If Antonio Margarito had his wish, he’d be fighting “Pretty Boy” Floyd Mayweather right about now for one of those multi-million dollar paydays where victory would earn him instant acclaim. But it takes two to tango in boxing, and Mayweather stayed far away from Margarito, choosing instead to challenge and defeat Carlos Baldomir earlier this month.
Mayweather claimed Margarito’s resume did not include enough notable victories to deserve a fight with the recognized pound-for-pound king. But there are those, including Margarito’s promoter, Bob Arum of Top Rank, who think Mayweather was simply ducking the hard-punching WBO welterweight champion.
“It was just way too dangerous for Floyd to fight Margarito with a potential fight with Oscar De La Hoya looming,” Arum said yesterday. “Maybe it was a wise choice.”
Mayweather and De La Hoya will meet in May, leaving Margarito (33-4, 24 KOs) to fight less recognized opposition. Saturday night, he’ll defend his title at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City against Joshua Clottey (29-1, 18 KOs) in the opening bout of a 9 p.m. Showtime broadcast that also includes Miguel Cotto moving up in weight to face Carlos Quintana for the WBA welterweight crown in a battle of unbeatens.
With Mayweather, the current WBC welterweight king, saying he plans to retire after fighting De La Hoya, a Margarito-Mayweather showdown seems unlikely. Margarito of Tijuana, Mexico, isn’t holding his breath.
“I’m moving forward,” Margarito said through an interpreter. “If he decides to fight me, fine. If he does not, that is fine with me, too.”
Should Mayweather indeed retires, there are plenty of good fights available for Margarito to build his legacy and pad his bank account. Ricky Hatton, Shane Mosley, Paul Williams, Cory Spinks, Cotto and Jose Louis Castillo are possibilities. First he must get past Clottey, a native of Ghana, who now lives in The Bronx. Clottey’s only loss came in 1999 when he was DQ’d for hitting Baldomir while he was down.
“I’m not going into the fight to lose,” Clottey (29-1, 18 KOs) said. “He’s got power, but he’s going to taste my power, too.”
Meanwhile, Peter Manfredo, Jr., (26-3, 12 KOs) becomes the first product of The Contender series to fight for a world title when he challenges Joe Calzaghe for the WBO super middleweight championship on March 3 in Cardiff, Wales.
Calzaghe (42-0, 31 KOs) will be making the 20th defense of his title.
