Margarito learn from Winky Wright

By Kevein Lole, In 2006, Winky Wright made one of the most ill-fated decisions in boxing history. The one-time undisputed super welterweight champion declined a $5 million offer that year to fight a rematch with Jermain Taylor.

The decision was incomprehensible on so many levels, not the least of which was that there was no way Wright was going to make $5 million anywhere else for doing anything else.

He’d beaten Taylor resoundingly on June 17, 2006, in the eyes of everyone who saw the bout but the judges. Somehow, the fight was scored a draw and Wright did not leave Memphis, Tenn., that night with the WBC and WBO middleweight title belts he so richly deserved and had so obviously earned.

He was angry and rightfully so. But Wright let his anger influence his decision-making, and it has all but cost him his career. He insisted on making more than Taylor in a rematch and wasn’t satisfied with an abnormally high $5 million

He’s only fought two bouts since and has all but faded into oblivion. He’s fighting on Versus on Dec. 4, his first bout in 18 months, and he’s going to be largely ignored as the boxing world focuses on the Oscar De La Hoya-Manny Pacquiao bout two days later.

Antonio Margarito isn’t in danger of slipping into Wright-style obscurity, but the crowd-pleasing welterweight champion ought to keep Wright’s faux pas in mind when he chooses his next fight.

Margarito turned down a $2 million offer to fight Shane Mosley on Jan. 24, reputedly because he was unhappy with having to accept a 50-50 purse split with Mosley.

The fight may yet occur, but Margarito’s talking as if it won’t unless the percentages change greatly.

Margarito attended Mosley’s fight at the Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif., on Sept. 27, and saw the vast expanses of empty seats. The attendance was announced as a little over 5,000, but there were fewer than half that many in the arena.

And when Margarito walked in, the crowd stirred for one of the few times that night. It didn’t escape Margarito’s notice, particularly since he spent much of his career fighting in the shadow of boxers like Mosley.

He believes he’s now surpassed Mosley – a point that is hard to argue – and believes he’s worth more than having to accept a 50-50 split.

“I understand the economy,” Margarito told BoxingScene.com’s Rick Reeno. “Golden Boy and Team Mosley should understand that I’m the one who is pulling in the people. Mosley has never pulled in people. We saw him in the Home Depot Center and that place was empty. Two years ago when I was a world champion, I wasn’t getting my respect and my due.

“I beat the guy that the majority of the people didn’t think I was going to beat. I beat Cotto and took the purse that was offered to show HBO, the promoters and the people what I was made of and to show that I can do it. I knocked out Cotto and it’s still the same for me.”

HBO put itself into a corner by giving the Jan. 24 date to Mosley and Golden Boy and then looking to find a suitable opponent for him. It’s never made much sense why a date is given to a promoter or a fighter without a firm bout signed. HBO’s incentive would be, theoretically, at least, to give its subscribers the best possible bouts.

You can’t do that consistently when you give dates away without knowing for certain what fight you’ll wind up with. Despite the poor economic conditions, HBO hasn’t cut its boxing budget for 2009, which is a good thing. But it should use its money wisely and only make the best bouts, and by flat giving a date away, that isn’t happening.

HBO has reportedly sweetened its offer and Margarito is likely to accept. However, Margarito and other boxers like him ought to remember that the world is changing. No one has money to fling around these days like they did as recently as two years ago. Top Rank president Todd duBoef said the issue came down to the fact that Golden Boy views Mosley on a substantially higher level than Margarito does.

Golden Boy views the situation that Mosley has two wins over De La Hoya and Margarito desperately wants a fight with De La Hoya. So, its thinking goes, Margarito should fight Mosley and prove himself worthy of a fight with De La Hoya.

Margarito, though, sees it from the opposite end. Cotto defeated Mosley and he stopped Cotto. Plus, Mosley struggled with an obviously over-the-hill Ricardo Mayorga before stopping him in September. Thus, Margarito doesn’t see why he should even be asked about a 50-50 split, let alone being presented a take it or leave it offer.

He may be the 2008 Fighter of the Year, after one-sided wins over then-champions Kermit Cintron and Cotto. His 11th round stoppage of Cotto in their July 26 battle in Las Vegas may be named Fight of the Year.

And there are few fighters more in demand for 2009 than Margarito. Mosley would like to fight him. So would Paul Williams, who defeated him in a 2007 bout and has been unsuccessful landing a rematch.

Cotto is itching for a rematch of their bout, which did a surprisingly strong 450,000 sales on pay-per-view. That is likely to come in the summer.

So Margarito doesn’t figure to vaporize the way Wright did after the short-sighted decision to say no to the $5 million offer for a Taylor rematch.

But he’d better be careful not to overplay his hands. Promoters are losing a lot of money these days, as fans aren’t buying tickets or pay-per-views to much of anything.

Even the so-called sellout between De La Hoya and Pacquiao is a myth. The bout supposedly sold out in a day and generated nearly $17 million in ticket sales. But if you go to TicketMaster.com now, you can buy tickets for the fight.

You can get a package that includes a hotel room, a couple of great seats and some gambling money for less than the face value of the tickets.

Some sellout.

It’s just a sign of the way the economy is troubling boxing.

Fighters and their managers need to be more astute than ever. It doesn’t make sense to turn down a serious offer on principle, because the money may not be there forever. And once you lose a big offer, it’s a bout and money you can never get back.

If Margarito doesn’t believe that, all he has to do is to give Winky Wright a call.

You can’t pay the bills standing on principle.