Former welterweight titleholder Antonio Margarito has been out of the ring for more than four years, retiring after a 10th-round knockout loss to then-junior middleweight titleholder Miguel Cotto in their acrimonious rematch in December 2011.
In that fight, Cotto badly busted Margarito’s surgically repaired eye, which caused the stoppage and his retirement. Margarito had previously suffered terrible damage to the eye in a beatdown in a one-sided decision loss to Manny Pacquiao 13 months earlier.
Margarito came away from that fight with a detached retina and a cataract that required surgery. It was a close call that he was even licensed by the New York State Athletic Commission for the rematch with Cotto.
And now, after such a long layoff, Margarito is returning to the ring to face Mexican countryman Jorge Paez Jr. in a scheduled 10-round junior middleweight fight Saturday night (beIN Sports Espanol, 11 p.m. ET) at the Mexico City Arena in Mexico City.
In the 10-round junior featherweight co-feature, Cesar Juarez (17-4, 13 KOs), 24, of Mexico, who lost a decision in a sensational brawl with Nonito Donaire for a vacant world title fight on Dec. 11, will return to face the Philippines’ Rex Wao (11-2, 9 KOs), 26, a short-notice replacement.
Margarito (38-8, 27 KOs), who turns 38 later this month, claims he is not coming back because of money problems, which has long been the rumor. He said he is doing it for his children.
"I am ready to return after four years,” said Margarito, who trained in San Diego. “I have no financial problems. I want my kids to see me fight. They know who their father is.”
Margarito also insisted that his eye is healthy, although it looks misshapen in recent photographs.
“I have prepared very well. I’m very motivated and I’m returning to boxing because I know that I can still compete at the highest level,” said Margarito, despite a record of 1-3 in his last four fights, including two knockout losses. “I’m not coming back to lose.”
Margarito hopes a strong performance not only will launch him into another major fight but that it will pave the way for him to return to fighting in the United States, where he is viewed by many as an outcast because of a disgraceful incident in 2009. That was when he was caught in the dressing room at the Staples Center in Los Angeles trying to go into the ring for a welterweight title defense against Shane Mosley with hand wraps that contained elements of plaster of Paris. Margarito had his hands rewrapped and ultimately got knocked out in the ninth round of a one-sided fight in a huge upset. The California State Athletic Commission revoked Margarito’s license and he was not allowed to fight again for 16 months. There are many who believe he should have been permanently banished.
"Hopefully, Margarito will give a great fight, but it will not be easy,” Beltran said. “He wants to return to the United States to seek a rematch with Miguel Cotto or a fight with Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez, but it all depends on how he looks in Mexico.”
Paez (39-7-2, 23 KOs), 28, the son of former featherweight titleholder Jorge Paez Sr., is 1-2 in his last three fights but also believes a win against an opponent with the name value of Margarito will push him into a bigger fight.
"I have learned from my past mistakes and losses and now I want big fights if I beat Margarito, a great champion of strong punch," Paez said.