Interview with most feared WW on the planet!

[El Gamo]

http://www.fightnightnews.com/

September 29, 2006 - In my dealings with Antonio Margarito, he has been nothing but a gentleman. You ask "Tony" a question and he answers it to the best of his ability in a respectful and professional manner.

He is not the type of boxer to get upset or trash talk to reporters digging for dirt. If I were Antonio, I would be disgruntled, nobody worth a damn wants to fight the man, except for Paul Williams and who knows if Williams is for real.

Yesterday afternoon, I called the Margarito to discuss his December 2nd fight with Joshua Clottey. The W.B.O. Welterweight Champion responded with his usual measured, professional comments.


"Clottey is a good opponent. I have to stay busy. I cannot sit around and wait for a big fight. In a week or so, I will start my training camp in Los Angeles"

I present my follow-up question. "Any frustration with the big names in the welterweight and super welterweight division avoiding you?"

More measured responses from Margarito


"It does not make me happy. I would like to fight guys like Mayweather, De La Hoya, and Mosley, but I just have to wait and see what happens."

A few seconds passed and something stirred inside Margarito, something I have never heard from the calm professional.

"Mayweather must be scared of me. He took less money to fight Carlos Baldomir. What kind of champion is that? Everyone knows I have been in this division for years and I have been one of the best."




Here we go, this is not Ali calling Frazier a guerilla, but Tony was coming out of his shell.

A few weeks back, when Paul "The Punisher" Williams defeated Shambra Mitchell, the young buck called out Margarito on H.B.O. In print and internet articles, Williams has stated he hurt and cut Margarito in sparring sessions during the summer of 2004 (this situation is detailed wonderfully by FightNightNews writer Nat Gottlieb). So I asked Margarito, "What do you think about Paul Williams?"



Margarito let it rip!

"That guy is trash. He sparred with me, but he never, ever, hurt me. He wants to say he cut my eyelid. That is a flat out lie, anybody that knows boxing would laugh at his statement. If I had a cut, people would have known going into the Daniel Santos re-match. We will see what happens in the ring, when the fists do the talking."

I respect Margarito's denial of being cut by Williams' in their now mythical Los Angeles sparring sessions, but in Gottlieb's article, Sergio Diaz (manager to Margarito), admits:

"Paul did hurt him, but Antonio also hurt Paul," Diaz said.

Regardless of who hurt who and who got the best of who, Joshua Clottey is next in line for Margarito, but a storm is definitely brewing between Mitchell and Margarito.

[Bookkeeper]

You have very high expectations for this man, Margarito is no BrazilianBomber.

[El Gamo]

You have very high expectations for this man, Margarito is no BrazilianBomber.

El Gamo only expects the best from his fighters,Tony is no different.

[Wacko3205]

You have very high expectations for this man, Margarito is no BrazilianBomber.

El Gamo only expects the best from his fighters,Tony is no different.

...and I expect the truth from your posts!

[El Gamo]

You have very high expectations for this man, Margarito is no BrazilianBomber.

El Gamo only expects the best from his fighters,Tony is no different.

...and I expect the truth from your posts!

Edwin Valero is the TRUTH!! Ok ok,I'll change it...

[Wacko3205]

You have very high expectations for this man, Margarito is no BrazilianBomber.

El Gamo only expects the best from his fighters,Tony is no different.

...and I expect the truth from your posts!

Edwin Valero is the TRUTH!! Ok ok,I'll change it...

Heh heh heh.

[OumaFan]

"I have to stay busy. I cannot sit around and wait for a big fight."

Good, that's what he needs to be saying. I wonder what will happen if he beats Clottey, who I think is pretty good but lets face it people that really hate Margarito aren't going to give him credit for that, does he fight Williams or does he fight the winner of Cotto/Quintana, especially if the winner is Cotto?

[killersheep]

"I have to stay busy. I cannot sit around and wait for a big fight."

Good, that's what he needs to be saying. I wonder what will happen if he beats Clottey, who I think is pretty good but lets face it people that really hate Margarito aren't going to give him credit for that, does he fight Williams or does he fight the winner of Cotto/Quintana, especially if the winner is Cotto?

Any of those that are willing to fight him are worth it, As it stands now, Williams is his mandatory, Quintana would be a great match as well.
As much as I like Cotto, I have to see how he does at Welter first, Quintana will be a hell of a challenge for him (Cotto).

[El Gamo]

Carlos Quintana when asked who he thought was the best WW ,said Margarito and PBF and he declined a fight with Tony a while ago,I posted the article from ESPN. I agree Oumafan,that's exactly what I wanted to hear but you have to feel for Tony,he has been in the RING top 10 for 273 weekshttp://www.thering-online.com/ringpages/ratings2.html and still cannot land a big shot!!

I'm happy that he is thinking well though,Clottey is a dirty and dangerous fighter,should be a cracking fight. As foR Williams,he was asked if he wanted to fight in DEC and outpriced himself so negotiations will be back on (saw it in interview with Tony's manager) IF Tony gets by Clottey.

[p4pking]

Carlos Quintana when asked who he thought was the best WW ,said Margarito and PBF and he declined a fight with Tony a while ago,I posted the article from ESPN. I agree Oumafan,that's exactly what I wanted to hear but you have to feel for Tony,he has been in the RING top 10 for 273 weekshttp://www.thering-online.com/ringpages/ratings2.html and still cannot land a big shot!!

I'm happy that he is thinking well though,Clottey is a dirty and dangerous fighter,should be a cracking fight. As foR Williams,he was asked if he wanted to fight in DEC and outpriced himself so negotiations will be back on (saw it in interview with Tony's manager) IF Tony gets by Clottey.

But that's the thing.. Margarito isn't on top of the boxing world... He is hoping/trying to get there. To do that, you have to be willing to make sacrafices.. Im just skeptical as to the statement that Williams "priced himself out"... I mean he beat Mitchell recently, he probably brings just as much to the table as Margarito at this point in terms of exposure.. If he had asked for 50% it would not have been pricing himself out, but Tony's people would probably say so. Would Sam Langford or Jack Johnson have complained that Dempsey or Tunney priced themself out if the possibility ever presented itself No, they probably would have fought for a hot meal. Tony needs to start behaving like a dangerous and feared guy, by seizing any oppourtunity he can get, worry about the big picture and long term gain. You know?? I mean there's a hell of a lot he could have been doing in the past year and a half besides sitting around waiting for a name to magically fight him.. And it's not like he's making any money doing that.

[Wacko3205]

Margarito isn't on top of the boxing world... He is hoping/trying to get there.

I don't hate Margarito...but his promoter is one hell of a hyper...that's been duly noted in the past.

[CutMeMick]

I like that Margarito doesn't mouth off he does his thing in the ring, he never claims to be the best he just claims to wanna fight the best.

I said this before but I was going through my list of fighters I root for I think the one with the loudest mouth is probably Erik. I just dislike fighters that flap their mouth faster then what they can throw a jab.