Margarito speaks out after Judah's loss

Article by German Villasenor (January 8, 2006) WBO welterweight champion Antonio Margarito, who is set to defend his crown on February 18th against Manuel Gomez, was an interested observer in Carlos Baldomir's upset win over Zab Judah Saturday night. ''I'm excited, maybe I can fight (Floyd) Mayweather in Judah's place, or fight Baldomir to unify with the WBC," said Margarito. ''The way Baldomir had Judah going, you can be sure I would have taken him out. I definitely would not have let him out of the round; I would have knocked him out.'' Margarito could definitely be in place to fight Baldomir, whose promoter, Sycuan Ringside Promotions, works closely with Top Rank, who has the WBO champion. First things first though, as Margarito has to defeat Gomez in February, and not overlook his foe, who has been on his trail for a few years now. But it seems unlikely that Margarito will overlook Gomez, as he hopes that his time might finally come in 2006, when he gets to show who truly is the best welterweight out there (Margarito has retained his belt since 2002, while all the other belts have been handed from one fighter to another in the same time frame). Margarito wants to unify with one of the now-vacant titles, or face either Baldomir or Mayweather, seeing how everyone else in the 147 to 154 weight classes are avoiding the Tijuana raised champion. He's not getting his hopes up though. ''We will see what happens,'' see Margarito. Margarito's co-manager, Sergio Diaz, said he will contact Top Rank on Monday to see if the fight against Mayweather can finally be worked out, now that Judah is out of the sweepstakes. A unification with Baldomir is, of course, also being looked at. Hopefully he isnt over looking Gomez that guy can punch.