By Eric Thomas: According to the LA Times, former welterweight champion Antonio Margarito has had his boxing license taken away for a year by the California State Athletic Commission at today’s hearing in Van Nuys, California. Just prior to that, Margarito’s trainer Javier Capetillo also had his license taken away in a year revocation due to a pair of tainted hand wraps of Margarito, in which a hardened pad was discovered prior to his bout WBA welterweight title bout against Shane Mosley on January 24th at the Staples Center, in Los Angeles.
The suspicious hand wraps were discovered before the bout by Mosley’s trainer Nazim Richardson who immediately reported them and had them taken out. At today’s hearing, Margarito, 30, was represented by famous OJ Simpson Civil trail prosecutor Daniel Petrocelli. Margarito stated that he had no knowledge what was inside the hand wraps.
A harder pad was found inside Margarito’s hand wraps by the state inspector prior to Margarito’s fight against Mosley. The inspector Che Guevaro, according to the LA Times, stated that he found suspicious bandage wrap inside Margarito’s knuckle pads and that he had never seen a pad like that before. The pad was soaked with sweat and harder in some areas in comparison to others. However, it wasn’t as hard as a rock, Guevara said.
Capetillo stated to the commission that he accidentally put the inserts on Margarito before the Mosley fight, taking full responsibility for having done so.
The suspicious white substance found on Margarito’s pads, which some people had surmised what possibly plaster of paris, is still being investigated by the Commission and test results likely won’t be completed until the middle of March.
The repercussions of this well hit Margarito hard, as he had a potential big money rematch with Miguel Cotto in July, a fight that would have made Margarito a lot of money and helped redeem him for his loss to Mosley. Instead, Cotto will have to shop around for another opponent to take Margarito’s place. Additionally, this hurts boxing as well because it’s a major scandal effecting one if the sport’s biggest star. What happens after Margarito’s license revocation is over is still a mystery.
One would hope that once Margarito has completed his license revocation he can move on with his career and pick up where he left off. However, for some people they’ll likely still suspect Margarito for long after this is over, especially if the substance turns out to be plaster like some people think it is.
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