By Lem Satterfield
Golden Boy Promotions President Oscar De La Hoya is breaking down the door to make the trilogy between Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez. De La Hoya has been keeping a close eye on the licensing situation with Antonio Margarito, who is scheduled to fight Pacquiao on November 13 in Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
Margarito appeared at a hearing on Wednesday to regain his license to box in the state of California. The California commission voted 5-1 to deny Margarito's application to obtain a license to box in their state.
In February 2009, Margarito's license was revoked by the California State Athletic Commission for a period of one year. The commission found Margarito liable for the use of illegal hands wraps. Prior to his fight with Shane Mosley in January 2009, Mosley's trainer Naazim Richardson spotted two hard inserts containing a plaster-like substance in Margarito's wraps. They were confiscated by the CSAC.
Pacquiao and Marquez fought to a controversial draw in 2004, and then Pacquiao won a controversial twelve round split decision over Marquez in the 2008 rematch.
"I was keeping up to date with this whole Margarito issue. And, obviously, now that California didn't grant him a license, I want to make a case for Marquez. Marquez has a license, he's obviously ready and willing to fight Manny Pacquiao," De La Hoya said.
"This is a fight that not only has to be made, but must be made because their first fight was a draw, and their second fight was highly disputed and it's only fair that a third fight happen. And here is Marquez with a license, willing to fight him, and I think that the public really deserves it."
According to De La Hoya, Top Rank's CEO Bob Arum is preventing the trilogy from taking place. Arum has his own side to the story. Prior to selecting Joshua Clottey as Pacquiao's opponent for his March fight, Arum reached out to Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer to make the Pacquiao-Marquez trilogy. Arum claims that Schaefer took an unrealistic position by demanding a 50-50 split and a random drug testing protocol.
"I want to make a strong case for Marquez. Not only for myself, because I want to watch that fight, but for all of the fans around the world who want to watch that trilogy. I think that it's only fair. The right thing is. making a third fight with Marquez. Marquez is willing to fight him," De La Hoya said.
"We keep on making our case as to why this fight should be happening. You know, Manny Pacquiao wants to fight. The only one who does not want to fight is Bob Arum, and that is not fair. That is not fair to the public, and that is not fair to Manny Pacquiao. That is not fair to Marquez."
Lem Satterfield is the boxing editor at AOL FanHouse and the news editor at BoxingScene.com. To read more from Lem Satterfield, go to AOL FanHouse by Clicking Here.
