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Stick and Move -
Margarito Stirred by Williams |
By Ricardo
Lois
Fight Night News Staff Writer
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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. |
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"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
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"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." |
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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?"
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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.
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