Pacquiao versus Margarito is Possible says Bob Arum

Promoter Bob Arum of Top Rank told BoxingScene.com that he is considering hosting a Manny Pacquiao fight at the new Meadowlands Stadium in East Rutherford, NJ in the Summer. Arum mentioned Antonio Margarito as a possible opponent. Margarito is still under suspension for attempting to use loaded handwraps in his fight against Shane Mosley a year ago.

Arum believes Margarito will be reinstated later this week at a California State Athletic Commission hearing.

Speaking at a Madison Square Garden press conference to announce the WBO welterweight title clash between Manny Pacquiao and Joshua Clottey, Arum marveled at the Filipino turnout for the initial press conference the day before at Cowboys Stadium, the site of the Pacquiao-Clottey fight on March 13.

He approximates that "1,000" Filipinos were on hand at the kick-off press event on Tuesday. "There are Filipinos are all over the country, not just the West Coast."

Arum says New York Giants co-owner Steve Tisch is "a very close friend" and is "jokingly pissed that we're in Cowboys Stadium."

"There's no stadium like Cowboys Stadium but they say the new stadium in the Meadowlands is absolutely tremendous so we'd love to do it there," said Arum.

A Summer fight would be feasible as long as no complications arise from Pacquiao's upcoming political campaign. Pacquiao is running for congressman of Sarangani, a Filipino province in his native Mindinao. The election is scheduled for May.

Don't hold your breath for a Pacquiao-Mayweather fight however, Arum cautions. He says he isn't very optimistic the fight can be made due to differences between the two parties.

"Mayweather is a bully. That was my message today, you don't bully a Filipino."

Pacquiao says he believes the fight will happen one day and blames Mayweather for the fallout of their proposed matchup.

"Maybe Mayweather don't really want the fight because he had too many reasons to cancel the fight. He makes his own rules that are not in the Nevada Athletic Commission. I think he thinks he's smarter than anybody.

"I think he thought that he's the champion. He has to stay humble and give back to the people that support him. He's too concerned with his record and losing."

Although Pacquiao rejected the 5'11" WBA junior middleweight champion Yuri Foreman recently, Arum doesn't believe the size difference with the equally-tall Margarito will be too dramatic given the former welterweight champion's posture.

"He doesn't feel that Margarito presents the same problems as Foreman. Margarito is a tall guy but he crunches over so he's not really that tall. Yuri fights tall."

Boxrec.com has Margarito scheduled for a fight against journeyman Carson Jones on the Pacquiao-Clottey undercard. Calls to Jones' representative Bobby Dobbs were not immediately returned.

New York and New Jersey - particularly Queens and Jersey City - host some of the biggest Filipino communities in the United States. Approximately 60,000 Filipino-Americans take residence in New York City alone.

Meadowlands Stadium is scheduled to open this April and will be the home field for the NFL's New York Giants and New York Jets. It has a maximum seating of 82,500, second only in size to the Washington Redskins' FedEx Field.

Source : BoxingScene.com