Oscar should consider Margarito

By Robert Morales

It was July 21 at the Montebello Police Athletic League gym, located just blocks from the city limits of East Los Angeles, where Oscar De La Hoya grew up. It was five days before Antonio Margarito would beat Miguel Cotto of Puerto Rico to a pulp on the way to an 11th-round technical knockout and another welterweight world title.

On this day, Margarito worked out for the media. We cornered him just after he walked into the PAL and asked him about De La Hoya's alleged latest disclaimer - that he did not want a Mexican to be his final opponent. De La Hoya's last fight is tentatively scheduled for Dec. 6.

Margarito is from Tijuana, Mexico. De La Hoya is Mexican-American. Margarito smiled and said something in Spanish that can't be printed here, then cleaned up his answer.

"What's the fear?" Margarito said. "I don't understand that. At the time we made this fight (meaning his with Cotto), he said he would fight the winner. It would be good for the Mexican people. I hope he reconsiders."

Bob Arum promotes Margarito as well as another possible future De La Hoya opponent - Manny Pacquiao. Arum said De La Hoya told him recently that he does not want his farewell fight to be against a Mexican, which would exclude Margarito from the De La Hoya sweepstakes.

"He was adamant," Arum told this reporter last week.

Arum made further mention of this at Saturday's post-fight news conference at MGM Grand in Las Vegas, as 15rounds.com colleague Michael Swann wrote in his post-fight column. Arum also mentioned that perhaps De La Hoya would change his mind now that a fight with Margarito would be in such high demand with big money to be made.

Interestingly, it wasn't that long ago that De La Hoya said he did not want to fight Puerto Ricans anymore because his wife, Millie, is Puerto Rican. He apparently changed his tune in that regard, because Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer recently said that De La Hoya would love to fight Cotto if he beat Margarito.

We talked to several veteran boxing writers in the aftermath of Margarito's sizzling upset victory Saturday over one of boxing's top pound-for-pound fighters. The consensus feeling was De La will certainly not want anything to do with Margarito after the way he humbled Cotto.

Many reporters laughed at the idea that De La Hoya would say he did not want to fight a Mexican in his farewell bout. It made one wonder if perhaps that statement was a preemptive strike, a ready-made excuse for not taking on a fighter who would be good enough to beat Cotto.

De La Hoya would have given Cotto the same matchup problems Margarito did. De La Hoya would have had an easier time with Cotto because Cotto - at 5-foot-7 - is not a big welterweight. De La Hoya is 5-10 1/2 and his length - as did Margarito's - would have bothered Cotto.

De La Hoya holds no such advantage over Margarito, a patient animal standing 5-11. At this point, he could be De La Hoya's worst nightmare. Margarito could hurt De La Hoya more than he has ever been hurt during his career.

Many think De La Hoya knows that. And that the last thing he wants is to retire with a butt-kicking of painful proportions. But Eric Gomez, De La Hoya's matchmaker at Golden Boy and longtime friend - does not want to hear that. During a spirited interview with Gomez on Tuesday, he scoffed at the notion that his boyhood pal is scared of Margarito or anybody else.

"A lot of people didn't think he was going to fight (Bernard) Hopkins, and he did it," Gomez said. "He lost, but he did it. Does that show Oscar is afraid? Most of the guys who are saying that are guys who have never been in the ring. I don't think any fighter is afraid.

"For people who say Oscar would be afraid to fight Margarito, those are just Oscar haters. He has fought everyone, from (Rafael) Ruelas, when they didn't think he was ready for Ruelas, to Hopkins. Oscar has heard it all, from chicken to this and that. The truth is, he has fought everybody."

Since Margarito's victory, stories abound about how Margarito wants De La Hoya next. This is nothing new, Gomez said.

"Obviously, we know that Margarito is calling him out," Gomez said. "But it's funny because everybody calls Oscar out. Oscar should get an award for everybody who has called Oscar out after he wins. ... I think Margarito is just like any other fighter - they need Oscar more than Oscar needs them.

"Oscar has heard this all along. Winky Wright is with us and he keeps calling Oscar out all the time. Kassim Ouma. Everybody calls Oscar out because they know they can really make a nice payday, probably the best in their career. And to have that name under their belts."

There is something else, Gomez said. He wonders why Margarito would not want to avenge his loss to Paul Williams last July at Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif.

"He had a big win," Gomez said of Margarito's bombing out of Cotto. "He was the underdog. It was a very good win. But Margarito has some unfinished business. He does have a guy who beat him last year in Paul Williams. It's kind of strange for a fighter who won a big fight want to fight Oscar when he has a chance to avenge the loss of a fighter who beat him.
"He had a good fight (against Cotto). I'm not going to take that away from him. I'm a fan of his. I like his style. Just because I like him doesn't mean all of a sudden Oscar has to fight him."

Gomez is right about a lot of what he says. De La Hoya (39-5, 30 KOs) has fought the tough guys of his era. And the only time he seemed a bit wary was in his fight with Felix Trinidad Jr. Margarito did lose to Williams, one of the other welterweight champions, just one year ago. And, as Gomez pointed out, Margarito lost to Williams in what is his quasi hometown. Margarito is from Tijuana, but he spends a lot of time in and around the L.A. area.

But for Margarito, a rematch with Williams is nowhere near as lucrative as a fight with De La Hoya, the biggest money-maker in boxing history. This is a no-brainer. Margarito and the rest of his team - managers, promoter, etc. - are probably going to launch an all-out verbal attack on De La Hoya in an effort to get him into the ring.

Truth be known, this is the most attractive fight out there for De La Hoya. It would really capture the public's attention. If De La Hoya were to beat Margarito, it would be one of the best closing acts in boxing history. De La Hoya should dare to be great
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Gomez said he would not rule out a fight against Margarito. Pacquiao, who would have to move up from 135 pounds all the way to 147, is another candidate. As is Williams, Gomez said, throwing out the name of the fighter who beat Margarito a year ago.

Gomez said he knows that those associated with Margarito are "going to try to goad Oscar into fighting Margarito by saying he's afraid." But Gomez said De La Hoya is not going to let Team Margarito or anyone else make this decision for him.

"Oscar is the boss and ultimately that is going to be up to him," Gomez said. "But he is not going to be influenced by reporters or fans saying he is afraid of this person or that person, because he has fought everybody."