In a little bit of news that has gone unnoticed, former welterweight champion Antonio Margarito claims that he will continue fighting after a visit to a specialist who examined the severity of his injuries sustained from his November thrashing to Manny Pacquiao. Margarito came out of the unanimous decision loss with a broken orbital bone but during a recent interview with ESPN Deportes the Tijuana fighter claimed that he will be pushing forward with his career after some more rest and time for his injury to heal.
There were also rumors that Margarito may have suffered a detached retina but such claims have gone on to be unfounded. Margarito did state that he will likely be sitting out the remainder of 2011 and eye a return in early 2012.
While this is good news on the surface, Margarito seems to be in a pickle here. At 33 years of age he isn’t getting any younger and may have completely saw a rematch with Miguel Cotto fall by the wayside. Margarito handed the Puerto Rican his first loss as a pro nearly three years ago at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas and was scheduled to face off with him again in July before seeing their clash moved back to September and eventually nixed for the moment.
News flash: Juan Diaz says Pacquiao will blow Marquez away if they fight a third time
Cotto will be present in Los Angeles next month to watch Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. in action as he challenges Sebastian Zbik for the WBC middleweight crown and if successful the 24-year old may next in line. All Margarito will be doing is sitting on the sidelines growing more inactive and even if a second Cotto fight comes about, it isn’t a fight he should consider without a tune up under his belt.
Regardless of what happens, Margarito is still a name attraction, partly due to the infamy connected to his January 2009 hand wrap scandal, and should be able to maneuver himself into another nice payday before all is said and done.
