RSSAntonio Margarito
Saturday, September 01, 2007
De La Hoya Wants to Return at Welterweight
In a recent interview with ESPN’s Dan Rafael, Oscar De La Hoya has stated that he plans on returning to the ring next May, at welterweight:
But De La Hoya (38-5, 30 KOs), who has won 10 world title belts in six divisions, has no immediate plans to stop fighting and is thinking about his ring return, targeted for May 3, 2008.
And when he does return, De La Hoya said that he will be back in the welterweight division he once dominated before moving up to junior middleweight and taking a two-fight stab at middleweight.
“Nothing is set in stone about who I’m going to fight,” De La Hoya told ESPN.com in a recent interview. “Right now, I’m plotting these fights [that Golden Boy is promoting], keeping myself busy and spending time with my family. I won’t decide who I am going to fight until I see how things unfold [in the fall], but I will be back at welterweight, that’s for sure.”
Oscar back at 147 lbs? Just imagine the possible matchups: Mayweather, Mosley, Hatton, Williams, Cintron and Margarito are all potential opponents at this point.
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Sunday, July 15, 2007
Williams Defeats Margarito; Arreola, Ward, Cortes All Winners
Photo: Jan Sanders/Goossen Tutor Promotions
CARSON, Calif. – No. 1 contender Paul Williams captured the World Boxing Organization (WBO) welterweight title with a 12-round unanimous decision over champion Antonio Margarito before a sold-out crowd of 8,023 Saturday at The Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif. The event was presented by Goossen Tutor Promotions and televised on HBO “World Championship Boxing.”
In other action, Cristobal Arreolla and Andre Ward remained perfect with TKO victories. Arreola destroyed Derek Berry in less than one minute of the first round, while Ward recorded a third-round stoppage of Francisco Diaz. Ricardo Cortes opened the evening by earning a six-round unanimous decision over Jose Spearman.
After Williams dominated the initial six rounds of the action-packed affair by putting on a virtual clinic of jabbing, moving and outworking the popular Margarito (34-5, 1 NC, 24 KOs), the champion rallied in the late rounds to plead his case. Despite the late surge, the judges scored the bout in favor of Williams (33-0, 24 KOs), 116-112 and 115-113 twice.
Continue reading "Williams Defeats Margarito; Arreola, Ward, Cortes All Winners"
Friday, July 13, 2007
Margarito, Williams, Ward Quotes
On Saturday, July 14, 2007, in the outdoor tennis stadium at The Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif., undefeated and World Boxing Organization (WBO) No. 1 welterweight contender Paul “The Punisher” Williams (32-0, 24 KOs) looks to commemorate the holiday of Bastille Day by ending another reign of terror – that of WBO Welterweight Champion Antonio “The Tijuana Tornado” Margarito (34-4, 1 NC, 24 KOs).
Cristobal Arreola (20-0, 18 KOs), of Riverside, Calif., via East Los Angeles, will take on Derek Berry (12-8-1, five KOs), of Rialto, Calif., while Ward (12-0, 7 KOs), of Oakland, Calif., will face Francisco Diaz (16-1, eight KOs), of Shawnee Mission, Kansas.
Billed as “Pride N’ Punishment,” the long-awaited, highly anticipated 12-round confrontation between arguably the hardest-punching, most bitter rivals in the 147-pound division is presented by Goossen Tutor Promotions and will be televised on HBO “World Championship Boxing.”
“The winner of this fight is the preeminent welterweight in the world—and that includes (Miguel) Cotto or anyone else in the 147-pound division,” the event’s promoter, Dan Goossen, said.
The fight card will will start at 5:30 p.m. PT. The WBO world title fight will start at approximately 7:45 p.m. PT and doors to the stadium will open at 5 p.m.
Continue reading "Margarito, Williams, Ward Quotes"
Friday, June 08, 2007
Margarito, Williams Predict Cotto-Judah
LOS ANGELES - In a highly anticipated match and can’t miss candidate for Fight of the Year, WBO welterweight champion Antonio Margarito will defend his belt against undefeated, No. 1-ranked and mandatory boxing challenger, Paul “The Punisher” Williams in the main event of “Pride N’ Punishment’’ on Saturday, July 14, in the outdoor tennis stadium at The Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif. The 12-round bout, presented by Goossen Tutor Promotions, will be televised on HBO “World Championship Boxing.
At a press conference earlier this week, promoter Dan Goossen said, “The winner of this fight is the preeminent welterweight in the boxing world—and that includes (Miguel) Cotto or anyone else in the 147-pound division.”
Given the significance of Saturday’s world welterweight boxing title fight, Margarito and Williams were asked to “weigh in” with their opinions on Miguel Cotto versus Zab Judah.
Here is what they had to say:
Continue reading "Margarito, Williams Predict Cotto-Judah"
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Wednesday, June 06, 2007
Margarito-Williams Quotes
In a highly anticipated match and can’t miss candidate for Fight of the Year, Margarito will defend his 147-pound crown against Williams in the main event of “Pride N’ Punishment’’ on Saturday, July 14, in the outdoor tennis stadium at The Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif. The Margarito-Williams 12-rounder, presented by Goossen Tutor Promotions, will be televised on HBO “World Championship Boxing.”
“The winner of this fight is the preeminent welterweight in the world—and that includes (Miguel) Cotto or anyone else in the 147-pound division,” Dan Goossen said.
Continue reading "Margarito-Williams Quotes"
Saturday, May 26, 2007
Williams Seeks to End Margarito’s Reign
LOS ANGELES – In the annals of world history, July 14 is known as Bastille Day. On that fateful date in 1789 the people of France stormed and seized the dreaded Bastille, a prison beset by inhumane conditions in Paris as the first step in the French Revolution, which eventually overthrew the 17-year monarchy of King Louis XVI.
On Saturday, July 14, 2007, in the outdoor tennis stadium at The Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif., undefeated and No. 1-ranked World Boxing Organization (WBO) welterweight contender Paul “The Punisher” Williams (32-0, 24 KOs) looks to commemorate the holiday of Bastille Day by ending another reign of terror – that of WBO welterweight champion Antonio “The Tijuana Tornado” Margarito (34-4, 1 NC, 24 KOs).
Billed as “Pride N’ Punishment,” the long-awaited, highly anticipated 12-round confrontation between arguably the hardest-punching, most bitter rivals in the 147-pound division is presented by Goossen Tutor Promotions and will be televised on HBO “World Championship Boxing.” The HBO broadcast starts at 9 PM ET/ 11 PM PT.
Margarito, who was born in nearby Torrance, Calif., and currently splits his time between Tijuana, Mexico, and La Habra, Calif., has been the WBO welterweight champion for more than five years. Referred to as “the most feared man in boxing,” Margarito has made seven successful title defenses. He has only lost once in the past 12 years – by technical decision to then-defending WBO light middleweight titleholder Daniel Santos —in a September 2004 battle that was stopped due to a cut on Margarito’s eyebrow caused by an accidental head butt.
Continue reading "Williams Seeks to End Margarito’s Reign"
Friday, May 25, 2007
Margarito-Williams Quotes
In a legitimate Fight of the Year candidate, WBO welterweight champion Antonio “The Tijuana Tornado” Margarito (34-4, 1 NC, 24 KOs) will make his seventh defense when he faces unbeaten, No. 1-ranked contender Paul “The Punisher” Williams (32-0, 24 KOs) in the main event of a stellar fight card Saturday, July 14, 2007, in the outdoor tennis stadium at The Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif.
Billed as “Pride N’ Punishment,” the long-awaited, highly anticipated 12-round confrontation between arguably the hardest-punching, most exciting rivals in the 147-pound division is presented by Goossen Tutor Promotions and will be televised on HBO “World Championship Boxing.” The HBO broadcast starts at 8 p.m. ET/11 PM PT.
Continue reading "Margarito-Williams Quotes"
Thursday, April 26, 2007
Welterweight Mania!
Woooooooooooo!
HBO will be televising a split-site tripleheader on July 14th. What? Yeah, I’ve never heard of such a thing either but here goes nothin’...
Three welterweight bouts will be televised on HBO that night:
The opening bout will be Kermit Cintron defending his IBF Welterweight Title for the first time against Walter Matthysse from Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, NJ. The second bout will feature the uber-popular Arturo Gatti, fighting for the ninth straight time in Atlantic City, in a 10-round affair against former Contender star Alfonso Gomez.
The final bout of the night will be Antonio Margarito making the 8th straight defense of his WBO Welterweight Title against mandatory challenger Paul Williams. A location for Margarito-Williams has not yet been selected but officials have stated that the possible location has been narrowed down to two sites: The Home Depot Center in Carson, CA or the Gibson Amphitheater in Universal City, CA.
Apparently Gatti’s camp was very picky over who his next opponent would be and it caused quite the delay in getting a deal between HBO and Main Events completed:
HBO and Main Events had spent the last few weeks locked in a disagreement over Gatti’s opponent. The network had pared its wish list down to having Gatti fight either former lightweight titlist Paul Spadafora, who is 2-0 on a comeback, or Steve Forbes, another former “Contender” star and former junior lightweight titlist who lost a highly controversial decision to Demetrius Hopkins last month in an exciting fight.
Gatti’s team didn’t like either style for him and preferred lesser opponents such as Dmitriy Salita or Edgar Santana, neither of whom HBO would approve.
HBO gave Main Events a tentative OK on Gomez earlier this month and it made a deal with his handlers. But a few days later, on April 7, “Contender” first-season runner up Peter Manfredo—who had lost a rematch to Gomez on the series—was wiped out in three rounds by super middleweight champion Joe Calzaghe. That loss gave HBO second thoughts about using another untested “Contender” boxer against Gatti in the final fight of his HBO contract.
However, when the Margarito-Williams fight came together and Cintron-Matthysse, another potentially explosive fight, was pitched for the telecast, HBO agreed to take Gomez. With Gatti’s HBO contract coming to an end, Main Events also agreed to give HBO the right of first negotiation and a matching right on his next fight.
I’m not surprised that they were so selective of Gatti’s foe. If he loses one more time, he’s pretty much done fighting-wise and HBO most likely won’t sign him to a new deal.
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Thursday, April 19, 2007
EEC - April 19, 2007
News, Notes, and Rumors:
- Former heavyweight champion Chris Byrd made his return to the ring last night and defeated Paul Marinaccio by TKO in the 7th round…
- According to various reports coming from the UK, newly crowned WBA Heavyweight Champion Ruslan Chagaev may possibly make his first title defense this summer against the winner of the May 26th bout between Matt Skelton and Michael Sprott in London.
Chagaev actually took on Sprott in June of 2006 and knocked him out in the 8th round…
- Mark Vester of Boxing Scene is reporting that WBA Cruiserweight Champion Virgil Hill is demanding a third bout against Henry Maske…
- Joe Frazier has filed a lawsuit against his daughter that seeks the return of various contracts, product endorsements, business papers, and various other documents that his daughter has reportedly has in her possession. Frazier’s daughter served as his lawyer and business advisor from 1989-2004.
- Who is Shane Mosley picking to win on May 5th? Oscar De La Hoya by KO…
- Paul Williams has told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that he plans on brawling with Antonio Margarito when their scheduled bout goes down this summer:
“If you have the attitude that you won’t accept losing and you’re going to refuse to lose, it makes a difference,” said Williams. “The easy thing would have been to take the money and fight the other guy. But he stepped up like a man. I’m going to be in there and I’ll bang with him. I don’t think he’s going to be used to that. I’m a harder puncher than he’s seen.”
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Friday, March 30, 2007
EEC - March 30, 2007
News, Notes, and Rumors:
- The legal battle over the almost fight between Antonio Margarito and Paul Williams was finally settled in court yesterday.
What happens now? The results via ESPN:
Under the terms of the settlement, Goossen will promote the fight, which he won the right to Jan. 30 with a purse bid of $1,506,250, of which Margarito is entitled to 80 percent, or a career-high payday of $1.205 million. He will also receive an additional $395,000 that Goossen promised to pay him on top of the winning bid amount.
Although Top Rank won’t be involved in promoting Margarito-Williams, Arum said part of the settlement included Margarito signing a one-year extension to his promotional agreement with Top Rank, which will take him through at least 2008 with the company.
Also, if Margarito defeats Williams and Cotto defeats Zab Judah—who replaced Margarito in the June 9 fight—Margarito and Cotto will meet in the fall on HBO PPV.
- The Albuquerque Tribune is reporting that Johnny Tapia will not be charged by police with possession of cocaine for the time being.
Tapia was originally taken into custody on March 12 after he was hospitalized for a drug overdose.
Weekend Fights:
Friday -
Joel Julio vs Thomas Davis - Detroit, MI - Junior Middleweight (ESPN 2)
Jhonny Gonazalez vs Irene Pacheco - Tucson, AZ - WBO Bantamweight Title
Alfonso Gomez vs Martin Concepcion - Newcastle, England - Junior Middleweight
Freddy Curiel vs Ross Minter - Newcastle, England - Welterweight
Walter Wright vs Anthony Small - Newcastle, England - Junior Middleweight
Jesse Brinkley vs Robin Reid - Newcastle, England - Light Heavyweight
Cornelius Bundrage vs Colin McNeil - Newcastle, England - Junior Middleweight
Jerson Ravelo vs Paul Buchanan - Newcastle, England - Super Middleweight
Michael Clark vs Nigel Wright - Newcastle, England - Welterweight
Jonathan Reid vs Paul Smith - Newcastle, England - Middleweight
Saturday -
Virgil Hill vs Henry Maske - Munich, Germany - Cruiserweight (PPV)