By Chris Robinson
There is a lot of uncertainty in the career of Antonio Margarito at the moment. The former champion from Tijuana recently saw a rematch with Miguel Cotto first be postponed and later fall apart completely after he found out a recent broken orbital bone would prevent him from preparing for the Puerto Rican adequately.
Margarito suffered the injury in his last fight, a punishing twelve-round loss to Manny Pacquiao last November, as he took several flush, piercing blows from the dynamic Filipino southpaw. Margarito had been eyeing a comeback against Cotto, whom he defeated via 11th round TKO in July of 2008, but now has to accept the reality that his career is hanging in the balance as he attempts to determine just how severe this situation is.
While things may seem bleak, Margarito's trainer Robert Garcia has no time whatsoever to dwell on anything negative. Fresh into camp with two of his other fighters, WBA lightweight champion Brandon 'Bam Bam' Rios and his younger brother and lightweight contender Mikey Garcia, Robert fully realizes the severity of the situation but seems at ease after a recent touching conversation with Margarito.
To hear what advice Garcia had for Margarito if it is indeed the end of his line, as well as his thoughts on Rios' July 9th fight with contender Urbano Antillon as well as his younger brother's future, please continue below...
In camp with Brandon 'Bam Bam' Rios...
"Everything is going beautiful. Brandon has been training already and he's looking good. Still haven't sparred but he's anxious to start sparring. He asks every day but we won't start for maybe a couple of weeks."
Respect for Urbano Antillon...
"Hell of a fighter. He's proved it in his fights and he's just had a tremendous career. We know it's going to be a war and it's going to be a tough fight but that's why Brandon's in the gym already and he's preparing for the best Antillon out there."
Expecting a war...
"Yeah, that's the type of fight that Brandon likes. Everybody knows that. So what's going to be the difference now? It's just going to be two fighters standing in front of each other trading punches. A lot of guys have fought Brandon and they have tried to box him but he has broken them down. With Acosta, he was supposed to be a good boxer but Brandon beat him down. This time this is going to be two guys standing in the center of the ring and going against each other."
Why Rios is more than just a fighter...
"That boy's like my little brother. We do so many things together. I was the best man at his wedding. We have a really good relationship. Like I say, he's like my little brother. He tells me everything, I tell him everything and we have a great relationship."
Mikey's March 26th victory over Matt Remillard...
"We were very pleased after the fight. During the fight we were a little anxious during the fight for him to get up a little more. He could have maybe picked it up a few rounds earlier. The job was done, he did what he had to do and he finished him off. We were very pleased. He's only twenty-three so he still has a couple more years to learn and to develop into what people think he could be. He's getting ready for his next fight. It's getting close and he's getting ready for that one too."
Seeing a Cotto-Margarito rematch in Las Vegas slip away...
"I can't say I'm disappointed. Because I'm not looking at taking Margarito into a fight where he is not 100% ready. I would never want to take him if I knew if there was something where he wasn't 100%. So, I'm actually happy that he knows that he has a problem and he wants to heal it first. Instead of taking the fight and trying to pick up that paycheck, he's smart and he's looking out for his health. I truly admire that and respect that."
Man to man...
"I talked to him yesterday. He told me that he is going to go see a specialist at everything is going to happen after that. He's not going to make any decisions until after that. But he is prepared. In case he can't fight anymore, he is prepared. I had a good talk with him and I told him 'You know what? You had a big fight last year. I'm sure you have a lot of money in your bank account'. I talked to him about investing, buying properties, buying homes and those homes will give you enough to live the rest of your life. I always try to give boxers advice on what to do with their money and how to take care of it. Because if you have it in the bank account, little by little the money runs out. It's happened to many fighters."
Backing Margarito up no matter what...
"The first thing I tell them is that the easiest way to go without any chances is real estate. Buying homes. And just putting them up for rent. As the years go by, ten or twenty years from now, the houses are worth more than what you paid for and it gives you and income of $1500 or $1600 every month for the rest of your life. So, if you are able to buy three to four homes without having any monthly payments, then you won't live rich or like a millionaire but you can still live comfortably the rest of your life. And that's one thing I said after I talked with Margarito yesterday. And he agrees. So I'm happy. I'm definitely not disappointed if he decides that's it. I'm 100% backing him up."
Chris Robinson is based out of Las Vegas, Nevada. An archive of his work can be found here, and he can be reached at Trimond@aol.com