping his cause is that this fight is taking place at junior middleweight, which seems to suit his big frame.
One thing that remains intact is his effort in preparing for combat.
"I wasn’t around before but if I see any fighter training the way Margarito does, the way Margarito runs and watching his weight the way he’s doing, I would say, ’This is his first title fight; this is his first big fight.’ He’s had many of those already, three-time world champion. He still trains; he still runs like if he was fighting for the title for the first time. It’s unbelievable the way he’s training. I don’t see anything wrong with him," said Garcia, who during his days inside the ring, captured the IBF junior lightweight crown. "Nothing but positive things in his head. He’s physically ready; last week, he weighed 155 after training and the fight is scheduled for 154. So he’s already on weight; he could easily fight at 147 for this fight."
In seeing Margarito at the gym and in Dallas, where he attended Manny Pacquiao’s bout against Joshua Clottey in March, it’s clear that he remains extremely popular among the Mexican constituency.
"There’s no question; there’s no question; that is the case. He is one of the- if not the- most popular Mexican fighter," said his promoter Bob Arum, who says a sell-out crowd of over 20,000 will be attending this event, which is taking place during the San Marcos Fair, the largest festival held in Mexico.
But among non-Mexicans, there are many more detractors who are not willing to forgive or forget any past transgressions.
On that issue, Margarito says, "First of all, I want to say thanks to all my fans. They have been there from the beginning and I’m aware that I’ve lost some fans and I’m aware that those other fans who have never liked me are talking a lot. But I can’t worry about that. What I worry about is proving myself again. It’s going up there and showing that I’m a clean fighter and fighting. That’s what I have to do. I believe by doing that, I will win those fans back and that will change the minds of the other fans."
Perhaps that’s wishful thinking, but it certainly won’t help his cause if Margarito suddenly has the punching power of Manuel Medina.
"Of course, but that’s something we can’t worry about," said his manager. "But that’s one of the pressures Tony has on his shoulders that he’s carrying and I’ve spoken to him, ’Y’ know what? You don’t have to prove anything. You’re a three-time world champion; you beat everybody; you’ve always been a clean fighter.’ But he keeps repeating, ’I need to prove myself.’ And I don’t know if he thinks about it, but I think about it. If he doesn’t perform the way he’s going to be expected to perform, what are they going to say? Even though I know the answer, I don’t want to think about it."
But this really is about proving something for Margarito, who must validate his past success with future victories. And even then, it may not be enough. But his career will now be looked at in two categories: his time with Capetillo and the road ahead with Garcia in his corner. The two eras will be intrinsically linked and compared, ‘til the very end of Margarito’s career.
"I’m starting a new chapter in my career," admits Margarito. "I’m starting from the beginning and it’s time to show everybody that I’m a clean fighter, to get the doubts out of everyone’s mind, for those that believe I fought dirty. That’s where I want to start."
Regardless, he is just relieved to be getting back to his livelihood and doing what he does best.
"I’m very anxious to get back in the ring. I’ve missed it all. People say it was only one year but, for me, the year was eternal. It was longer than one year. I missed what I couldn’t do anymore and that’s why I’m happy to start this over again. I’m happy to get back in the ring again."
PACQUIAO
I called Arum on Monday and I had to ask the obligatory question regarding a possible showdown between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao.
"Well, first of all, I can’t talk now about Pacquiao and his future because, right now, all Manny cares about is his political career. And the outcome on that is up in the air. We’re very optimistic; I’m going over there (to the Philippines) myself, tomorrow. But again, I want to be very plain, that as far as Manny’s boxing career, it’s on hold."
Arum says any talk of a Pacquiao-Mayweather fight is premature. "It’s very premature," he stated. "I wouldn’t- nor could I- do anything regarding Manny without talking to Manny first. And certainly, you cannot talk to Manny, at this particular point, about anything other than his run for office." Arum added later, "I don’t even want to discuss Mayweather or anything to do with that fight because, again, it is so premature. I mean, right now- and I don’t want to jump to conclusions- I don’t even know if Manny’s going to fight anymore."
(Folks, he’s fighting again; trust me.)
PPV
My good friend, Kevin Iole of Yahoo! Sports, has stated that this past weekend’s pay-per-view event, featuring Mayweather and Mosley, did approximately 1.1 to 1.2 million buys. But I’ve been told that the numbers that will be released will be closer to 1.4 or 1.5 million. It can take months, even years, for all the pay-per-view tabulations to be added up.
Most of the time, it takes at least four or five days for networks and promoters to release numbers. Regardless, any promotion that does over a million buys has to be regarded as a success. But I don’t think that the outlandish projections of Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer help that perception since he was quoted as saying that he felt this fight could do, not three, but four million buys.
Well, I guess Schaefer learned one thing from working with Arum all those years- the art of exaggeration and hyperbole.
But I’ll say this, if Pacquiao-Mayweather is ever consummated, it will do 10 million buys.
LATIN FLURRIES
It looks like a rematch between Vic Darchinyan and Nonito Donaire has gone by the wayside. Now, it looks like Darchinyan has instructed his promoter Gary Shaw to find him a new opponent for August 21st on Showtime...While talks between the camps of Wlad Klitschko and David Haye have begun, SkyTV in England is pushing for Haye to face Audley Harrison. Uh, yeah…what happened, is Frank Bruno unavailable?...Please tell me we are not going to see a rematch between Joe Calzaghe and Bernard Hopkins...Heavyweights Odlanier Solis and Nicolay Valuev could be facing each other during the summer in a WBC eliminator...Just wondering, but it can’t be a good thing for the Amir Khan-Paulie Malignaggi promotion that the guy who just tried to blow up a street corner in the Big Apple is of Pakistani descent, right?...R.I.P. Ernie Harwell, truly one of the great ones in the broadcasting business...Arum assured me that Pacquiao’s next fight will NOT be on September 11th, the day the Miami Hurricanes storm into Columbus to take on the Ohio State Buckeyes. Atta boy, Bob...Any questions or comments can be sent to k9kim@yahoo.com and you can follow me at www.twitter.com/stevemaxboxing. You can also now become a Facebook fan of Maxboxing at www.facebook.com/MaxBoxing.
Source: secondsout.com
In the lead-up to that fight, illegal hand-wrappings were caught on Margarito, which eventually led to an indefinite suspension by the California State Athletic Commission for him and his trainer, Javier Capetillo.
Worse than getting knocked out, Margarito’s reputation was forever damaged. A man who was once thought as one of the most honest, hard-working fighters in the sport, was now thought of as a cheat. All his past accomplishments are now tainted. Everything he had done, to that point, will now be questioned. Was it his iron will that allowed him to capture three world titles and beat the likes of Miguel Cotto and Kermit Cintron- or loaded wraps?
It’s a fair question. In light of what was uncovered, just how legitimate is this career?
When asked if he doubts his own accomplishments, Margarito, through his manager, Sergio Diaz, answered without hesitation, "No, not at all. What happened was a big surprise for me. I’ve always been a clean fighter; I’m aware that Cintron and Cotto, they’ve been talking about me fighting dirty. But I’ve never fought dirty; I’ve always been a clean fighter and that’s something I’m going to prove, starting in this fight. I have a lot to prove. I feel I need to prove it to people and I’m going to show it beginning this fight."
Margarito makes it clear that he had no knowledge of any illegal activities that took place.
"As far as a fighter knowing what’s going on, I put my hands out there and I believe that the trainer’s going to do his job," he explained. "I give my full trust to my trainer. I put my hands out; I believe that the trainer is going to do what needs to be done by the commission law. And as far as what he does after that, I don’t know."
That answer will be met by a host of detractors, who believe that A) Margarito had to have known or B) he should’ve, regardless. But Robert Garcia, Capetillo’s replacement, says, "I’ve been wrapping fighters for years already, wrapped for [Nonito] Donaire, for Brian Viloria, Brandon Rios, everybody, and not one single fighter has ever asked me, ’What’s in the wraps? Let me see.’ Because they trust me. What I’m doing, nobody has ever hurt their hands. I guess I do a good job. Margarito’s liking it so far. Not one single time has he asked me, ’Can I see the padding? Can I see what’s in there?’ All the controversy is on Margarito, but me, as a former fighter and now as a trainer, wrapping hands, I never asked my coach, ’Let me feel the wraps. What are you putting on my hands?’ Hey, I’m there listening to music. It’s just the way it is."
But on the night of May 8th, expect Margarito to have the most heavily scrutinized hand-wraps in the history of boxing.
"Y’ know what? That doesn’t even come to my mind because I know I’m going in wrapping him. You’ll see the wrapping I do; everywhere I go, they always tell me that’s one of the best- if not the best wraps- they’ve ever seen," said Garcia, last week from his Oxnard Boxing Academy. "And Margarito, so far, likes it. I’ve already wrapped him the way I’m going to wrap him in the fight and he loves it. Every other day is different; I don’t use the same things that I do when it comes to the fight. But come fight night, people are going to be surprised. There’s no need to put anything illegal; I do a good job."
But the question marks do not surround Garcia, who has a pristine reputation; this is about Margarito, who, if he suddenly turns into a soft, Punch-and-Judy hitter, will have even more doubts cast about his résumé.
Does he still have heavy hands?
"Very heavy hands," said Garcia, who works the pads with him on a daily basis. "He has the power to hurt anybody. Physically, he’s a very strong person."
One of his main sparring partners for this camp was Bryan Brooks, who has moved around with Margarito since his days at the LA Boxing Club a decade ago. When you ask him if the Mexican still packs a punch, Brooks answers, "Margarito doesn’t need that. I don’t know who you want to point the finger at, but he’s such a tremendous body-puncher, a hard-worker, that I don’t think he needs that. So the controversy between that, he already has power. That right there is something I can’t comprehend."
There is a certain code among boxers. While they are there to do battle, there are ethics that are followed and maintained. You’d figure that getting caught with what Margarito did, was a severe breach of that code. So did a guy like Brooks have any concerns or reticence in working once again with Margarito?
"Nah, I didn’t have any reservations at all," he said, a week-and-a-half ago. "Like I said, I’ve been working with Margarito for years; I know it’s hard work. At one point in time, I was probably one of the only guys to give Margarito work, so I’m accustomed to his hard work ethic. So no, I didn’t have a problem with that."
But putting that aside, the bottom line is he took a horrific beating from the fast hands of Mosley, who gave Margarito his first knockout loss. A chin that was thought to be unbreakable was bent and mangled. This coming off a very physical fight against Cotto. In that fight, while he came out victorious, there was a heavy price to pay.
"I had a bad night," is the way Margarito explains his decisive defeat to Mosley. "I felt very, very weak. I came in a little overweight; I suffered making weight. I definitely felt weak going into that fight. It just wasn’t my night." But here’s the thing, Margarito is not a stylist; he doesn’t finesse his way through fights. If he has lost his ability to walk through oncoming fire, well, then there isn’t much else to draw on.
Brooks states, "He has a lot left; some fighters, they get knocked out like that; they come back ’shot’ fighters. I don’t see that in Margarito. He’s still hungry, still has a hard work ethic, still is a good puncher." But that’s with 14-ounce gloves and headgear. What will be telling is how Margarito reacts inside the ring on Saturday against live bullets. Helping his cause is that this fight is taking place at junior middleweight, which seems to suit his big frame.
One thing that remains intact is his effort in preparing for combat.
"I wasn’t around before but if I see any fighter training the way Margarito does, the way Margarito runs and watching his weight the way he’s doing, I would say, ’This is his first title fight; this is his first big fight.’ He’s had many of those already, three-time world champion. He still trains; he still runs like if he was fighting for the title for the first time. It’s unbelievable the way he’s training. I don’t see anything wrong with him," said Garcia, who during his days inside the ring, captured the IBF junior lightweight crown. "Nothing but positive things in his head. He’s physically ready; last week, he weighed 155 after training and the fight is scheduled for 154. So he’s already on weight; he could easily fight at 147 for this fight."
In seeing Margarito at the gym and in Dallas, where he attended Manny Pacquiao’s bout against Joshua Clottey in March, it’s clear that he remains extremely popular among the Mexican constituency.
"There’s no question; there’s no question; that is the case. He is one of the- if not the- most popular Mexican fighter," said his promoter Bob Arum, who says a sell-out crowd of over 20,000 will be attending this event, which is taking place during the San Marcos Fair, the largest festival held in Mexico.
But among non-Mexicans, there are many more detractors who are not willing to forgive or forget any past transgressions.
On that issue, Margarito says, "First of all, I want to say thanks to all my fans. They have been there from the beginning and I’m aware that I’ve lost some fans and I’m aware that those other fans who have never liked me are talking a lot. But I can’t worry about that. What I worry about is proving myself again. It’s going up there and showing that I’m a clean fighter and fighting. That’s what I have to do. I believe by doing that, I will win those fans back and that will change the minds of the other fans."
Perhaps that’s wishful thinking, but it certainly won’t help his cause if Margarito suddenly has the punching power of Manuel Medina.
"Of course, but that’s something we can’t worry about," said his manager. "But that’s one of the pressures Tony has on his shoulders that he’s carrying and I’ve spoken to him, ’Y’ know what? You don’t have to prove anything. You’re a three-time world champion; you beat everybody; you’ve always been a clean fighter.’ But he keeps repeating, ’I need to prove myself.’ And I don’t know if he thinks about it, but I think about it. If he doesn’t perform the way he’s going to be expected to perform, what are they going to say? Even though I know the answer, I don’t want to think about it."
But this really is about proving something for Margarito, who must validate his past success with future victories. And even then, it may not be enough. But his career will now be looked at in two categories: his time with Capetillo and the road ahead with Garcia in his corner. The two eras will be intrinsically linked and compared, ‘til the very end of Margarito’s career.
"I’m starting a new chapter in my career," admits Margarito. "I’m starting from the beginning and it’s time to show everybody that I’m a clean fighter, to get the doubts out of everyone’s mind, for those that believe I fought dirty. That’s where I want to start."
Regardless, he is just relieved to be getting back to his livelihood and doing what he does best.
"I’m very anxious to get back in the ring. I’ve missed it all. People say it was only one year but, for me, the year was eternal. It was longer than one year. I missed what I couldn’t do anymore and that’s why I’m happy to start this over again. I’m happy to get back in the ring again."
PACQUIAO
I called Arum on Monday and I had to ask the obligatory question regarding a possible showdown between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao.
"Well, first of all, I can’t talk now about Pacquiao and his future because, right now, all Manny cares about is his political career. And the outcome on that is up in the air. We’re very optimistic; I’m going over there (to the Philippines) myself, tomorrow. But again, I want to be very plain, that as far as Manny’s boxing career, it’s on hold."
Arum says any talk of a Pacquiao-Mayweather fight is premature. "It’s very premature," he stated. "I wouldn’t- nor could I- do anything regarding Manny without talking to Manny first. And certainly, you cannot talk to Manny, at this particular point, about anything other than his run for office." Arum added later, "I don’t even want to discuss Mayweather or anything to do with that fight because, again, it is so premature. I mean, right now- and I don’t want to jump to conclusions- I don’t even know if Manny’s going to fight anymore."
(Folks, he’s fighting again; trust me.)
PPV
My good friend, Kevin Iole of Yahoo! Sports, has stated that this past weekend’s pay-per-view event, featuring Mayweather and Mosley, did approximately 1.1 to 1.2 million buys. But I’ve been told that the numbers that will be released will be closer to 1.4 or 1.5 million. It can take months, even years, for all the pay-per-view tabulations to be added up.
Most of the time, it takes at least four or five days for networks and promoters to release numbers. Regardless, any promotion that does over a million buys has to be regarded as a success. But I don’t think that the outlandish projections of Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer help that perception since he was quoted as saying that he felt this fight could do, not three, but four million buys.
Well, I guess Schaefer learned one thing from working with Arum all those years- the art of exaggeration and hyperbole.
But I’ll say this, if Pacquiao-Mayweather is ever consummated, it will do 10 million buys.
LATIN FLURRIES
It looks like a rematch between Vic Darchinyan and Nonito Donaire has gone by the wayside. Now, it looks like Darchinyan has instructed his promoter Gary Shaw to find him a new opponent for August 21st on Showtime...While talks between the camps of Wlad Klitschko and David Haye have begun, SkyTV in England is pushing for Haye to face Audley Harrison. Uh, yeah…what happened, is Frank Bruno unavailable?...Please tell me we are not going to see a rematch between Joe Calzaghe and Bernard Hopkins...Heavyweights Odlanier Solis and Nicolay Valuev could be facing each other during the summer in a WBC eliminator...Just wondering, but it can’t be a good thing for the Amir Khan-Paulie Malignaggi promotion that the guy who just tried to blow up a street corner in the Big Apple is of Pakistani descent, right?...R.I.P. Ernie Harwell, truly one of the great ones in the broadcasting business...Arum assured me that Pacquiao’s next fight will NOT be on September 11th, the day the Miami Hurricanes storm into Columbus to take on the Ohio State Buckeyes. Atta boy, Bob...Any questions or comments can be sent to k9kim@yahoo.com and you can follow me at www.twitter.com/stevemaxboxing. You can also now become a Facebook fan of Maxboxing at www.facebook.com/MaxBoxing.
Source: secondsout.com
Selasa, 04 Mei 2010
Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao: What Will Be, or Might Have Been? -- FanHouse
By Lem Satterfield, FanHouse
In the wake of Saturday's dominance by unbeaten, six-time titlist, Floyd Mayweather over WBA welterweight (147 pounds) king, Shane Mosley, whose crown was not on the line, Mayweather will likely supplant seven-division champion, Manny Pacquiao
, on most experts' list as the sports' No. 1 fighter, pound-for-pound.
There are some, however, who will point out November's 12th-round knockout by the 31-year-old Pacquiao (51-3-2, 38 knockouts) that dethroned 29-year-old Miguel Cotto (34-2, 27 KOs) as WBO welterweight champ -- this, over a man who unanimously decisioned Mosley in November of 2007 in defense of the WBA crown he held at the time.
Pacquiao is also coming off of a March 13, unanimous, 12-round decision over hard-punching, defensive specialist, Joshua Clottey (35-4, 20 KOs), during which he -- like Mayweather against Mosley -- won virtually every round on the judges' cards.
The 33-year-old Mayweather (41-0, 25 KOs), for his part, was equally, if not more, sensational during September's rout of WBO and WBA lightweight (135 pounds) champion, Juan Manuel Marquez (50-5-1, 37 KOs), who has drawn, and, lost a split-decision to Pacquiao in May of 2004, and, March of 2008 -- two verdicts in which Marquez still insists that he was victorious.
"I watched the fight this past weekend, and I thought that Floyd did a very good job. It's clear, however, that Mosley is not the old Mosley, particularly when he had Floyd in trouble in the second round and he had nothing to follow up with," said Bob Arum, CEO of Top Rank, which promotes Pacquiao. "I think that Mosley should really seriously consider retiring. But that doesn't negate the fact that Floyd had an excellent performance."
Where Mayweather never has suffered defeat, Pacquiao is 12-0, with eight knockouts since losing a unanimous decision to former world champion, Erik Morales, at 130 pounds in March of 2005.
So who is truly boxing's best fighter, pound-for-pound?
Obviously, it should be decided in the ring, which at this point, could be easier said than done.
At one point, in mid-December, it appeared that Mayweather-Pacquiao was a done deal and headed for the MGM Grand, with a source close to the negotiations telling FanHouse that contracts for a March 13 bout could "definitely be finalized this week."
The fighters had agreed on a 50-50 split of the purse, eight ounce gloves, and the welterweight limit rather than a catch weight.
"We agreed to everything in principle, but there are still some finer points that need to be negotiated," Pacquiao told FanHouse on Dec. 5, during his first interview with American media from the Philippines following his win over Cotto. "[Promoter] Bob [Arum] is going to take all of this back to Floyd Mayweather and then, hopefully, it will be all worked out. We believe that the deal will get done."
The negotiations had even survived an incident on the 78th birthday of Arum, who received a call from Golden Boy Promotions' CEO, Richard Schaefer, scuttling the next morning's trip to tour The Dallas Cowboys' Stadium with owner Jerry Jones and HBO's Ross Greenburg
"As far as I'm concerned, the deal is already done. The only issue is the venue. We've countered the offer and the majority of the things just have to be accepted by Bob Arum," said Pacquiao's adviser, Michael Koncz, at the time.
"We're not in a panic mode," said Koncz. "We're used to this for every fight. It's routine. We come to an agreement down the road, then the contract is sent to us for review."
Pacquiao had even agreed to Olympic-style, random drug tests -- which include the drawing of both blood and urine -- at the request of Mayweather's camp, which had insinuated that the Filipino star may have used steroids since he's maintained his punching power from 106 to nearly 147 pounds.
Pacquiao's trainer, Freddie Roach, he had "no problem" with the drug testing, and Koncz, speaking for Pacquiao, said that the fighter would welcome such a procedure.
"Our reaction is, 'So what?' We know Manny doesn't take any illegal drugs or anything. And none of this is getting under Manny's skin or anything," Koncz said at the time. "I'm here with Manny, and to him, it's like a joke. It's a laughing matter. It's something foolish anyway. Why would we be concerned? We know he doesn't do any of that s**t."
By late December, however, the deal was off after Pacquiao had apparently changed his mind about the random testing. Later, Pacquiao cited his belief that he would be weakened from having his blood drawn closer than within 24 days of the fight.
Pacquiao also filed a lawsuit seeking compensatory and punitive damages for defamation of character against alleged steroid accusations, naming Richard Schaefer and Oscar de la Hoya of Golden Boy Promotions, as well as Floyd Mayweather. Jr., Floyd Mayweather Sr., and, the fighter's uncle and trainer, Roger Mayweather.
So what will it take to revisit Mayweather-Pacquiao?
"As far as I'm concerned, Mayweather is the one to dictate. Floyd Mayweather is the king of the world now. So, we all know that from watching 24/7 that the USADA drug testing and what it did for the sport. The respect that it brought to boxing," said De La Hoya, president of the promotional company that works with Mayweather Promotions.
"We know that all fighters can be clean and are clean because of what they showed on 24/7," said de La Hoya. "As long as we can keep on doing that, if fighters can agree to all of that, then we have fights, and we can make fights. But if they're not going to agree to it, then how can we make fights?"
Mayweather would likely demand a heftier side of the purse -- in other words, no more 50-50 split -- and insist that Pacquiao be randomly tested, as did Mosley, by the United States Anti-Doping Agency.
"If you're a clean athlete, take your test," said Mayweather days before facing Mosley. "Show the world, you know what? I'm a natural athlete. Take the test. Let them come get you at any time and take the test."
Mayweather claims not to need Pacquiao, having earned a non-heavyweight record guaranteed purse of $22.5 million against Mosley's $7 million.
Mayweather could move into the middleweight (160 pounds) division and face Argentinian southpaw, Sergio Martinez (45-2-2, 24 knockouts), a WBC junior middleweight (154 pounds) king who dethroned Kelly Pavlik (36-2, 32 KOs) as WBO and WBC midddleweight titlist last month.
Pacquiao is running for congress in the Philippines right now, leading in the polls, and awaiting Arum's arrival and support, the promoter said. Arum, who departed for the Philippines on Tuesday, would not comment on a potential Mayweather-Pacquiao fight.
"I'm not going to talk about it until I see the results of the election, and that's where we're really all coming from right now," Arum said of an election whose results will be announced on May 10.
"I'm going over to the Philippines to do what I can to provide moral support for Manny Pacquiao," said Arum. "And, very frankly, nobody is going to discuss anything about any fights with anybody until after the outcome of this election."
Arum has outlined options for Pacquiao should Mayweather not materialize.
There is a fight against former champion Antonio Margarito (37-6, 27 KOs), a January, 2009, knockout victim against Mosley, who takes on 29-year-old Roberto Garcia (28-2, 21 KOs) on Saturday night.
Garcia will be Margarito's first bout following a one-year suspension by the California State Athletic Commission over the discovery of a plaster-like substance in his gloves before facing Mosley.
Pacquiao-Margarito could take place at The Dallas Cowboys Stadium "if Margarito wants to come down to welterweight."
The winner of a June 5 bout between WBA junior middleweight (154 pounds) champ, Yuri Foreman (28-0, eight KOs) and Cotto could be could be another possibility, particularly if Cotto wins and a rematch comes to fruition, affording Pacquiao a shot at a record eighth crown in as many weight classes.
"As far as that fight [Mayweather-Pacquiao,] people can keep discussing who is better. It's good for the sport," said Arum. "It's great that they're discussing it. It's clear that this [Mayweather-Pacquiao] is the fight that the fans want to see."
The question is, will they see it?
Source: boxing.fanhouse.com
In the wake of Saturday's dominance by unbeaten, six-time titlist, Floyd Mayweather over WBA welterweight (147 pounds) king, Shane Mosley, whose crown was not on the line, Mayweather will likely supplant seven-division champion, Manny Pacquiao, on most experts' list as the sports' No. 1 fighter, pound-for-pound.There are some, however, who will point out November's 12th-round knockout by the 31-year-old Pacquiao (51-3-2, 38 knockouts) that dethroned 29-year-old Miguel Cotto (34-2, 27 KOs) as WBO welterweight champ -- this, over a man who unanimously decisioned Mosley in November of 2007 in defense of the WBA crown he held at the time.
Pacquiao is also coming off of a March 13, unanimous, 12-round decision over hard-punching, defensive specialist, Joshua Clottey (35-4, 20 KOs), during which he -- like Mayweather against Mosley -- won virtually every round on the judges' cards.
The 33-year-old Mayweather (41-0, 25 KOs), for his part, was equally, if not more, sensational during September's rout of WBO and WBA lightweight (135 pounds) champion, Juan Manuel Marquez (50-5-1, 37 KOs), who has drawn, and, lost a split-decision to Pacquiao in May of 2004, and, March of 2008 -- two verdicts in which Marquez still insists that he was victorious.
"I watched the fight this past weekend, and I thought that Floyd did a very good job. It's clear, however, that Mosley is not the old Mosley, particularly when he had Floyd in trouble in the second round and he had nothing to follow up with," said Bob Arum, CEO of Top Rank, which promotes Pacquiao. "I think that Mosley should really seriously consider retiring. But that doesn't negate the fact that Floyd had an excellent performance."
Where Mayweather never has suffered defeat, Pacquiao is 12-0, with eight knockouts since losing a unanimous decision to former world champion, Erik Morales, at 130 pounds in March of 2005.
So who is truly boxing's best fighter, pound-for-pound?
Obviously, it should be decided in the ring, which at this point, could be easier said than done.
At one point, in mid-December, it appeared that Mayweather-Pacquiao was a done deal and headed for the MGM Grand, with a source close to the negotiations telling FanHouse that contracts for a March 13 bout could "definitely be finalized this week."
The fighters had agreed on a 50-50 split of the purse, eight ounce gloves, and the welterweight limit rather than a catch weight.
"We agreed to everything in principle, but there are still some finer points that need to be negotiated," Pacquiao told FanHouse on Dec. 5, during his first interview with American media from the Philippines following his win over Cotto. "[Promoter] Bob [Arum] is going to take all of this back to Floyd Mayweather and then, hopefully, it will be all worked out. We believe that the deal will get done."
The negotiations had even survived an incident on the 78th birthday of Arum, who received a call from Golden Boy Promotions' CEO, Richard Schaefer, scuttling the next morning's trip to tour The Dallas Cowboys' Stadium with owner Jerry Jones and HBO's Ross Greenburg
"As far as I'm concerned, the deal is already done. The only issue is the venue. We've countered the offer and the majority of the things just have to be accepted by Bob Arum," said Pacquiao's adviser, Michael Koncz, at the time.
"We're not in a panic mode," said Koncz. "We're used to this for every fight. It's routine. We come to an agreement down the road, then the contract is sent to us for review."
Pacquiao had even agreed to Olympic-style, random drug tests -- which include the drawing of both blood and urine -- at the request of Mayweather's camp, which had insinuated that the Filipino star may have used steroids since he's maintained his punching power from 106 to nearly 147 pounds.
Pacquiao's trainer, Freddie Roach, he had "no problem" with the drug testing, and Koncz, speaking for Pacquiao, said that the fighter would welcome such a procedure.
"Our reaction is, 'So what?' We know Manny doesn't take any illegal drugs or anything. And none of this is getting under Manny's skin or anything," Koncz said at the time. "I'm here with Manny, and to him, it's like a joke. It's a laughing matter. It's something foolish anyway. Why would we be concerned? We know he doesn't do any of that s**t."
By late December, however, the deal was off after Pacquiao had apparently changed his mind about the random testing. Later, Pacquiao cited his belief that he would be weakened from having his blood drawn closer than within 24 days of the fight.
Pacquiao also filed a lawsuit seeking compensatory and punitive damages for defamation of character against alleged steroid accusations, naming Richard Schaefer and Oscar de la Hoya of Golden Boy Promotions, as well as Floyd Mayweather. Jr., Floyd Mayweather Sr., and, the fighter's uncle and trainer, Roger Mayweather.
So what will it take to revisit Mayweather-Pacquiao?
"As far as I'm concerned, Mayweather is the one to dictate. Floyd Mayweather is the king of the world now. So, we all know that from watching 24/7 that the USADA drug testing and what it did for the sport. The respect that it brought to boxing," said De La Hoya, president of the promotional company that works with Mayweather Promotions.
"We know that all fighters can be clean and are clean because of what they showed on 24/7," said de La Hoya. "As long as we can keep on doing that, if fighters can agree to all of that, then we have fights, and we can make fights. But if they're not going to agree to it, then how can we make fights?"
Mayweather would likely demand a heftier side of the purse -- in other words, no more 50-50 split -- and insist that Pacquiao be randomly tested, as did Mosley, by the United States Anti-Doping Agency.
"If you're a clean athlete, take your test," said Mayweather days before facing Mosley. "Show the world, you know what? I'm a natural athlete. Take the test. Let them come get you at any time and take the test."
Mayweather claims not to need Pacquiao, having earned a non-heavyweight record guaranteed purse of $22.5 million against Mosley's $7 million.
Mayweather could move into the middleweight (160 pounds) division and face Argentinian southpaw, Sergio Martinez (45-2-2, 24 knockouts), a WBC junior middleweight (154 pounds) king who dethroned Kelly Pavlik (36-2, 32 KOs) as WBO and WBC midddleweight titlist last month.
Pacquiao is running for congress in the Philippines right now, leading in the polls, and awaiting Arum's arrival and support, the promoter said. Arum, who departed for the Philippines on Tuesday, would not comment on a potential Mayweather-Pacquiao fight.
"I'm not going to talk about it until I see the results of the election, and that's where we're really all coming from right now," Arum said of an election whose results will be announced on May 10.
"I'm going over to the Philippines to do what I can to provide moral support for Manny Pacquiao," said Arum. "And, very frankly, nobody is going to discuss anything about any fights with anybody until after the outcome of this election."
Arum has outlined options for Pacquiao should Mayweather not materialize.
There is a fight against former champion Antonio Margarito (37-6, 27 KOs), a January, 2009, knockout victim against Mosley, who takes on 29-year-old Roberto Garcia (28-2, 21 KOs) on Saturday night.
Garcia will be Margarito's first bout following a one-year suspension by the California State Athletic Commission over the discovery of a plaster-like substance in his gloves before facing Mosley.
Pacquiao-Margarito could take place at The Dallas Cowboys Stadium "if Margarito wants to come down to welterweight."
The winner of a June 5 bout between WBA junior middleweight (154 pounds) champ, Yuri Foreman (28-0, eight KOs) and Cotto could be could be another possibility, particularly if Cotto wins and a rematch comes to fruition, affording Pacquiao a shot at a record eighth crown in as many weight classes.
"As far as that fight [Mayweather-Pacquiao,] people can keep discussing who is better. It's good for the sport," said Arum. "It's great that they're discussing it. It's clear that this [Mayweather-Pacquiao] is the fight that the fans want to see."
The question is, will they see it?
Source: boxing.fanhouse.com
Floyd Mayweather may snub Pacquiao to fight Martinez -- BBC Sport
BBC SportFloyd Mayweather has said he could be tempted to step up to light-middleweight to fight Sergio Martinez instead of taking on Manny Pacquiao.
A proposed fight between Mayweather and Pacquiao scheduled for 13 March fell through, since when both fighters have added further wins to their records.
And after beating Shane Mosley on Saturday, Mayweather said fighting Martinez could now be an option.
"I thought about it. Right now, I don't know what I'm going to do," he said.
Martinez's manager, Lou DiBella, told the BBC he doubted that a super-fight between American Mayweather and Filipino Pacquiao would occur, with the boxers unable to agree on the drug-testing programme or financial split.
DiBella argued that it made more sense for Mayweather to fight Martinez, who recently defeated Kelly Pavlik for the WBC and WBO middleweight titles but is a career light-middleweight.
However, Mayweather, who is now unbeaten in 41 fights, said that a fight with Pacquiao could still occur if an agreement could be met on random drug-testing.After the fight with Mosley, Mayweather said: "If Manny takes the [blood] test, we can make the fight happen."
Pacquiao is preoccupied with a different fight altogether - he is campaigning to be elected to the senate in his homeland of the Philippines.
The election is on 10 May and the 31-year-old is unlikely to make any announcement about his fighting future before that contest is over.
Pacquiao's promoter, Bob Arum, said: "I'm not going to lose any sleep over it. What I'm concerned about right now is Manny winning the election. If the fight doesn't happen, it doesn't happen. We're not going to be dictated to."
One option for Pacquiao would be a fight with WBC welterweight champion Andre Berto, who pulled out of a fight with Mosley in January after the earthquake which devastated his parents' homeland of Haiti.
Berto, a big puncher, stopped Carlos Quintana last month to retain his title, and he relishes a fight with Pacquiao.
Berto said recently: "He lacks defence. He's easy to hit, but he sets a pace that's a little too much for his opponents and he's incredibly strong, also, so he always tends to outwork and outpunch his opponents."
The Mayweather-Pacquiao fight is the one the fans want to see and could be the most lucrative fight in history, with each fighter potentially picking up purses of $25m.
But DiBella said: "If both fighters are demanding 50% of each other then it makes more sense for both of them to take a fight with someone where you can get 80 or 85%.
"Mayweather-Pacquiao is clearly the most enormous fight out there but it wouldn't surprise me if they don't go in another direction."
DiBella said he anticipated Arum would seek to put Pacquiao in with another Arum-promoted fighter, either Antonio Margarito or Yuri Foreman, assuming they win their upcoming fights.
Source: news.bbc.co.uk
Michael Fareñas to fight in Margarito-Garcia undercard -- PhilBoxing
By Rene Bonsubre, Jr., PhilBoxing.com
Michael Fareñas, the reigning World Profesional Boxing Federation (WPBF) featherweight champion, will face Marlon Aguilar in Aguascalientes, Mexico in the undercard of the Antonio Margarito – Roberto Garcia fight this Sunday May 9 (Manila Time).
The 25 year old Fareñas (27W-2L-3D, 24 KO’s) is a protégé of former two division world champ Gerry Peñalosa. He won the vacant WPBF title last October 2009 with a 9th round KO of South Korea’s Jae-Bong Jang at the Cuneta Astrodome in Pasay City.
Penalosa informed of his ward’s upcoming fight and is hoping Fareñas will score an impressive victory this time around. Last March, Fareñas fought in the undercard of the Manny Pacquiao-Joshua Clottey mega-fight in Arlington, Texas and wound up with a second round no decision against Joe Morales.
The 22 year old Aguilar, who sports the ring monicker La Rata, was born in Managua, Nicaragua but currently resides in Mexico. He has previously held the IBA superfeatherweight and WBC Fecarbox featherweight titles.
Aguilar (27W-9L-1D, 17 KO’s) has lost to world class fighters like Oscar Larios, Daniel Ponce de Leon and Jhonny Gonzales.This is the same Gonzales who Peñalosa beat for his second world title. Gonzales lost by seventh round KO in a WBO bantamweight title bout last August 2007 during the Philippines vs Mexico Boxing World Cup.
The southpaw Fareñas has scored knockouts in his last six wins. Last January, he knocked out Thai Sathian Sokham in the first round in a fight held in Mandaluyong City. His fight against Aguilar is scheduled for eight rounds and will be held at the La Feria de San Marcos in Aguascalientes. This fight card is headlined by Jorge Solis vs Mario Santiago but it will be Margarito’s performance that will interest Filipino fight fans as he is tagged as a future Pacquiao opponent.
Source: philboxing.com
Michael Fareñas, the reigning World Profesional Boxing Federation (WPBF) featherweight champion, will face Marlon Aguilar in Aguascalientes, Mexico in the undercard of the Antonio Margarito – Roberto Garcia fight this Sunday May 9 (Manila Time).
The 25 year old Fareñas (27W-2L-3D, 24 KO’s) is a protégé of former two division world champ Gerry Peñalosa. He won the vacant WPBF title last October 2009 with a 9th round KO of South Korea’s Jae-Bong Jang at the Cuneta Astrodome in Pasay City. Penalosa informed of his ward’s upcoming fight and is hoping Fareñas will score an impressive victory this time around. Last March, Fareñas fought in the undercard of the Manny Pacquiao-Joshua Clottey mega-fight in Arlington, Texas and wound up with a second round no decision against Joe Morales.
The 22 year old Aguilar, who sports the ring monicker La Rata, was born in Managua, Nicaragua but currently resides in Mexico. He has previously held the IBA superfeatherweight and WBC Fecarbox featherweight titles.
Aguilar (27W-9L-1D, 17 KO’s) has lost to world class fighters like Oscar Larios, Daniel Ponce de Leon and Jhonny Gonzales.This is the same Gonzales who Peñalosa beat for his second world title. Gonzales lost by seventh round KO in a WBO bantamweight title bout last August 2007 during the Philippines vs Mexico Boxing World Cup.
The southpaw Fareñas has scored knockouts in his last six wins. Last January, he knocked out Thai Sathian Sokham in the first round in a fight held in Mandaluyong City. His fight against Aguilar is scheduled for eight rounds and will be held at the La Feria de San Marcos in Aguascalientes. This fight card is headlined by Jorge Solis vs Mario Santiago but it will be Margarito’s performance that will interest Filipino fight fans as he is tagged as a future Pacquiao opponent.
Source: philboxing.com
Rabu, 28 April 2010
Nevada Commissioner: Antonio Margarito's Fists Were Not Loaded Against Miguel Cotto -- FanHouse
By Lem Satterfield, FanHouse
LAS VEGAS --Antonio Margarito did not have loaded gloves during his 11th-round knockout of Miguel Cotto for the WBA welterweight (147 pounds) title in July of 2008 at the MGM Grand here, Nevada State Athletic Commission director, Keith Kizer, told FanHouse on Wednesday.
"I know that he wasn't rigged during the Cotto fight because we had our inspectors check him out and everything, as did Cotto's people. He was fully checked out," Kizer said of Margarito, who was subsequently found in his very next fight to have an illegal substance in his gloves and suspended from the sport for a year.
"One of our referees, Jay Nady, was back there, we had our inspectors back there. Cotto's guy was back there. They all checked him out and everything was fine," said Kizer.
"They felt the hand wraps and everything, and we have an inspector who I've seen check the hand wraps before, and he checks them out thoroughly," said Kizer. "He watched the hand wraps that night. If you don't have experienced inspectors, you can probably slip something through."
Kizer spoke while attending a press conference promoting Saturday night's clash between 33-year-old Floyd Mayweather (40-0, 25 knockouts), and, 38-year-old Shane Mosley (46-5, 39 KOs), the latter of whom is coming off of a January, 2009, ninth-round knockout of Margarito that dethroned Margarito as WBA titlist.
Within an hour of facing Mosley, however, the 32-year-old Margarito (37-6, 27 KOs) was discovered by Mosley's trainer, Brother Naazim Richardson, to have had a plaster-like substance in his gloves, which were wrapped by trainer, Javier Capetillo.
The substance was subsequently removed and confiscated prior to the fight, but Margarito was then suspended for a year by the California State Athletic Commission, whose move has been honored by the other boxing commissions, nationwide.
"There's nothing that you can do worse than take a guy's license away. Once you do that, he's persona-non-grata," Kizer said of Margarito, whose suspension ended on February 11.
"Margarito could come to Nevada today, apply for a license, and I could give him a license administratively, but I'm not going to do that," said Kizer. "He would have to be placed on our agenda, and that would be up to our chairman. She could put him on it right away, or she could make him wait a while."
Kizer said that he would consider allowing Margarito to fight in Nevada, but only after enduring a hearing before the commission chairman and a panel that would throroughly review his case.
"Nevada could do one of three things. They could either say, 'Go back to California first, and until they say you've done your time, we're not going to even bother with you,'" said Kizer.
"The second thing is to have a hearing and to say, 'Well, reguardless of what other states think, we don't think that you're ready to get back into the ring yet,'" said Kizer. "Or, third, 'We do think that you're ready to get back into the ring, and we're going to give you a license.' And I don't think that California or anyone would see that as any sort of sign of disrespect or not honoring their decision."
Margarito, however, will return to the ring on May 8, in Aguascalientes, Mex., when he competes in a 10-round, junior middleweight (154 pounds) clash against 30-year-old, Texas toughman, Roberto "La Amenza" Garcia (28-2, 21 KOs) as the headline to Top Rank Promotion's Latin Fury 14.
Margarito, said Kizer, should return to California to re-apply for a license before attempting to fight anywhere in the United States, although, Texas has indicated to Margarito's promoter, Bob Arum, that it might be willing to allow the former champion to fight there.
Arum has said that he would eventually like to match Margarito against seven-time champion, Manny Pacquiao, who is coming off of last month's 12-round unanimous decision in defense of his WBO welterweight title at The Dallas Cowboys' Stadium.
"I would not feel comfortable, at this point, simply granting Margarito a license to fight here in Nevada," said Kizer. "I would have some questions that he would need to answer from me. And if he doesn't answer them truthfully, then I would reccommend not granting a license to him."
Source: boxing.fanhouse.com
LAS VEGAS --Antonio Margarito did not have loaded gloves during his 11th-round knockout of Miguel Cotto for the WBA welterweight (147 pounds) title in July of 2008 at the MGM Grand here, Nevada State Athletic Commission director, Keith Kizer, told FanHouse on Wednesday.
"I know that he wasn't rigged during the Cotto fight because we had our inspectors check him out and everything, as did Cotto's people. He was fully checked out," Kizer said of Margarito, who was subsequently found in his very next fight to have an illegal substance in his gloves and suspended from the sport for a year.
"One of our referees, Jay Nady, was back there, we had our inspectors back there. Cotto's guy was back there. They all checked him out and everything was fine," said Kizer.
"They felt the hand wraps and everything, and we have an inspector who I've seen check the hand wraps before, and he checks them out thoroughly," said Kizer. "He watched the hand wraps that night. If you don't have experienced inspectors, you can probably slip something through."
Kizer spoke while attending a press conference promoting Saturday night's clash between 33-year-old Floyd Mayweather (40-0, 25 knockouts), and, 38-year-old Shane Mosley (46-5, 39 KOs), the latter of whom is coming off of a January, 2009, ninth-round knockout of Margarito that dethroned Margarito as WBA titlist.
Within an hour of facing Mosley, however, the 32-year-old Margarito (37-6, 27 KOs) was discovered by Mosley's trainer, Brother Naazim Richardson, to have had a plaster-like substance in his gloves, which were wrapped by trainer, Javier Capetillo.
The substance was subsequently removed and confiscated prior to the fight, but Margarito was then suspended for a year by the California State Athletic Commission, whose move has been honored by the other boxing commissions, nationwide.
"There's nothing that you can do worse than take a guy's license away. Once you do that, he's persona-non-grata," Kizer said of Margarito, whose suspension ended on February 11.
"Margarito could come to Nevada today, apply for a license, and I could give him a license administratively, but I'm not going to do that," said Kizer. "He would have to be placed on our agenda, and that would be up to our chairman. She could put him on it right away, or she could make him wait a while."
Kizer said that he would consider allowing Margarito to fight in Nevada, but only after enduring a hearing before the commission chairman and a panel that would throroughly review his case.
"Nevada could do one of three things. They could either say, 'Go back to California first, and until they say you've done your time, we're not going to even bother with you,'" said Kizer.
"The second thing is to have a hearing and to say, 'Well, reguardless of what other states think, we don't think that you're ready to get back into the ring yet,'" said Kizer. "Or, third, 'We do think that you're ready to get back into the ring, and we're going to give you a license.' And I don't think that California or anyone would see that as any sort of sign of disrespect or not honoring their decision."
Margarito, however, will return to the ring on May 8, in Aguascalientes, Mex., when he competes in a 10-round, junior middleweight (154 pounds) clash against 30-year-old, Texas toughman, Roberto "La Amenza" Garcia (28-2, 21 KOs) as the headline to Top Rank Promotion's Latin Fury 14.
Margarito, said Kizer, should return to California to re-apply for a license before attempting to fight anywhere in the United States, although, Texas has indicated to Margarito's promoter, Bob Arum, that it might be willing to allow the former champion to fight there.
Arum has said that he would eventually like to match Margarito against seven-time champion, Manny Pacquiao, who is coming off of last month's 12-round unanimous decision in defense of his WBO welterweight title at The Dallas Cowboys' Stadium.
"I would not feel comfortable, at this point, simply granting Margarito a license to fight here in Nevada," said Kizer. "I would have some questions that he would need to answer from me. And if he doesn't answer them truthfully, then I would reccommend not granting a license to him."
Source: boxing.fanhouse.com
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