Pacquiao to fight Margarito on Nov. 13

[Rappy Veteran]

NEW YORK -- Manny Pacquiao has turned his attention to former welterweight champion Antonio Margarito for a November fight, after his promoter could not get a deal signed against former pound-for-pound king Floyd Mayweather Jr.

Top Rank chief Bob Arum told The Associated Press on Saturday night that Pacquiao will fight Margarito in a junior middleweight bout on Nov. 13. The location is still undecided because Margarito isn't currently licensed to fight in the United States, but Arum is moving ahead with the matchup anyway.

"We'll finalize everything this week," Arum said.

Margarito was chosen for the lucrative payday over junior middleweight titleholder Miguel Cotto, Arum said, because Pacquiao has already defeated Cotto once. The Margarito fight will likely be for the WBC 154-pound title that Sergio Martinez vacated earlier this year.

A victory would give Pacquiao titles in a record eight weight divisions.

"Antonio is so much bigger than he is, it's a very attractive fight," Arum said. "Cotto, we figure, should have another fight this winter and shown the improvement he's made under [new trainer] Emanuel Steward and then we could look at him maybe next year."

The fight was made relatively quickly after Mayweather allowed a deadline set by Top Rank for a proposed megafight to pass last weekend without a word. Mayweather told the AP two days later at a charity basketball game hosted by Dwyane Wade and Alonzo Mourning in Miami that he isn't thinking about boxing at all following his one-sided victory over Shane Mosley in May.

"I'm not interested in rushing to do anything," Mayweather said.

On Monday, Mayweather adviser Leonard Ellerbe issued a statement that said no negotiations for a fight against Pacquiao ever took place -- which took Arum completely by surprise.

Arum insists that he has been negotiating for possibly the richest fight in boxing history with Mayweather's team for months. Arum said he was using HBO Sports boss Ross Greenburg as an intermediary because he has a rancorous relationship with Mayweather and that all that was left was for Mayweather to sign for the fight.

Greenburg has repeatedly declined to comment on the negotiations.

"The thing that's silly about this is all Floyd had to say from the get-go was, 'Hey, I'm not interested in fighting this year,'" Arum said. "That's all he had to do."

The biggest winner in the bizarre soap opera ends up being Margarito, who was once considered among the most feared fighters in boxing. Then came his own fight last year against Mosley, when he was discovered to have loaded hand wraps before a stunningly one-sided loss.

Margarito and his former trainer were suspended for at least one year by the California State Athletic Commission, a decision that has been upheld by other state commissions.

That creates a logistical problem for his fight against Pacquiao.

Arum said he wants to hold the fight in Las Vegas, where Pacquiao would not be subject to income taxes and where he could most likely get the largest site fee. For that to happen, Margarito would need to get licensed in Nevada, and his request earlier this month was tabled by the state athletic commission until he answers to authorities in California.

"In Nevada, he's asked for them to consider giving him a conditional license to fight on Nov. 13. He's also going to file his application for his license in California," Arum said. "There are other states that have contacted us that say they'll give him a license."

One possibility is Texas, where 50,000 people packed into Cowboys Stadium to see Pacquiao defeat relatively unknown Joshua Clottey earlier this year. If all the options in the U.S. fall through, the fight could happen in Margarito's native Mexico, where officials in Monterrey have already expressed interest.

"The fight means so much economically to Nevada," said Arum, whose company is based in Las Vegas. "I cannot conceive the commission turning down his request."

Pacquiao has never fought above the 147-pound welterweight limit, although he's only looked better with each division he tries. Most critics believed that 140-pound champion Ricky Hatton would be too big for him, and he knocked him out in the second round. The same went for Oscar de La Hoya, whom Pacquiao made quit on his stool after the eighth round.

Margarito, meanwhile, will be fighting at 154 pounds for the second straight time. He came back from a year off following the Mosley fight to easily dispatch of Roberto Garcia in May, a fight that was held in Aguascalientes, Mexico.

Source

[Rappy Veteran]

Tonight!

[ArKeYa]

Yeah tonight. Turned out I did get pumped up for this fight lol.

[D. S. Veteran]

Do people still care about boxing at all? There is only a handfull of interesting fighters, the titles are a total mess with the absurd number of associations, each one with different titles, almost every fight ends up being won on points and top fighters pick and choose their opponents in order to get the maximum money possible. Floyd would never fight Pacquiao because there was a chance he would lose. And that loss would cost him millions in the long run so he made the smart choice for his money. And since that is probably the only midly competetive fight left in pro boxing actually... how do you hold on?

[Rappy Veteran]

Do people still care about boxing at all? There is only a handfull of interesting fighters, the titles are a total mess with the absurd number of associations, each one with different titles, almost every fight ends up being won on points and top fighters pick and choose their opponents in order to get the maximum money possible. Floyd would never fight Pacquiao because there was a chance he would lose. And that loss would cost him millions in the long run so he made the smart choice for his money. And since that is probably the only midly competetive fight left in pro boxing actually... how do you hold on?

I pick and choose fights but I do like to follow boxing but yeah some weights are a pure joke for example the HW the Klitchskos just control that league except for Haye of course but when that happens next year expect one of them to take that.

[D. S. Veteran]

I watched the David Haye fight. Did anyone even remotely think that he wouldn't win in dominating fashion? The other guy only land 1! punch. People who got it on PPV must have been either upset or surprised that a boxing match ended in something as rare as a TKO.

[Rappy Veteran]

I watched the David Haye fight. Did anyone even remotely think that he wouldn't win in dominating fashion? The other guy only land 1! punch. People who got it on PPV must have been either upset or surprised that a boxing match ended in something as rare as a TKO.

haha yeah well the match was so mismatched it was unreal but for us British public it was a massive fight because it was 2 of our boxers but yeah it was a joke

[Rappy Veteran]

Pacman is destroying!

[riceBox]

Pacquiao won?

[Lqv2015]

Exciting fight to watch....Bring on Floyd already.

[riceBox]

I guess the more Manny beats tough opponents, the more Floyd evades the fight. :no:

[D. S. Veteran]

Pacquiao won?

You were surprised? This is probably one of Pacquiao's last fights. He wouldn't want to end his career with a loss. The fight was farily one-sided. Pacquiao went all What's My Name on him... and still only won by decision. Not even a TKO after that beating?

Exciting fight to watch....Bring on Floyd already.

Never going to happen.

[Rappy Veteran]

I would love Floyd vs Manny but I doubt it will happen

[0trunk]

I guess the more Manny beats tough opponents, the more Floyd evades the fight. :no:

That's because he knows, just like everyone else that if he loses he'll no longer be undefeated haha

[revvo]

Pacqiuao vs Mayweather would for sure beat the previous PPV record by far!

and yet, Floyd's all derpin and herpin to not lose. The problem is, the longer we wait for this dream match to happen, the more Manny will get involved in politics in the Philippines, so they better make it quick.

[Rappy Veteran]

:| Marg's face :|

[mail]

Margarito deserved all he got, after his antics about Freddie Roach. Having said that,

damn he has a chin, from round 4 his eye was gone.

Mayweather fight never going to happen, don't understand why Mayweather is chickening

out, he would beat Pacquiao.

[riceBox]

Mayweather fight never going to happen, don't understand why Mayweather is chickening

out.

He doesn't want to stain his undefeated record, so he cherry picks some fights.

[TeeeJaay]

Mayweather fight never going to happen, don't understand why Mayweather is chickening

out, he would beat Pacquiao.

Not really a mystery though, Gayweather only picks fights he is sure he could win

[D. S. Veteran]

Margarito deserved all he got, after his antics about Freddie Roach. Having said that,

damn he has a chin, from round 4 his eye was gone.

Mayweather fight never going to happen, don't understand why Mayweather is chickening

out, he would beat Pacquiao.

He has millions to lose in the long run if he is beaten. And since Manny is getting more and mora involved in politics, Floyd just has to wait him out.

In other news, that face :blink:

[Rappy Veteran]

Antonio Margarito is scheduled to have eye surgery on Tuesday after his bruising defeat by Manny Pacquiao.

"Margarito has a fractured right orbital bone," said a spokesman for fight promoter Bob Arum.

"After the fight was over, he had some stitchwork done in the locker room. They put six stitches in his right cheek and three through his eyebrow."

Mexican Margarito lost the WBC super welterweight title fight to Pacquiao by an unanimous points decision.

Despite weighing 17 pounds lighter than Margarito, Filipino Pacquiao outclassed his opponent over 12 rounds at the Cowboys Stadium in Dallas on Saturday to claim an eighth world title in an unprecedented eighth weight class.

"I truly, truly think the job of the trainer is to protect your fighter and Margarito's corner should have saved him," said Pacquiao's experienced trainer Freddie Roach. "He [Margarito] may never fight again.

"He took too much unnecessary punishment to me. I would have stopped that fight. After eight rounds, it was over and it was just a matter of time."

Margarito's procedure will be carried out at Dallas Methodist Hospital, according to organisers.

[TheElite]

Wow. The towel should have been thrown in.

[riceBox]

I'm not sure though but, isn't that orbital bone fractures occur occasionally in boxing?

[ArKeYa]

I'm not sure though but, isn't that orbital bone fractures occur occasionally in boxing?

AFAIK, no. Fights get stopped before that happens. Pacquiao was looking at the ref in the middle of the 11th round to stop the fight to no avail. There were reports that Pacquiao had gone soft because of that. Class act. If he didn't relent that orbital bone injury could be worse.

[mail]

I think ref musta watched the harrison fight :p