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From Dan Rafael's blog :
http://espn.go.com/blog/dan-rafael/p...-if-not-in-n-y
The saga of where the Miguel Cotto-Antonio Margarito fight will take place has now reached the level of surreal, with Cotto saying on a media teleconference Tuesday that if the fight isn't in New York, he won't fight.
Whoa.
Poor promoter Bob Arum sounded like he was about to have a heart attack when Cotto said that.
"I signed for this for New York," Cotto said when asked for his opinion about the possibility that the fight could be moved because of Margarito's licensing problem in New York. "I didn't sign this fight for somewhere else. I'm going to fight in New York. I'm not going to fight in another place. I'm not going to present myself in any other state. New York State. If New York says and the medical people from the commission say that Margarito is not able to fight because of his eye, any commission has to respect that."
Arum seemed at a loss for words, which is rare. He said he didn't know why we were even having the call before the New York State Athletic Commission took a vote Tuesday afternoon on Margarito's license.
Perhaps Arum forgot that it was his company that scheduled the call.
Anyway, later on the call a writer from Puerto Rico asked Cotto about the venue again. Cotto this time answered in Spanish, which was translated by Top Rank publicist Ricardo Jimenez.
Cotto, who would have massive backing from what will be a sellout crowd filled mostly with his Puerto Rican fans, reiterated his stance:
"When I signed for this fight with the company [Top Rank] and Margarito, the fight was to be in New York City and that's where the fight should be. It's not a question of giving [Margarito] an advantage [if it is somewhere else]. I signed to fight in New York City and that's where it should be."
At that point, Arum was clearly agitated and immediately ordered publicist Fred Sternburg to end the call. Then the line went dead.
Whoa.
Poor promoter Bob Arum sounded like he was about to have a heart attack when Cotto said that.
"I signed for this for New York," Cotto said when asked for his opinion about the possibility that the fight could be moved because of Margarito's licensing problem in New York. "I didn't sign this fight for somewhere else. I'm going to fight in New York. I'm not going to fight in another place. I'm not going to present myself in any other state. New York State. If New York says and the medical people from the commission say that Margarito is not able to fight because of his eye, any commission has to respect that."
Arum seemed at a loss for words, which is rare. He said he didn't know why we were even having the call before the New York State Athletic Commission took a vote Tuesday afternoon on Margarito's license.
Perhaps Arum forgot that it was his company that scheduled the call.
Anyway, later on the call a writer from Puerto Rico asked Cotto about the venue again. Cotto this time answered in Spanish, which was translated by Top Rank publicist Ricardo Jimenez.
Cotto, who would have massive backing from what will be a sellout crowd filled mostly with his Puerto Rican fans, reiterated his stance:
"When I signed for this fight with the company [Top Rank] and Margarito, the fight was to be in New York City and that's where the fight should be. It's not a question of giving [Margarito] an advantage [if it is somewhere else]. I signed to fight in New York City and that's where it should be."
At that point, Arum was clearly agitated and immediately ordered publicist Fred Sternburg to end the call. Then the line went dead.
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