Trainer Javier Capetillo, who has been blamed for the hand wraps scandal that has haunted the career of Antonio Margarito since it happened prior to a loss to Shane Mosley in January 2009, broke his long silence during a recent interview with Doug Fischer, co-editor of RingTV.com.
Margarito has been boxing's biggest bad boy since the discovery was made by trainer Naazim Richardson of a plaster-like substance that was removed and confiscated prior to the fighter's ninth-round knockout loss to Mosley at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.
Since having his license revoked by the California State Athletic Commission in February of 2009, Margarito has claimed no knowledge of the illegal hand wrappings in his gloves that led to his being exiled from fighting until August, when Texas licensed him to face Pacquiao. Margarito has blamed Capetillo, claiming that the trainer acted on his own.
Capetillo told Fischer that Margarito is telling the truth.
"I made a mistake. I wasn't trying to hide anything. I just screwed up, and I did it in front of Mosley's trainer and the commissioners. I was just under a lot of pressure because I knew we shouldn't have taken the fight," said Capetillo, adding that dramatic weight loss drained Margarito, and led to his loading the gloves.
"I knew Tony was in trouble and I knew that I had put him in that position. I wrapped Tony's hands four times in front of Mosley's trainer and the commissioners and two representatives from Golden Boy Promotions after they found the gauze. I admitted then that I made a mistake."
Capetillo's admission comes on the eve of perhaps the biggest fight in the career of Margarito (38-6, 27 knockouts), who faces Manny Pacquiao (51-3-2, 38 KOs), the WBO welterweight (147 pounds) king, for the WBC's vacant junior middleweight (154 pounds) crown at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas on Saturday night.
Pacquiao has a 12-fight winning streak that includes nine knockouts as he pursues his eighth title in as many different weight classes.
Since the Mosley fight, however, members of the boxing community and Roach and Pacquiao, in particular, have speculated that Capetillo may have tampered with Margarito's gloves in other fights.
In two of them, Margarito vanquished rivals Kermit Cintron and Miguel Cotto, both of whom were beaten savagely and bloodily before being knocked out.
Capetillo dismissed those assertions.
"They think Tony cheated to beat Kermit Cintron? Give me a break. All you have to do is mad dog and rush Cintron, and he gets scared. Tony beat him by being Tony," said Capetillo. "He beat Miguel Cotto because he has the style to beat Cotto. He'll wear Cotto down and stop him every time they fight."
But against Mosley, the story is different, said Capetillo.
"[Margarito's] weight was a problem for that entire camp. He put on a lot of weight, not just water pounds but muscle, after he beat Cotto. He had to chop 20 pounds before he left Mexico to begin his camp for Mosley, and then he dropped another 30 in camp. He kept dropping weight and dropping weight until he had nothing," said Capetillo, adding that Margarito also had back problems that caused him to miss crucial training days.
"Then he would gain back whatever weight he lost the previous week. He was 16 pounds over [the welterweight limit] one week before the fight, and the closer we got to the weight, the sicker he got from dehydration," said Capetillo. "Four or five days out from the fight it was like he had the flu. He was shrinking before our eyes."
Capetillo's concern, he said, led to his sudden decision to go with the illegal wraps, a move that he said was not planned far ahead of time.
"I started panicking the week of the fight. I knew we were in deep s**t, and we couldn't tell anyone. It was too late to pull out of the fight. But I want to make it clear that I did not plan what happened," said Capetillo. "Maybe I was feeling the pressure of the fight and not paying attention to what I was doing when I reached into my bag and grabbed the training gauze, but I didn't do it on purpose."
Source: boxing.fanhouse.com
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