Texas Must Stop Antonio Margarito from Fighting Manny Pacquiao -- FanHouse

By David Whitley, FanHouse

Boxing and respectability have never been close friends. So you'd think a fine, upstanding NFL owner wouldn't want to mess with a fight that will be dipped in sleaze.

Unless the owner is Jerry Jones, of course.

The Cowboys' boss never met a bum he wouldn't sign or a dollar he wouldn't chase. So in the tradition of Pacman Jones, Tank Johnson and Terrell Owens, we bring you Antonio Margarito vs. Manny Pacquiao.

It's not official yet. But don't be surprised if the shady planets align and Cowboys Stadium plays host to the fight on Nov. 13.

As to why the image-conscious NFL should care, Margarito (above) is a combination of Pacman, Spygate and an intentional crackback block. Society doesn't expect much out of boxing, but Margarito pulled a stunt in January 2009 that would have embarrassed Mike Tyson.

His fists were taped with plaster of Paris before fighting Shane Mosley, essentially turning them into loaded weapons. Mosley's camp discovered the ploy before the bell, which was lucky for both fighters.

Mosley could have been maimed, and Margarito could have been sent to jail. As it was, he merely had his boxing license suspended for a year.

Now he wants to fight again, but the California State Athletic Commission voted 5-1 on Wednesday to deny his application for reinstatement. It apparently was not impressed by Margarito's attitude over the past 19 months.

He sparred in a gym without getting the required license. He never apologized for the near-crime. In his one bout (held in Mexico, which didn't recognize the U.S. ban), Margarito grinned and twirled his fists at the TV cameras, seemingly laughing the whole thing off.

He maintains that he had no idea his trainer put the plaster mixture on the tape. Yes, and Pacman had no idea who shot the bouncer at the strip club.

"This was a sordid incident in California history," deputy attorney general Karen Chappelle told the California commission. "It strains credulity that he didn't know anything about the illegal hand wraps."

How strained was it? Even David Letterman weighed in after the fight with "Top Ten Reasons Antonio Margarito Used Plaster of Paris." Among my favorites:

10. I thought I was in LA to get my hands cemented for the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

7. I was only commemorating the 26th anniversary of the Luis Resto incident.

That last one really isn't funny. Resto removed padding from his gloves and taped his fists with plaster before a bout against Billy Collins Jr. He was caught and served 2 1/2 years for assault, conspiracy and criminal possession of a deadly weapon.

Collins' vision was permanently damaged. He couldn't fight again, became depressed and eventually drove his car off a cliff.

So why are Jones, Pacquiao and promoter Bob Arum associating with him?

Money is in the air, and they're scrambling like the strippers after Pacman made it rain.

(Please forgive me for conjuring the image of Jones in a G-string).

Everything was pretty much set, then those meddling Californians denied Margarito a license. The only alternative now is to try to get reinstated by the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation.

Boxing commissions usually honor the rulings of other states, but why do I get the feeling the boys down in Austin will decide poor Margarito has suffered enough?

Jones is still jazzed over the 50,944 fans who showed up at Cowboys Stadium for the Pacquiao-Joshua Clottey fight in March. He figures the Bad Boy from Mexico will be an irresistible draw to Texas' Hispanic community.

Of course, he also figured Johnson would solidify the defensive line once he got out of house arrest. And T.O. would be the unifying force that would bring Dallas a Super Bowl. And Pacman would be a great addition to the Cowboys' secondary.

He wasn't, even before he got into a fight with the babysitter who had been assigned to keep him out of trouble.

I don't expect much of a social conscience out of Jones, much less Arum. Pacquiao, however, is a revered lawmaker in the Philippines. He shouldn't be dragged down to this level, but this Pacman seems willing to do anything to get another title.

Then there's Margarito, who probably cheated his way into a marquee fight against Mosley. He could have killed Mosley if he hadn't been caught. He's shown no remorse. Now he's in line for a multi-million dollar payday.

I'd say it could only happen in boxing, but you know Jerry Jones. If the fight falls through he'll probably sign Margarito as a defensive back.

Source: boxing.fanhouse.com

De La Hoya sells Marquez as Pacquiao's next fight -- Los Angeles Times

By Lance Pugmire, Los Angeles Times

Oscar De La Hoya has railed against the possible reinstatement of Antonio Margarito, who was re-denied a license Wednesday by the California State Athletic Commission.

Even though Margarito has now taken his case for reinstatement to Texas, where he's poised to fight Manny Pacquiao Nov. 13 at Cowboys Stadium outside Dallas, De La Hoya said in a Thursday conference call that Margarito should be kept out of the ring for nearly taking gloves loaded with plaster inserts into his failed January 2009 welterweight title defense against Shane Mosley.

Former world champion De La Hoya insisted that fighters know if there's something amiss inside their hand wraps, like the presence of plaster inserts.

Promoter De La Hoya, of course, has another reason for saying that, starting with the fact that he wants his fighter, Juan Manuel Marquez, to fight Pacquiao for a third time instead.

"The case I want to make is that Marquez is right there, already licensed," De La Hoya said.

Marquez fought Pacquiao to a stirring draw in 2004, then was defeated by the Filipino superstar in a narrow split decision in 2008.

In July, Marquez made a strong case for getting another shot at Pacquiao by defending his lightweight title impressively against Juan Diaz.

But Pacquiao and Margarito are promoted by Bob Arum of Top Rank, and Arum hasn't spoken to the chief executive of De La Hoya's Golden Boy Promotions, Richard Scahefer, since January, when they first failed to make a Pacquiao-Floyd Mayweather Jr. super-fight.

"We feel if Golden Boy and Top Rank can make big fights, it's a win-win situation for everyone -- the fighters and the fans," De La Hoya said. "We're going to do what's best for the fans."

A Marquez-Pacquiao bout would face intense negotiation over which weight it would be fought at -- with Marquez weighing 135 pounds for his July bout and Pacquiao planning to fight Margarito at 154 -- along with the purse-split questions.

A Top Rank representative told The Times on Thursday that a Golden Boy representative has yet to contact Top Rank about making the fight.

So Pacquiao is moving full steam ahead toward plans to fight Margarito, hopeful that Texas buys Margarito's account that he had no idea his since-fired trainer Javier Capetillo had put the inserts atop both of his hands.

Source: latimesblogs.latimes.com

Manny Pacquiao's Lawsuit Ongoing Vs. Floyd Mayweather, Golden Boy -- FanHouse

By Lem Satterfield, FanHouse

A lawsuit filed in late December by seven-division champion and WBO welterweight (147 pounds) titlist Manny Pacquiao, which sought compensatory and punitive damages for defamation of character, and named six-time, five-division titlist Floyd Mayweather Jr., officials from Golden Boy Promotions and others, still is ongoing, according to the lead attorney whose firm is handling the case.

At the time of the suit, which lists Richard Schaefer and Oscar De La Hoya, CEO and president, respectively, of Golden Boy Promotions, as well as Floyd Mayweather Sr., his uncle and trainer, Roger Mayweather, Pacquiao and Mayweather had been tentatively slated for a March 13 bout at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, having agreed on a 50-50 split of the revenue, as well as eight-ounce gloves and a clash at the welterweight limit rather than a catch weight.

"The Pacquiao case is still going on. The court has motions in front of it and it hasn't made a ruling on any of them yet," said senior attorney Daniel Petrocelli, of Los Angeles-based O'Melveny and Myers law firm.

"Oscar De La Hoya's deposition was taken, and Richard Schaefer's deposition was taken limited to the motions that they filed," said Petrocelli, who gained a wrongful death civil conviction against O.J. Simpson in 1997.

"Their testimony was presented to the court in relative part and in relation to the motions that are in front of the judge right now," said Petrocelli. "We think that it will go to trial, but given how the process works, it won't be anytime this year, but probably sometime next year. There is no schedule set."

Meanwhile, the 31-year-old Pacquiao (51-3-2, 38 knockouts) is slated to face 32-year-old Antonio Margarito (38-6, 27 knockouts) on Nov. 13 at the Dallas Cowboys Stadium, where Pacquiao would pursue his record eighth crown in as many different weight classes with the WBC's vacant junior middleweight (154 pounds) crown being on the line.

Floyd Mayweather Sr.: Manny Pacquiao on supplements, steroids

On Wednesday, Petrocelli represented Margarito during a hearing with the California State Athletic Commission and his failed attempt to regain a license that was revoked in February of 2009 stemming from a hand-wrapping scandal in relation to his ninth-round knockout loss to Shane Mosley in January of 2009. Margarito has applied for a license in Texas.

"We're involved in all aspects, but we don't know what the next step is," said Petrocelli. "We're going to be getting together with [Top Rank Promotions' CEO] Bob Arum and [Top Rank president] Todd duBoef and work all of that out. We really need to sit down and analyze what happened [Wednesday] and figure out what our next step is."

Source: boxing.fanhouse.com