Antonio Margarito got his Christmas wish.
Fourteen years after turning pro, Margarito finally gets a crack at Sugar Shane Mosley when Margarito defends his WBA welterweight title on Jan. 24 at Staples Center. It’s the first boxing card at Staples since 2006 and is expected to sell out. It also will be televised on HBO.
“For two years we wanted a fight with Mosley, but the fight did not go through,” said Margarito, 30. “It didn’t go through because I’m a street fighter.”
Until he got his big break last year, Tijuana’s Margarito (37-5, 27 KOs) fought on less publicized cards, and the only welterweights who took fights with him were guys like Joshua Clottey, Kermit Cintron and Paul Williams, who beat Margarito in a close decision last year.
But that loss did not hurt Margarito, it just furthered his reputation as a gutsy, go-for-broke brawler with skills and opened the door for him.
This summer, Margarito became the toast of Mexico after handing Puerto Rico’s Miguel Cotto his first loss.
“When we were walking around Mexico City, he was mobbed everywhere we went,” said Sergio Diaz, Margarito’s co-manager.
Now, Margarito aims to be the toast of LA and gain more fame as a giant slayer.
A lot is riding on this fight for Mosley (45-5, 38 KOs) and Golden Boy Promotions.
It’s been a little more than a week since Oscar De La Hoya, Mosley’s business partner and friend, was beaten by Manny Pacquiao. Now Mosley faces the much bigger and younger Margarito in a fight that many experts feel is in Margarito’s favor.
Can Golden Boy endure another serious hit to one of its prize clients?
“With Margarito being a warrior, it makes for a great and spectacular fight,” said Mosley, 37.
In Mosley’s last fight he needed almost the entire 12 rounds to win, knocking out Ricardo Mayorga with 1 second remaining.
“Margarito is actually the smallest guy I’ve fought since Miguel Cotto,” said Mosley, who at 5-foot-8 gives up 3 inches to Margarito. “I get the opportunity to show what I can do.
“Almost all of my fights are against much bigger guys. Mayorga probably came into the fight around 175 pounds. Fernando Vargas walks around about 220 pounds. Winky Wright is a big guy, too.”
Mosley’s victories over Vargas and De La Hoya remain the highlights of his career. A victory over Margarito not only would rank among those — and perhaps pave the way for a bout with Pacquiao — but it also would give a big lift to Golden Boy, which has gotten most of its recent wins from Bernard Hopkins, Juan Manuel Marquez and Great Britain’s Ricky Hatton and David Haye.
