MARGARITO-COTTO A CULTURAL BATTLE.

Byline: ROBERT MORALES

BOXING

Next Saturday's welterweight world title fight between champion Miguel Cotto of Puerto Rico and Antonio Margarito of Mexico at MGM Grand in Las Vegas is so highly anticipated that it transcends the long-running feud between Puerto Rican and Mexican fighters.

Cotto and Margarito are two of the top pound-for-pound fighters in the world. They are both fearless and vicious and more than willing to engage in an all-out slugfest every time they step into the ring.

"I'm a promoter, so you are used to hyperbole from me," said Bob Arum, who promotes both fighters under his Top Rank Inc. banner. "But I must say this fight is something special. Anyone that cares about boxing or follows boxing is going to want to see this world championship event.

"Both fighters are entertaining and give everything they have in the ring, and it will make boxing proud. At the end of the day, that to me is more important than who wins or loses the fight."

A who's who of fighters current and past figure to be on hand to take in this potential Fight of the Year. Arum said Thursday two of his other superstar fighters -- lightweight champion Manny Pacquiao and middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik -- will be in the arena.

It won't be surprising if recently retired welterweight champion FloydMayweather Jr. -- who never fought Margarito or Cotto -- attends. Or, at the very least, is a buyer of the HBO pay-per-view feed.

"I am sure he'll be watching," Margarito said of Mayweather. "He will want to see how real fighters fight. I am sure there will be a lot of guys that haven't wanted to fight either one of us that will be watching."

As if the stature of the fighters is not enough to sell this fight, boxing's biggest ancestral rivalry will be in the air in a big way, which only sweetens the pot.

"When you have the passionate people who are fight fans in Puerto Rico and the passionate Mexicans in Mexico and the U.S., and you have a Puerto Rican and a Mexican fighting, you are going to get that type of reaction," Arum said. "Same way when you had Jews and Italians and Irish fighting each other in New York.

"It went on for years. It was natural. They were fierce rivalries, and people loved to watch those fights."

Arum said boxing needs more of this type of stimulation.

"Now, a lot of people don't have a rooting interest in one or the other fighter," Arum said. "When Marvin Hagler fought (Thomas) Hearns, it was New England against Michigan with their fans. When (Sugar Ray) Leonard and Hearns fought, it was Washington D.C. against Michigan.

"Now you have a top fighter from Puerto Rico like Cotto and a top fighter from Mexico like Antonio Margarito. That rivalry is rekindled, and it adds tremendous buzz and spice to the matchup."

The national rivalry really took off when Wilfredo Gomez of Puerto Rico moved up in weight to challenge Mexican phenom Salvador Sanchez for his featherweight championship in August 1981 at Caesars Palace. Gomez entered the fight with a streak of 32 consecutive knockouts, but he was stopped by Sanchez in the eighth round. Sanchez was killed in an automobile accident a year later at the age of 23.

Cotto (32-0, 26 KOs) and Margarito (36-5, 26 KOs) have tried not to get too caught up in the "Hatfields vs. McCoys" mentality, but it hasn't been easy. Their pride gets in the way.

"I guess it's because of the great fights in the past and the way they fight each other," said Margarito, 30. "If they had fought each other and didn't have great fights, nobody would care. But because they have had great fights, everybody wants to see it.

"But I'm not looking at it as being against Puerto Rico, I'm just looking at it as it will be a great fight."

Gomez-Sanchez took place when Cotto was 10 months old. But Cotto knows the history.

"I think Gomez is the first memory I have of the rivalry," said Cotto, 27. "But the moment that you don't feel a passion for preparing to get into the ring for any fight -- that is when you have quit on the job.

"Everybody knows about the rivalry. Now it is me against Margarito."

Negotiations for Pavlik-Williams bout stall

Promoters Bob Arum and Dan Goossen have different stories as to why, but they both agreed Friday that negotiations for a fight between their respective fighters, Kelly Pavlik and Paul Williams, have ended without an agreement being reached.

Arum also confirmed a Thursday report on ESPN.com that he is near a deal that would pit Pavlik, a middleweight world champion, against former middleweight and light heavyweight champion Bernard Hopkins. If that deal is consummated, the fight would be at a catch-weight of 170 pounds and take place Oct. 18 in Atlantic City. It would be televised by HBO pay-per-view. Pavlik's two title belts would not be on the line.

"It's not completely a done deal, but it's very likely it's going to happen," Arum said.

Hopkins, 43, is promoted by Golden Boy Promotions. Its CEO, Richard Schaefer, is on vacation. But Golden Boy matchmaker Eric Gomez on Friday corroborated that serious discussions are taking place.

"They were close to reaching a deal," Gomez said of Schaefer and Arum. "Richard took off (Thursday) night and he didn't confide to us whether it was done or not."

As for the Pavlik-Williams pairing, it fell apart over money. Arum said his first offer was rejected and that he came back with an offer of $1.5 million plus a piece of the upside from the gate.

"I figured the deal was done and then they told me a few days later that Williams didn't want to fight Pavlik," said Arum, who said he offered the Williams camp what it wanted, but that he was being jerked around and that Goossen and Williams never had any intention taking on Pavlik.

Williams, a welterweight champion, would have been moving up to middleweight.

Goossen sang a different tune. He said Arum's first offer was for $1.5 million. Goossen said that he asked for $2.5 million. At that point, Goossen said, Arum lowered his offer to $1.1 million before eventually bringing it back up to the original offer.

Goossen blasted Arum for not wanting to fork over more money for a fight that would have been highly anticipated.

"We weren't far apart," Goossen said. "As successful a promoter as Bob has been throughout the years, he's not always correct and he made a big mistake here. You've gotta realize that all risk was Williams' and sometimes you have to pay for that."

CAPTION(S):

2 photos, box

Photo:

(1) Antonio Margarito of Mexico says he hopes retired welterweight champ Floyd Mayweather Jr. watches him fight next Saturday.

Donald Miralle/Getty Images

(2) Miguel Cotto of Puerto Rico knows all about the history of great fighters from his country, going back to Wilfredo Gomez.

Al Bello/Getty Images

Box:

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