Mayweather, who won world titles in five weight divisions, is known for his unique defensive style and victories over big names like Manny Pacquiao, Oscar De La Hoya, and Miguel Cotto. Many consider him one of the greatest fighters ever.
For years, people said Mayweather was scared to face Margarito. The two were supposed to fight in 2006, but it never happened. Now, Mayweather has explained why in an interview with Marca.
"Antonio Margarito said over and over again that I was afraid of him. He was pressing, and he wanted to fight so badly, because he was beating fighters with loaded gloves (with 'casts'), so I'm glad God didn't let that fight happen."
Mayweather wasn't worried about losing. He was concerned about getting seriously hurt or even killed in the ring because of Margarito's potentially illegal gloves. He doesn't think he was afraid, just that the fight didn't make sense at the time.
Margarito, a three-time world welterweight champion, got caught up in a big scandal in 2009. Before his WBA light middleweight title defense against Shane Mosley, officials found his hands were illegally wrapped. They had to re-wrap his hands three times to make them legal. Mosley's trainer, Naazim Richardson, spotted the problem.
In the end, Mosley stopped Margarito in the ninth round and took his WBA title. This incident made people wonder if Margarito had been using illegal hand wraps in his earlier fights too.
Looking back, Mayweather feels grateful that the Margarito fight never happened. He believes it was divine intervention that kept him safe from potential long-term damage from fighting someone who might have been using illegal hand wraps.