Posted by Sabrina B. @gametimegirl
An Achilles injury has forced former welterweight titlist Antonio Margarito to postpone a return to the ring that had been planned for May 26 at the Casino Del Sol in Tucson, Ariz.
Margarito, who was supposed to make his middleweight debut against Abel Perry (18-5, 9 KOs), has been nursing a sore right Achilles, necessitating the postponement, according to Top Rank vice president Carl Moretti.
The bout, slated for an Azteca America-televised card, could be rescheduled for July 21, although it will depend on how Margarito’s foot feels, Moretti said.
“His Achilles was really sore and he went to the doctor and he said not to run for about a month,” Moretti said.
Moretti said Margarito is in a soft cast.
“The doctor said if he had continued to train it would most likely have resulted in an Achilles tear, so May 26 is out,” Moretti said. “Now we will wait to see when he can go, but we hope it’s sometime this summer.”
Top Rank has scheduled a new main event for the May 26 card at Casino De Sol, which will be headlined by welterweight Jesus Soto Karass (24-7-3, 16 KOs) of Mexico against Said El Harrak (10-1-1, 5 KOs) of Las Vegas in a 10-round welterweight bout.
Also on the card, 19-year-old blue-chip junior welterweight prospect Jose Benavidez (14-0, 12 KOs) of Phoenix, returns from a six-month layoff to face Josh Sosa (10-2, 5 KOs).
Benavidez, a star amateur who would have been a medal favorite at this summer’s London Olympics had he not turned pro in January 2010, has been idle because of hand surgery, Moretti said.
Margarito (38-8, 27 KOs), 34, of Tijuana, Mexico, is coming off a punishing 10th-round knockout loss to then-junior middleweight titlist Miguel Cotto in their grudge rematch on Dec. 3 in New York.
Cotto stopped Margarito by swelling closed Margarito’s surgically repaired right eye, forcing the ringside doctor to instruct the referee to stop the fight. It was revenge for Cotto, who lost a welterweight title to Margarito via 11th-round knockout in a controversial 2008 fight — because in his next fight, Margarito was caught trying to fight Shane Mosley with loaded hand wraps. Many believe Margarito got away with it against Cotto.
If Margarito can rebound, he is in line for another major fight. Top Rank has talked about a possible fight this fall with middleweight titlist Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., assuming Chavez defeats Andy Lee on June 16 at the Sun Bowl in El Paso, Texas.
WRITTEN BY Dan Rafael | ESPN.com & FULL STORY HERE
