Golden Boy Throws Down Boxing Gauntlet To Margarito

In recent weeks, there has been a hearty dose of bluster from the camp of WBO welterweight champion Antonio Margarito, claiming that he is the “most feared fighter in boxing’, and that no one is willing to fight him. Golden Boy Promotions has the solution to Mr. Margarito’s problem in securing an opponent for a fight this year – in fact, it has three solutions in pound for pound superstar Winky Wright, former junior middleweight champion Kassim Ouma, and rising star Ishe Smith, all of whom are willing to battle Margarito at a moment’s notice.

‘I respect Antonio Margarito as a fighter, but his claims that no one wants to fight him are baseless,’ said Golden Boy Promotions President Oscar De La Hoya. ‘We already offered Margarito’s promoter, Top Rank, a fight against Winky Wright, but they declined, saying that Margarito was not a middleweight. Well, we never discussed this fight as being at middleweight. Winky is more than willing to come down to 154 pounds for this fight, and given the fact that Margarito has fought at junior middleweight before and has called out other junior middleweights like Shane Mosley, Cory Spinks, and myself, I don’t see why this fight can’t be made.’

‘And just in case Margarito doesn’t want to challenge himself against Winky Wright,’ continues De La Hoya, ‘we have two more warriors who are eager to test themselves against him – Kassim Ouma and Ishe Smith, both of whom can fight at 147 pounds.’

The ball is in your court, Antonio.