Jerry Glick reporting: Antonio Margarito talked to the boxing media via a conference call. The former WBO welterweight champion fielded questions through an interpreter. He will appear on the well stocked undercard of the Cotto-Mosley “Fast and Furious” show at Madison Square Garden on November 10th, along with Joel Casamayor.
Also on the phone was Top Rank’s Lee Samuels, who hosted the conference, and Top Rank’s head honcho, Bob Arum was also available to answer questions.
Arum announced that the main event, Cotto-Mosley, will be well supported by a strong undercard featuring Margarito and lineal Lightweight Champion Joel Casamayor. Both men are facing quality opponents. Margarito, 34-5 (24), fights Golden Johnson, 25-7-3 (18), and Casamayor, 34-3-1 (21), will trade leather with Jose Armando Santa Cruz, 25-2 (14).
Arum proved that he is a true renaissance man when he explained his philosophy of delivering a good product to the fans.
“It is certainly on purpose,” explained Arum. “It’s not an accident. The reasoning of Richard Schaefer and myself was that the people are spending money. They’re paying to see a main event; they’re paying, and everything presented to them should be quality. And that every fight that’s on the card and shown on the telecast has to be and should be a quality fight. If all promoters endeavored to do that the business of boxing would be a lot better. It’s only smart business if you want people to continue to spend money to watch an event on television, if they’re there for three hours or there for three and a half hours, entertain them with the best possible boxing for those three hours. Some people say that we learned this from the UFC because as much as I dislike that Mixed Marshal Arts…...every fight seems like the other fight; there is no fall off in the competition.”
Arum said that Top Rank and Golden Boy see that and are learning to build their audience the same way.
A lot is at stake for Margarito in this fight. He must get by Golden Johnson if he is to find himself in the same ring as the Cotto-Mosley winner.
“If Antonio comes through in this fight,” added Arum, “he’s certainly right in line to fight the winner of the Cotto-Mosley fight, the main event on the card.”
Johnson is not a tomato can. He can fight. His history indicates that he can beat the better fighters, but not those at the top rung. He has beaten Teddy Reid, and Oscar Diaz, but lost to Shane Mosley, Cosme Rivera, Vivian Harris, and Ben Tackie.
Once considered the man that no one wants to fight, Margarito is still confident.
“It’s been hard to get the fights that I want,” said Margarito. “Maybe there’s a silver lining. I think now maybe I will. They think I’m beatable. Maybe I will get the opportunities I have been seeking.”
He knows that he may have handled his title losing fight with Paul Williams in less than the best way. He started slow, and it was clear to this reporter and others too that he was a different fighter in the second half of the fight than he was during the first six rounds.
“Without a doubt, very regretful that I started so slow,” lamented Antonio. “After watching the tape I noticed how slow I started. The guy was throwing punches but they were not affective, but there were a lot of punches, and you know that counts too. So I have to do the same thing, come out at the bell and just keep throwing punches no matter where they land or how they land.”
He thought that he was winning. He may have been the only one to think so. He kept it close and competitive, but he was being out fought in the early stages of the fight.
“At the time I was fighting the fight I thought I was doing very well and thought I was well ahead in the fight. But once I saw it on tape I could see that maybe the first few rounds I lost. He was throwing a lot of punches, but not doing any damage with them. I thought the judges would be impressed with that and I got myself into a hole. I could see where people would think he won the fight. I have no problem with that.”
Antonio said that he is motivated because he is promised a shot at either Cotto or Mosley, but he does have unfinished business with Paul “The Punisher.”
“Without a doubt, that’s something that I hope to do one day. I’ll fight him again. It’s up to Bob; who ever he puts in front of me, that’s who we’re going to fight…………..I just want the big fights. I want to fight Paul Williams down the road.”
This not the first time that Margarito was named as an opponent for Cotto. Before he agreed to make a mandatory defense of his WBO Crown against Williams, there was an opportunity to take on Cotto but the fight didn’t happen.
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“The main factor for me was the title,” said Antonio. “I earned my title in the ring and I didn’t want to lose it like that (being stripped for not making the mandatory defense). I knew I had to fight him to keep my title. I should have gone straight to Cotto, but there is nothing you can do about that now. I was very confident that I could beat Paul Williams. Things didn’t turn out the way I had hoped, but I’m right back on track. I’m looking forward to this fight and then fighting the winner and maybe Paul Williams down the road.”
“I have seen three videos on him,” said Antonio of his opponent, Golden Johnson. “I saw the fight that he had with Shane. I saw the fight with Hernandez, and I saw his last fight. He looks to me like a guy who comes to fight. He comes to win, just like I do. I think it’s going to be a great fight. We’ll both be coming at each other; it’ll be an interesting fight. The fans are going to enjoy our fight.”
“With out a doubt,” Margarito added. “I think our styles will match up a lot better than with Williams. Williams threw a lot of pitty pat punches, not really hard, but I think Golden is going to stand his ground and he’s going to throw hard punches and I expect that from him.”
“I never under estimate a fighter,” Antonio said explaining how he views Johnson as an opponent. “In the ring anything can happen. Everyone wants to win like I want to win.”
Training in the past has been difficult because of injuries including one to his wrist, but not this time out.
“It’s been great I haven’t hurt myself. My wrist has been real well. I feel good it’s been a real good training camp.”
Arum asked “Would Floyd Mayweather, the dancing star, fight Miguel Cotto or Shane Mosley and I think the answer there would generally be in the negative. Mayweather’s only fighting guys he could beat. He would never fight Margarito, you know that. He won’t fight Mosley, you know that. He won’t fight Cotto, so forget Floyd Mayweather.”
Arum’s feelings for Mayweather are well documented and he punctuated that fact by describing Floyd as a reckless guy throwing $100 dollar bills away to the public in nightclubs.
Truthfully, these three fights look like good news for the fans. It would be even better news if Mayweather shows up right after cashing his check.
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