By Rick Reeno
According to Top Rank president Todd duBoef, the long awaited return of WBA welterweight champion Antonio Margarito is going to happen in January, with or without "Sugar" Shane Mosley as the opponent. The proposed Margarito-Mosley clash has been in talks for weeks, but the fight might be too expensive for HBO to pick up.
There is also a strong possibility that Molsey may go with WBC champion Andre Berto, a fight that would cost HBO a lot less. Berto is very interested in the fight and talks have taken place between Golden Boy Promotions and Berto's promoter Lou DiBella. Both deals are being presented to Mosley - and “Sugar” will go with whichever fight makes the most financial sense.
BoxingScene.com was informed by duBoef that Margarito will return in January against the best possible opponent they can find. Margarito has been taking a break since the July knockout of Miguel Cotto. A rematch with Cotto is already tentatively scheduled for next June.
“I think we are going to see if we can obviously make the Mosley fight - if it makes the most sense and if it can be done. If it doesn’t, then we go back to the drawing board and we sit down and decide what we want to do. Margarito didn’t fight [again] this year because he wanted more time off, but he will fight in January and who he fights will be determined evidently,” duBoef said.