Antonio Margaito Stikes a Very Odd Deal for His Manny Pacquiao Fight Next Month

Antonio Margaito challenges Manny Pacquiao for the middleweight belt in November, but he was without a sponsor. He approached the company Affliction, with a deal they could not pass up, according to the Business Insider.

Margaito got caught with plaster underneath his glove right before his 2009 bout with Sugar Shane Mosley, and this has not made him the most popular fighter to sponsor, according to the LA Times.

With this in mind, Margaito offered up a deal they apparently couldn't refuse. If Margaito wins, he gets a large sum of money that is in the five figures; if he loses, he gets nothing, zip.

What started off as a last ditch effort of a boxer to get a sponsor for a fight, turns in to gold for Affliction, a company that sells punk rock clothes. The fight, which is slated to take place on November 13th, is a month away and Affliction is already getting a ton of publicity out of this.

Affliction's clothing line appeals to a specific sub culture, so it is not an overly recognized name. The popularity will most likely grow in leaps and bounds since this deal was struck.

Although Margaito is not at all the favorite to win, he is sure that he will. Either way, if Margaito loses, Affliction has gotten what may have cost them millions of dollars in advertising, for free. If he wins, the money they pay him is just a fraction that this type of advertising would cost. It is a win-win situation for Affliction. The name is appearing in Newspapers from the LA Times to sports blogs. People will take notice of the Affliction brand.

This fight will continue to garnish the punk rock clothing line with advertising because this fight was up in the air as far as the location of where it was to be held.

Due to the plaster under the glove incident, Margarito did not have a license to box in the US, it was revoked in the state of California. If the license was not reinstated by the boxing commissioner, then the match was to be held over the border in Mexico.

As of late yesterday it was announced that Margarito did in fact get a license to fight in Texas according to, Metnews. The fight will take place in Texas at the Cowboy's Stadium on November 13th.

Margarito's California license is still under revocation and as Metnews reports that most boxing authorities from state to state honor each other's revocations, but Margarito was able to secure a license in Texas some how.

Most of the articles talking about the Margaito vs Manny Pacquiao fight are also talking about the Affliction sponsorship deal that Margaito was able to strike up with the punk rock clothing company. This type of publicity you just cannot buy!

Reference: Business Insider, Metnews, LA Times