Pacquiao, Margarito turn focus to November bout

Now that all the talk about loaded gloves and racist commentary has subsided, Manny Pacquiao and Antonio Margarito have decided it’s time to prepare for their Nov. 13 showdown in Arlington, Texas.

Pacquiao, a freshman congressman in the Philippines, is shuttling between his office in Manila and the Elorde Gym in Quezon City. His entire team, including head trainer Freddie Roach, is on-site, and Pacquiao went seven rounds pounding the mitts Tuesday.

“He’s not underestimating his opponent,” Pacquiao adviser Michael Koncz told the Philippine Star newspaper. “He’s taking things seriously.”

Not to be outdone, Margarito is in San Bernardino County, Calif., scaling the hills of Mount Baldy. Margarito will be switching locations Monday, heading to Oxnard, Calif., where he will spend six weeks. All of his sparring will take place in Oxnard, according to trainer Robert Garcia.

The fight, for the vacant WBC super welterweight title, will be contested at a catch weight of 151 pounds. Last week, Pacquiao told reporters he was weighing 150, so it shouldn’t be an issue.

While in the Philippines, Pacquiao plans to spar with Glen Tapia and Michael Medina. At some point, he will also spar with middleweights Vanes Martirosyan and Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.

■ LEE ADDED TO UNDERCARD — Light heavyweight Mike Lee, who looked impressive in his Las Vegas debut Sept. 11 when he stopped Alex Rivera in the second round at the Palms, has been added to the Pacquiao-Margarito undercard.

Lee (2-0) is a 2009 graduate of Notre Dame and was the school’s boxing champion. His opponent for Nov. 13 has yet to be determined. Originally from Chicago, Lee is living and training in Houston with veteran trainer Ronnie Shields. The entire undercard will be announced Monday.

■ GOLDEN BOY LAWSUIT — Golden Boy Promotions is suing Top Rank for allegedly violating a 2007 agreement regarding Pacquiao and income derived from his fights.

The suit, filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Las Vegas, seeks damages of between $3 million and $5 million. Golden Boy claims Top Rank hasn’t entirely compensated it from Pacquiao’s fights against David Diaz, Joshua Clottey and Miguel Cotto. As part of the 2007 agreement, Golden Boy is entitled to 45 percent of the profits of each Pacquiao fight.

Attorneys for GBP claim they have attempted to recoup what they think they are owed but have been rebuffed by Top Rank.

Top Rank chairman Bob Arum claims the suit has no basis and said he expects it to be thrown out.

“It’s ridiculous,” Arum said. “In our agreement, any dispute is supposed to go to binding arbitration. They violated that, and they’ll pay a big price for that by going public.”

■ GOLDEN BOY SIGNINGS — Golden Boy has signed 10 fighters, all of whom are managed by Las Vegas-based fight manager Cameron Dunkin. Among the signees are junior welterweight Michael Finney, who is 5-0 with five knockouts, middleweight Bastie Samir (4-0, four KOs), lightweight Fidel Maldonado Jr. (4-0, four KOs), welterweight Mikael Zewski (4-0, three KOs) and bantamweight Randy Caballero (4-0, four KOs).

The other signees are junior middleweight Alfonso Blanco, featherweight Gabino Saenz, junior middleweight Eduardo Alicea, junior featherweight Manuel Avila and light heavyweight Trevor McCumby. Blanco and Saenz are 1-0, and the other three have yet to make their pro debuts.

Contact reporter Steve Carp at scarp@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2913.