Williams Wants Margarito Rematch

The following release came to TSS from Team Williams/Goossen/Tutor.

We want to know which way the wind blows amongst you fans. Does a Margarito/Williams make the most sense? That is, if De La Hoya wants no part of a totally motivated Margarito, who may now be 20% better with  a career-making win over Cotto under his belt?

Read, and then fire away your usual array of jabs and haymakers, TSS Universe. And remember to keep it clean, darnit!

Los Angeles, CA (August 5, 2008) – Could there be a “Pride and Punishment II” in the near future?  That is the question promoter Bob Arum and his promotional firm Top Rank must ponder following a written offer presented to them by Goossen Tutor Promotions’ Dan Goossen last week following Antonio Margarito’s destruction of unbeaten Miguel Cotto in capturing the WBA Welterweight Title by an 11th round TKO.

Last July, the prideful Mexican hero – ignoring conventional wisdom of accepting a million dollar plus fight with then WBA Welterweight Champion Miguel Cotto – risked his WBO Welterweight Title against mandatory challenger, the dangerous Paul “The Punisher” Williams (34-1, 25 KOs).  In what was an epic toe-to-toe battle in front of a sold out Home Depot Center in Carson, California, the gallant Mexican lost a close but unanimous decision – and his title – to Williams, a native of Aiken, South Carolina.

“The offer to Top Rank for the Williams-Margarito rematch is quite simple,” Goossen said.  Goossen Tutor would guarantee $4,000,000 to Top Rank/Margarito against a 50% split of net revenues. This is a major fight for our sport and one that would draw tremendous fan and media interest.”

“Williams shows his confidence in being the “most feared fighter in the World” today by his willingness to fight the man he beat a little over a year ago.  There’s nothing for Williams’ to prove against Margarito, he already did that on July 14, 2007 in the ring. But Paul is always about the biggest and most compelling fights.  It’s Margarito’s turn this time to do his best to change the verdict and Paul is saying ‘you gave me the chance, and now I’ll be happy to give you the same opportunity.’”

“When Margarito said he wanted a rematch right after our fight on July 14th, I said I was happy to give him one, so of course I'd be just as happy to give him a rematch in November,” Williams stated.

When asked about the possibility of the rematch not happening, Williams said, “His promoter knows that if me and Margarito get in the ring again, I would win.  They know I know how to fight him and I’m as tough. Of course he has a chance to upset me, but the chance is slim.”

Ever since that war on that hot 2007 summer night in which Williams defeated Margarito by outworking and outlanding him with a constant onslaught of head and body shots, fans of both champions have been clamoring for an encore of what in many eyes was the 2007 “Fight of the Year.”

“I’m sure Margarito’s fans want to see him redeem himself against Williams,” observed Goossen, “and I know fans of Paul Williams want to see him put Margarito in his place again while unifying the WBO and WBA welterweight titles.

“For this fight it’s winner take all in my eyes. Our sport thrives with compelling fights and it’s hard to imagine that their second fight would be better than the first but I believe it would break all records for actual number of big time punches thrown in a fight,” Goossen said.

If the rematch isn’t made, Williams plans to continue toward every conceivable meaningful challenge toward greatness.

“I'm top heavy, so it's easy for me to get down to 147 when I start training. I walk around about 160 so I can go up and down between 147 and 168,” Williams said. “I just want to fight.  I want to fight people who are on the same level with me or on a higher level than me in their mind.  That’s what boxing is all about, risk.  My fans always tell me they love that about me.”

Added George Peterson, Williams’ trainer, “These guys are afraid of Paul, even the middleweights, but it makes no sense with the money they can make fighting him they still have to be dragged into the ring … the boxing fans want to see good fights and we’ll do our part to take on the riskiest fights presented to us. When I think about it, if I put myself in that situation of having to fight Paul, I probably wouldn’t want to fight Paul Williams’ either,” he chuckled.