WBO welterweight titleholder Antonio Margarito injured his leg about two hours ago and may not be able to face Joshua Clottey on December 2, 2006 in Atlantic City.

Margarito was sparring at the South El Monte Gym when he made a shuffle to his left side and immediately limped away waving his hands for his sparring partner to stop the action. For about a minute he attempted to walk off the injury to his right leg but it wasn’t responding. The injury appeared to be just above his right ankle. It wasn’t swollen but could be a serious sprain based on my observation.

A crowd of onlookers were stunned as Margarito’s trainer Javier Capetillo jumped in the ring and others stood by hoping the pain would subside. It never did. The Tijuana-based fighter writhed in pain while his trainer tried to rub life back into the limb.

Ben Lira, who runs the South El Monte Gym and trains several fighters including prospect John Molina, ran to grab a bag of ice to apply it to Margarito’s leg. Others like Chino Garcia, Jesus “Chuy” Ruiz, Francisco Arce, shook their heads knowing it means cancellation of the December fight card promoted by Top Rank.

A press conference workout scenario was planned for Monday Nov. 20 at the South El Monte Gym, but those plans could be dashed.

Clottey was the challenger for the title and the winner was slated to meet the winner of the Miguel Cotto and Carlos Quintana showdown sometime in late spring.

It’s too early to determine if Margarito’s injury will force a cancellation of the entire fight card, because Cotto is a big enough attraction to bring a crowd to the Atlantic City fight card.

Top Rank spokesman Ricardo Jimenez said the injury happened two fights ago but in that case it didn’t force postponement of the fight. Margarito was checked by a physician who said there was no break or ligament tear. They advised he stay off his feet for two days before resuming training.

Sergio Diaz, who co-manages Margarito, said they took him to a sports doctor based in Monterey Park, a city that borders East Los Angeles.

“The doctor said it was a serious sprain but no ligament damage. He advised him to take anti-inflammatories and stay off his feet,” Diaz said by telephone. “Tony said it happened before when he fought Argentina’s Sebastian Lujan (on February 2005) while he was in Mexico. He said he took two days off and got better.”

Margarito is considered the toughest of the welterweights by many boxing experts.

“Tony expects to be at the workout on Monday,” said Diaz.