Feb 5, 2004 

Margarito is the younger of the two and holds the WBO Welterweight Title. At 25, he is Mayorga’s junior by five years. He also hasn’t lost a fight in seven and a half years, and all of his losses came before he turned 19, and not one by knockout. With a record of 30-3 with 21 knockouts, he is coming off three straight second round wins and should be ready by now to step up the level of opposition.

Mayorga, on the other hand, is 26-4-1 with 23 knockouts and coming off a majority decision loss to slickster Cory Spinks. Certainly he would welcome the opportunity to win another title, albeit a WBO version, on his way to larger game. Mayorga, much like Arturo Gatti, is the type of fighter that even if he loses, his popularity will not be affected. Ask yourself, now that Spinks has bested Mayorga, whose next fight would you rather see?

There are two potential barriers to this fight. One is the age old problem that one fighter, Margarito in this case, is promoted by Bob Arum, while the other in Mayorga, is promoted by Don King. The other problem is Mayorga’s popularity. Antonio Margarito, while a very good and exciting fighter, is not a household name. Oscar De La Hoya, "Sugar" Shane Mosley, and Vernon Forrest are....at least in casual boxing households. Mayorga, and King especially, will most likely forego a fight against Margarito if the opportunity arose to make more money and save themselves a few headaches.

That’s good for them, and those are all excellent fights, but it’s a shame for boxing fans. These are two fighters who come to fight and have never shown fear of any kind in the ring. If they got together there would be little boxing going on, and a knockout would likely come within the first five rounds. There is no way that a fight like this isn’t exciting. Neither fighter has a terrific defense. Although he was stopped in his pro debut, Mayorga’s chin is beyond question after he invited Forrest’s best shots and took them like they had the effect of throwing a grain of sand into a brick wall. Margarito’s chin is still somewhat of a question, especially when you have someone like Mayorga in there winging at you with every ounce of his being. Margarito, however, is more polished than Mayorga....but then again, who isn’t more polished than Mayorga?

This is an action fight that would score huge with the fans and should be made if at all possible. Roadblocks notwithstanding, there would almost certainly be a demand for a more lucrative rematch if the fight lived up to its expectations. With the way these two guys throw bombs, that seems a safe bet. Of course, if it doesn’t then there is always another "best fight" to be made, right?