By Andy Rivera
WBO Welterweight champion Antonio Margarito reminded everyone in the boxing world that he is still a force after he disposed of previously unbeaten Kermit Cintron last month in Caesars Palace. Margarito put Cintron down four times, twice in the fourth and twice more in the fifth round. Many felt Cintron was too big and powerful for Margarito, but in this fight it was the opposite, with Margarito being the stronger of the two and it showed as the fight went on.
It is unknown if reports are true that Shane Mosley doesn’t want to fight Margarito at this time. Mosley is not alone, most top welterweights do not want any part of Margarito. Margarito has only one blemish on his record since 1996, a split decision loss to current WBO Jr Middleweight champion Daniel Santos.
Margarito’s moved up in weight to challenge Santos at the junior middleweight limit of 154 pounds, the end result was disastrous for Antonio. Margarito suffered a serious cut over his eye during the fight, which prompted the referee to stop the action and order the fight to go to the scorecards. Margarito thought he won the fight, but the final verdict went in the opposite direction. A few experts at ringside felt that because the event was held in the Santos' hometown, there may have been some bias involved with the scoring of the fight.
Margarito has pretty much been in the role of the unknown welterweight champion. Margarito may only hold the WBO version of the welterweight crown, but he also dominates almost every opponent put in front of him. Compiling a 32-4 record and four title defenses, Margarito feels it is now time to face the elite welterweights of the division. Challenges have been thrown to unified welterweight champion Zab Judah, Oscar De La Hoya and of course Shane Mosley. I’m sure Margarito's promoter Top Rank would love for him to sink his teeth into De La Hoya, but there might be a slight problem in making the fight. Margarito has not gained enough exposure outside the main-stream boxing community which means that there is not enough dollar bills involved for De La Hoya to consider facing such a dangerous puncher.
Margarito's lack of exposure can quickly change if his promoters put together the proper plan. Top Rank should get Margarito on future pay-per-view cards and as much television exposure as possible. Margarito didn’t suffer any damage against Cintron and should be able to fight again after a short recovery period.
A few more wins over top 10 caliber fighters could easily land Margarito a big money fight as early as the first quarter of 2006. Economically, its smart for Judah, De La Hoya do Mosley to stay away from Margarito, he doesn’t bring the financial rewards that each of the other fighters bring to the table. If Margarito can keep winning and looking impressive then other elite fighters in the welterweight division will have no choice but to face him. Margarito is a fighter who deserves a chance to face the division’s elite, now it’s up to the rest of the welterweight division to step up the plate and accept his challenge.
