FANS who want Manny Pacquiao to face Floyd Mayweather Jr. next may be in for a disappointment.
Pacquiao, who is running for Congress in May, is scheduled to fight again in November and Bob Arum, his promoter, wants him to fight Antonio Margarito.
Margarito, like Pacquiao, has beaten Miguel Cotto but the Mexican lost his title defense to Shane Mosley after getting knocked out in the 11th round.
Compounding his woes, Margarito was discovered to have used illegal hand wraps against Mosley and was subsequently suspended for one year.
Mosley is set to face Mayweather Jr. on May 1 and Freddie Roach, Pacquiao’s trainer, wants him to face the winner of that bout.
If not the winner, Roach wants either the undefeated Edwin Valero or have another go with Juan Manuel Marquez Jr.
But Arum isn’t having any of that.
“Freddie is the greatest trainer in the world, but he needs to leave this up for the promoters. Valero might be the best but frankly he’s an inside story in boxing. The public at large really don’t know who he is. That can change, and that’s my job, as Valero’s promoter, to change that. We need someone the country is familiar with and Margarito is someone they are certainly familiar with,” Arum said in a report posted at boxingscene.com.
Valero has knocked out all his 27 foes, 21 in the first round. However, most of his fights were outside the US since he isn’t licensed to fight in Las Vegas. He was involved in an accident in 2001 and had surgery. Though his Venezuelan doctor cleared him, he can’t get a US clearance.
Margarito is certainly known to the US boxing public, but maybe not for the right reasons.
His 11th round TKO win over Cotto in 2008, which ended the Puerto Rican’s winning streak, was tainted because of the controversy of his next fight.
“We want to get him two wins (before November). He has the fight in May then maybe in June or July on a pay-per-view card with Julio Chavez Jr., and then get him ready for a November date with Pacquiao,” Arum said.