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Photo ©Michael Worden/SaddoBoxing
On July 14, live from the Home Depot Center in Carson California, Antonio Margarito, 34-4 (24), will put his WBO Welterweight title on the line against undefeated number one contender Paul Williams, 32-0 (24).
The fight will cap off a three bout card, separated by 3000 miles. HBO will first air Walter Matthysse, 26-1 (25), versus Kermit Cintron, 27-1 (25), for the IBF Welterweight title, followed by what might be the farewell fight for fan favorite Arturo Gatti, 40-8 (31), against Alfonso Gomez 16-3-2 (7), of The Contender fame.
Those fights will be held at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City and the telecast will then jump to Southern California to cap off a sensational night of welterweight boxing.
On Tuesday, SaddoBoxing had the opportunity to attend the first press conference at Morton’s Steakhouse in Burbank, California where emotions were running high and both fighters predicted an early end to the fight.
Dan Goosen introduced both fighters, not surprising considering the fact that he won the purse bid to promote the fight, and that Margarito’s promoter Bob Arum was in New York getting ready for the Miguel Cotto/Zab Judah bout this weekend.
Although that fight is happening this weekend, Goosen made it clear that he believed the winner of the Margarito – Williams fight will be “the preeminent #1 welterweight in the world.”
Things took at turn for the comical when George Peterson, trainer for Paul Williams, took the podium. After explaining to the packed room that his fighter had been begging for this fight since a sparring session in 2004, Peterson told a story that ended with him calling Margarito a “mule”.
“He keeps coming forward,” said Peterson. “That is all that he can do. But Paul is like a tractor, he can go forward, backwards and to the side.”
Although the majority in attendance found this amusing, the Margarito camp did not. When his trainer, Javier Capetillo spoke, he agreed to some of the accusations saying, “He hits like a Mule.” Capetillo then made his own comparisons of animals, “When we went to Africa we saw a lot of giraffes, and giraffes do a lot of running.”
Williams seemed to be all business. When asked if this fight was personal he explained, “I don’t take nothing personal, sir. I am here to win it and I am going to win it.”
Margarito shot back with his own barbs, explaining, “When he feels my punches, I can already hear him, he is going to say, “What have I gotten myself into.” To which Williams responded, “You got to land them first. He’s to slow for me.”
Williams kept right on going, “he can’t even move, so I am going to make it easy for him. I am just going to stand there and I am going to bust him up.”
No one in attendance was more into this back and fourth than the promoter himself, “I am so damn excited for this fight,” said Dan Goosen.
Goosen expressed his feelings toward Margarito. “He [Margarito] is not backing away from the title like so many would have done today. He took on the toughest challenge out there [Williams], and should be congratulated for that.”
Goosen couldn’t help but throw a few more barbs at Cotto before he wrapped things up, “Cotto is a 140 pounder moving up to 147. These are the two best welterweights in the world.”
Tickets are currently on sale through Ticketmaster and AEGTickets and already they have sold over $175,000 worth of tickets and this was the first press conference.
The Home Depot Center is a great place for boxing. The crowd is always into each fight and the venue is perfect for boxing. Every seat in the house is great and nothing is finer than a bout under the stars.
The untelevised undercard in Carson will include undefeated heavyweight prospect Chris Arreola, 20-0 (18), coming off an impressive stoppage of Malcolm Tann, against an opponent yet to be named, along with Olympic Gold Medalist Andre Ward, 12-0 (7).
