By KEITH IDEC
Bob Arum’s promotional company has drawn some criticism for not constructing a better undercard beneath the Manny Pacquiao-Joshua Clottey fight tonight at Cowboys Stadium.
Matchmakers for Top Rank Inc. made three fights that’ll be televised before the Pacquiao-Clottey clash, each with at least one Mexican fighter that the thousands of Mexican fans who assemble in Arlington, Texas, can cheer.
The co-featured fight will pit Mexico’s Humberto Soto (50-7-2, 32 KOs, 1 NC) against Chicago’s David Diaz (35-2-1, 17 KOs) in a 12-rounder for the vacant WBC lightweight title. The two 10-rounders that’ll precede Soto-Diaz will match former “Contender” Alfonso Gomez (21-4-2, 10 KOs), of Whittier, Calif., against Mexico’s Jose Luis Castillo (60-9-1, 52 KOs) and New York-based Irishman John Duddy (28-1, 18 KOs) against Mexico’s Michael Medina (23-1, 18 KOs).
Those three fights compose an undercard that’s neither horrible nor great, but Top Rank really would’ve welcomed criticism if another fight involving a Mexican boxer would’ve remained part of this show (9 p.m.; HBO Pay-Per-View; $49.95).
In hindsight, the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, which oversees boxing in that state, did Arum a favor by not committing to granting Antonio Margarito a license to fight again. Arum wanted Margarito (37-6, 27 KOs, 1 NC) to come back from his hand-wrap scandal by boxing Carson Jones (25-7-1, 15 KOs, 2 NC), of Oklahoma City, Okla., in a 10-round fight tonight.
Had the Texas commission allowed the Margarito-Carson encounter to remain on this card, however, it would’ve drawn negative publicity to an extravagant event that has drawn nothing but rave reviews, in addition to about 45,000 paying customers.
Margarito will settle for sitting ringside, where he’ll watch Pacquiao closely in hopes of eventually landing a fight against one of boxing’s two biggest cash cows.
“That was the plan, to fight here, but it didn’t come true,” Margarito told the Los Angeles Times after arriving in the Dallas area. “I don’t know why.”
Texas authorities informed the Los Angeles Times that Margarito submitted an incomplete application for reinstatement. Arum has said that regulators in Texas told him that they would have had to hold a hearing to decide whether to license Margarito, and that hearing wouldn’t have been scheduled until after tonight.
Regardless, the besmirched Margarito’s future has become a divisive issue in boxing.
Some believe Margarito doesn’t deserve another license after he was caught trying to use illegal hand wraps prior to his fight against Shane Mosley 13½ months ago in Los Angeles.
“That could’ve been Shane’s life,” said Bernard Hopkins, Mosley’s close friend. “Forget his career, it could’ve been his life.”
Naazim Richardson, who trains Hopkins and Mosley, isn’t as adamant about making Margarito’s punishment permanent.
“I can’t be the judge of that, man,” Richardson said. “I’m disappointed with that whole situation because, like I’ve said, it was a black eye on all of us. We’re all a part of the boxing world. It made all of us look bad.
“I don’t know what they’re going to do with him, but I thought it was ridiculous because do you know how bad you could hurt someone with that [stuff], man, putting something on your knuckles? I was so upset when they pulled that block out of there, because you just felt like, ‘This guy’s intention is to really try to hurt this kid.’ ”
Richardson, who found the plaster-like pads trainer Javier Capetillo placed around Margarito’s hands, is thankful that he was able to prevent Margarito from hurting Mosley. It bothers the Philadelphia trainer, though, that he hasn’t been able to keep the Margarito mess from damaging Mosley’s reputation, even after he dominated Margarito en route to a ninth-round technical knockout win in their WBA welterweight title fight at Staples Center.
“The Margarito thing,” Richardson explained, “I thought it took away the luster from Shane Mosley, who seemed to be suspended just as long as Margarito. [They say], ‘You got in his mind.’ Pretty much, Shane Mosley can’t fight. I took the hand wraps out. Anybody can beat him now. That’s what people believe.
“I almost wanted to see Margarito fight again, to prove Shane Mosley’s greatness. I wanted Margarito to jump in there and kick somebody else’s [butt], so y’all could say my guy [Mosley] is special. It wasn’t that [Margarito] was washed up, [Margarito] was done. Nah. My guy’s talented and got around it.”
Whether Margarito gets around the most infamous night of his 16-year career remains to be seen.
The California State Athletic Commission voted unanimously, 7-0, last February to revoke the licenses of Margarito and Capetillo for a year. They’re both eligible to be licensed in the United States, though Margarito has since hired another trainer, Robert Garcia.
For now, Margarito is scheduled to fight for the first time since Mosley demolished him on May 8 in Aguascalientes, Mexico, perhaps against Jones. Margarito, who’ll turn 32 on Thursday, expects to try thereafter to get licensed in the United States again.
So far, so bad. His first attempt at reinstatement met resistance, no matter the real reason.
That was best for everyone involved in an otherwise rare banner night for boxing.
Mosley picks Pacquiao
Half-facetiously, Floyd Mayweather Jr. refused to even acknowledge the Pacquiao-Clottey fight during the press tour for his own welterweight championship match against Shane Mosley.
Mosley picked Pacquiao. He’s just not sure that handicappers have correctly chosen the Philippines’ Pacquiao (50-3-2, 38 KOs) as about a 3-1 favorite over Ghana’s Clottey (35-3, 20 KOs, 1 NC) entering their 12-round fight for Pacquiao’s WBO welterweight title.
“I think Pacquiao wins because Clottey is not a finisher,” said Mosley (46-5, 39 KOs, 1 NC), who’ll defend his WBA 147-pound title against Mayweather (40-0, 25 KOs) on May 1 in Las Vegas. “I’m not saying Pacquiao will knock him out or anything. Clottey will be in the fight, and Clottey could knock him out, too, because he has power and he has speed and he has a good defense. But I think Pacquiao throws a lot more punches, and will not get him, but will probably beat him on points.”
Keith Idec covers boxing for The Record and Herald News, of Woodland Park, N.J., and BoxingScene.com.
