LOS ANGELES (December 11, 2008) – The Antonio Margarito vs. Sugar Shane Mosley World Welterweight Championship fight is just the ticket for a great holiday gift! Priced at $300, $150, $75 and $50, tickets go on sale Tomorrow! Friday, December 12, at 10 a.m. PT / 1 p.m. ET, at all TicketMaster outlets, by phone at 213-480-3232 and online at www.ticketmaster.com. STAPLES Center Box Office will begin selling tickets on This Saturday! December 13, at 10 a.m. PT..
Promoted by Top Rank and Golden Boy Promotions and sponsored by Cerveza Tecate, the Margarito vs. Mosley World Welterweight Championship fight takes place on Saturday, January 24 at STAPLES Center in Los Angeles and will be televised live on HBO World Championship Boxing beginning at 10 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. PT.
Antonio Margarito (37-5, 27 KOs), from Tijuana, Mexico, returns to the ring on the heels of his career-defining victory over Miguel Cotto on July 26, 2008. Considered a major underdog when it was announced that he’d be challenging the undefeated WBA World Welterweight Champion Cotto, Margarito withstood a firestorm of punches from the Puerto Rican superstar while retaliating with his own barrage of nuclear-like arms, stopping Cotto in the 11th round. The victory not only produced his third world championship belt in the welterweight division, but it also solidified his position as one of boxing’s top pound-for-pound fighters. Margarito’s first world title reign began in 2002, when he stopped Antonio Diaz in the 10th round to capture the vacant World Boxing Organization (WBO) Welterweight Championship belt. He successfully defended it seven times during his five-year term, including victories over current World Champion Joshua Clottey, former World Champion Andrew Lewis and top contenders Kermit Cintron and Danny Perez. He captured the International Boxing Federation (IBF) Welterweight Title on April 12, 2008, by knocking out defending champion Kermit Cintron in the sixth round. Margarito vacated that title in order to challenge Cotto and now looks to further solidify his spot in boxing history with a win over Mosley on January 24.
Sugar Shane Mosley (45-5, 38 KOs) of Pomona, Calif. is arguably the most accomplished fighter of his era and certainly a shoo-in first-ballot Hall of Fame inductee. He returns to the ring fresh from his 12th-round knockout victory of former World Junior Middleweight Champion Ricardo Mayorga on September 27, 2008. Mosley, who has won six of his last seven bouts since 2005, boasts victories over World Champions Mayorga, Fernando Vargas (twice) and Luis Collazo during that streak. Mosley first came to prominence when he defeated defending IBF World Lightweight Champion Philip Holiday in 1997 to claim his first world title. He successfully defended that title eight times, all by knockout, before vacating the title to move up to welterweight two years later. In 2000, Mosley won an exciting 12-round split decision over defending WBC World Welterweight Champion Oscar de la Hoya to claim his second world title in as many divisions. Mosley successfully defended his new crown three times before losing it 18 months later to Vernon Forrest in 2002. One year later, in 2003, Mosley once again moved up in weight and captured the WBC/WBA World Junior Middleweight Titles in a rematch with De La Hoya, this time dethroning the defending champion via a unanimous decision. In addition to becoming a three-division world champion, he also became the only man to claim two professional victories over the legendary “Golden Boy.”
Margarito Mosley Press Conference Quotes
ANTONIO MARGARITO – Three-Time Welterweight Champion “Like you all know, I’m ready for any type of fighter and my history has proven it. I respect everyone I face and I know Shane is an amazing fighter. We are working very hard so that I can come in at one hundred percent. We want to do things right. Almost two years ago we were offered this fight and for some reason it didn’t come through, but I always wanted it to happen because of the type of fighter Shane is.”
“Now I know that Shane didn’t make those comments about me being scared, we all know it’s not true and I’ve never backed out of fighting anyone.”
SHANE MOSLEY – Four-Time World Champion in Three Weight Divisions
“Margarito is a good warrior, this will make for a good fight.”
“I know that I feel great, I believe I have a great corner with Nazim coming on. I feel very confident.”
“I’m already up in Big Bear and I’m happy that we’re gonna do it at STAPLES Center where I fought Oscar.”
“This is an LA rivalry at STAPLES Center…it should be a great fight.”
BOB ARUM – Co-Promoter and Chairman of the Board, Top Rank
“On January 24th, two of the greatest fighters in the world are going to face off at STAPLES Center.”
“We are extremely pleased to work with Golden Boy Promotions again on a big fight.”
“This event will gladden the heart of all boxing fans.”
RICHARD SCHAEFER – CEO of Golden Boy Promotions
“STAPLES Center is the perfect place to hold this fight. It seems like fights at STAPLES Center always bring out the best in both fighters as it has done in the past with Mosley vs. De La Hoya, Barrera vs. Juarez and Klitschko vs. Lewis.”
“Tickets are priced really reasonably as we want fans to come and enjoy the fights. Also, it’s a great gift for the holiday season because if you buy $1,000 worth of tickets, you will receive a signed glove by both fighters.”
“We are excited to work with Top Rank once again as we did with Hopkins vs. Pavlik and De La Hoya vs. Pacquiao. As we all know, you win some and you lose some, but this is the best possible fight to kick off ’09.”
“This will be an excellent fight. Shane is already in Big Bear training for the fight and he will be ready.”
DAN BECKERMAN – CFO of AEG
“We were very aggressive with trying to get this fight because it’s a great fight for LA. We are confident the fight will sell out and it will be a great way to kick off 2009.”
KERY DAVIS – Senior Vice President of Programming for HBO Sports
“This fight really does belong at STAPLES Center. It is one of the few venues in the country that elevates the status of an event. This is a terrific fight and we worked hard to make it happen.”
“This will be Shane’s 24th appearance on HBO, and along with Antonio’s power and aggression, this will make it a great TV fight.”
NAZIM RICHARDSON – Mosley Head Trainer
“It’s a pleasure to work with Sugar Shane, he is an amazing boxer.”
“Throughout history, every “Sugar” has had h great battles, Sugar Ray had his and now Sugar Shane will have his.”
“This fight will go down in history and being that it’s in LA just makes it even better. As I said before, every “Sugar” has his showdown and this January 24th will be Shane’s.”