They should tell him to take a hike.
Margarito tried to enter the ring with illegal handwraps in a welterweight title match against Shane Mosley at the Staples Center in Los Angles on Jan. 24, 2009. The illegal wraps were discovered by Naazim Richardson, Mosley's trainer, and the California inspectors confiscated the wraps and had Margarito re-wrap his hands. He was allowed to fight and Mosley demolished him in a lopsided match, knocking out Margarito in the ninth round.
The California commission had test done on the wraps and discovered that they contained a Plaster of Paris type substance that would harden inside the gloves as Margarito's hands sweated during the match. In effect he would have been fighting with bricks in his gloves midway through the fight.
Margarito's license was revoked and he couldn't fight in the U.S. for a year, but after that he was free to re-apply to any commission for a license to fight. He was going to apply for a license in Texas on the undercard of the Manny Pacquiao-Joshua Clottey match at Cowboys Stadium on March 13, but his application was withdrawn when it looked like it would be a drawn out process.
The discovery of the illegal handwraps before the Mosley fight immediately cast suspicion on some of Margarito's previous fights, particularly those against Miguel Cotto and Kermit Cintron, whom he beat on devastating knockouts. The beating that Cotto took might have done longterm damage to his career. Cotto has never publicly claimed that Margarito used illegal handwraps in their fight, but he has his suspicions.
Margarito claimed he didn't know anything about the illegal handwraps and made his trainer, Javier Capetillo, the fall guy. He has since fired Capetillo.
It is a weak argument, because as the fighter who enters the ring, Margarito is the captain of the ship. He should know whether his handwraps feel strange or not. It is similar to athletes who claim to have unknowingly ingested performance enhancing drugs because their conditioning coaches spiked their Frosted Flakes before breakfast. Each professional athlete should know everything that is going on in his camp and if something goes wrong, he is ultimately responsible.
Luis Resto held onto the same argument for years, claiming that Panama Lewis pulled the stuffing from his gloves without his knowledge before his fight against Billy Collins Jr. at Madison Square Garden in 1985. Resto finally admitted his role in that horrific beating of Collins in the marvelous documentary "Assault in the Ring" last year. Resto and Lewis were both banned from boxing for what they did.
Margarito's boxing fate should be no less.
Margarito hasn't taken any responsibility for what almost happened that night in the Mosley fight. At the very least he shouldn't be licensed again until he owns up to his responsibility and is made to realize that he was involved in something that goes against all tenets of sportsmanship, particularly in a violent combat sport like boxing. Fighting with loaded gloves is tantamount to taking a loaded gun into the ring. The intent is to do irreparable harm, more damage than you would be able to do otherwise. And the ramifications are more tragic than would normally occur.
After he suffered that beating by Resto, Collins lapsed into alcoholism and depression and many believe he deliberately drove his car off the road and killed himself near his home in Tennessee.
For the most part the Nevada Commission has been tough on those who have violated the rules and had their licenses suspended. But they haven't issued lifetime bans, just large fines and suspensions. Mike Tyson, who bit off part of Evander Holyfield's ear in a match in Las Vegas in 1997, wasn't given a lifetime ban, though it took a few years for him to regain his license.
The wheels are already in motion for Margarito to get back into the ring in the U.S. He has already fought in Mexico, defeating Roberto Garcia in a junior middleweight match on May 8. Margarito filed paperwork with the Nevada Commission for a license on June 18.
Top Rank promoter Bob Arum is already thinking of putting Margarito in against Cotto for a rematch. He is also looking at Margarito as a fallback opponent for Pacquiao if they can't reach an agreement for Pacquiao to fight Floyd Mayweather, Jr.
This is all about money for Top Rank and Margarito, who is 32 years old and running out of top-earning years. But there is a larger principle involved and that is whether a man knowingly dishonored his sport and deliberately sought to inflict permanent damage on an opponent. The Nevada Commission should have told Margarito to find another line of work.
Source: nydailynews.com
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