Fighting Capsules: Pacquiao to fight Margarito on Nov. 13
NEW YORK (AP) — 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 advisor 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.
MMA
Rhetoric heats up as boxer Toney prepares for MMA debut against UFC’s Couture
LOS ANGELES — The Ultimate Fighting Championship started with arguments among fans about which combat discipline was superior.
A decade later, the debate has intensified. Former three-division boxing world champion James Toney, who was miffed when UFC President Dana White said boxers can’t stand up to mixed martial artists, has signed for his first mixed martial arts bout against former UFC heavyweight champion Randy Couture on Aug. 28 in Boston.
“I called Dana White out and he had to save face,” Toney said.
The acrimony between the street-hardened Toney, 41, and White reached a peak this month when White confessed he “got caught up in the MMA-vs.-boxing thing,” and considered Toney’s participation a “freak show.”
“Toney will get his (rear) kicked on August 28 and I’m counting the days,” White said.
“Why wouldn’t I take this (bout)?” asked Couture, 47, who held the UFC heavyweight championship until November 2008. “I heard (Toney) was talking smack about MMA fighters, and that I was on his list of guys he’d knock out. Let’s do it. It’s an MMA fight, and has a lot of crossover appeal — I know the boxing world will be paying attention.”
Toney has spent eight weeks at a Chatsworth gym in two-a-day training sessions, trying to shed his reputation as an uninspired fighter during the latter stages of his boxing career.
“He’s a natural predator,” said Trevor Sherman, the MMA coach who’s taught Toney key grappling fundamentals so Toney can land devastating punches if he gets Couture to the mat. “No one has ever stepped into the octagon with this type of striking prowess.”
Toney said he grew frustrated last year in his attempts to land a heavyweight boxing match against the world champion Klitschko brothers, Wladimir and Vitali, as well as with another champ, David Haye.
Toney was looking on the Internet one day when he noticed White discussing the advantage MMA fighters would have over boxers in an MMA fight. Toney recalled some war stories his manager, John Arthur, told him about participating in no-rules “Sudden Death” fighting in Thailand in the 1960s.
“I’ve told James about sharpening my teeth for those fights, about using the four weapons of your hands and feet, and the joint manipulations I knew,” Arthur said. “He said, ‘Pop, I want to do what you did.’ Couture’s in a fight for his life. He’s never been in there with anyone as vicious. And I’ve never seen James get as up for a fight.”
Toney is looking forward to discovering how much damage he can do to Couture if he lands a punch in a four-ounce MMA glove — boxers typically use 10-ounce gloves. Toney smiled and said, “When they told me I’ll be using those four-ouncers, I said, ‘Oh, Lord, we’re going to jail.’
“I’m going to be representing boxing, and I’m a boxing master. The meanness, the nastiness. I don’t turn my back on anyone like (current UFC heavyweight champion) Brock Lesnar did in his last fight.
“I love danger. I know this fight represents some danger to me. I’m hitting it head-on.”
Toney (72-6-3, 44 knockouts) signed a three-fight deal with UFC, with an opt-out clause if he loses. But he expects to fulfill his UFC commitment, hopeful for a victory over Couture and a title shot at Lesnar, and he still wants to box too.
“He’s one of the nicest guys in boxing, and I’m glad he has this opportunity to make a few bucks,” boxing promoter Bob Arum said.
Yet, Arum said he didn’t view this fight as the ultimate answer to the question of what fighting discipline trumps all.
“If James hits (Couture) first, he’s going down. But if it goes to the floor, (Toney is) probably going to lose,” Arum said. “If this was a boxing match, I’d be watching it, but this is this cockamamie martial arts, guys rolling around on the floor. It’s not even a sport.”
Toney could be susceptible to the chokeholds or submission positions that former Olympic wrestler Couture can produce.
“I’ll stand with him as long as I can to get him where I want: with him on his back and me on top of him,” Couture said.
Trainer Sherman says Toney’s grappling skills will be sufficient, with the primary focus being on unleashing a powerful punch. “Randy’s MMA arsenal is mind-numbing, but James has a (strong) right and left hand,” Sherman said. “If James lands within three inches, he can cause problems. Six inches, he can break things.”
Toney is also out to prove George Foreman’s motto that “age is just a number.” He is six years younger than Couture and Toney believes his mobility after a dedicated training camp will produce an impressive performance.
“I punch and I knock people out, and I’m going in there knowing what everyone in boxing knows: that everybody has a plan until they get hit. I’m a fan of MMA. But these guys hold, kick, scratch when they’re in trouble,” Toney said.
“They can’t mess with boxing.”
-- Lance Pugmire, L.A. Times, Distributed by McClatchy Newspapers
