Margarito camp: fight with Manny Pacquiao was no gimme

Many people in the boxing world were convinced the Manny Pacquiao-Antonio Margarito bout was etched in stone a long time ago.

With both fighters under the promotional arm of Top Rank, it's not unreasonable to think they had a contract ready to go a long time ago.

Not so, according to Margarito advisor Sergio Diaz.

"This fight was never line up. The first thing was to get Antonio a license," Diaz said. "Bob [Arum] wanted to get the license in Vegas, but not for Manny Pacquiao. It was actually for a rematch with Miguel Cotto. We were actually plan B and maybe even plan C for Pacquiao."

Terms of the bout didn't come together until late last week, after Margarito got his license from Texas. And the contracts weren't signed until Tuesday night, according Diaz.