It’s been just over a month since Antonio Margarito commenced training to make a comeback at 154 pounds by the end of this year.
After receiving approval from his family to return to the sport, Margarito began training with a trainer in San Diego before recently returning to Robert Garcia on a partial schedule.
BKB [Big Knockout Boxing] middleweight champion Gabriel Rosado told Fight Hype that he was interested in fighting Margarito on the platform and when Garcia was asked about the possibility, he threw his support behind it.
“That’d be awesome man,” Garcia told Fight Hype’s Luis Sandoval. “Why not? Rosado is a great dude, and he’s had good wins at BKB. BKB loved him. It’d be great, it’d be awesome.”
“This is the first time I’m hearing it, but I got good connections with BKB people, so I’m going to bring it up to them. Maybe it is a good thing to do. Rosado v. Margarito, it’d probably be a nice fight.”
Margarito announced his retirement in the summer of 2012 following a pair of tumultuous years in the ring.
After being caught trying to fight Shane Mosley in 2009 with loaded hand wraps, Margarito became one of boxing’s most traduced figures.
He and ex-trainer Javier Capetillo were each suspended for a year while Margarito returned under the helm of trainer Robert Garcia, where he ironically scored a unanimous decision victory against a man of the same name in his first comeback fight in May 2010.
Then, Margarito was beaten severely by Manny Pacquiao. Although he finished the fight on his feet, he suffered a broken orbital bone and a severe cataract in his right eye.
Margarito returned over a year later to rematch Miguel Cotto, who believed that he may have been using illegal wraps the evening he stopped him in the Puerto Rican’s first defeat in July 2008.
He also lost that fight rather convincingly, which has left fans wondering just how serious Margarito is about this latest comeback attempt.
Garcia wants to put an end to the speculation. Margarito wants to fight.
“He does want to fight. He’s in shape. He’s been running. He comes here, not every day; he lives in San Diego right now. He doesn’t want to be driving back and forth until we get something certain,” Garcia explained.
“If it’s Top Rank that gets him back in the ring, then he’ll do training camp here. He comes once or twice a week. If we can do something with BKB, then maybe it’d be a good idea. I hadn’t thought about it, but it wouldn’t be a bad idea to bring it up and see if they are interested.”
This could prove to be a good brawl. Both guys are known for taking a lot of punches and always giving it their best. Like Robert Garcia said, why not?