In what will perhaps be the most scrutinized case of wrapping hands in the history of boxing, on Saturday night at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, trainer Robert Garcia will prepare the hands of Antonio Margarito for battle before the latter faces Manny Pacquiao. Based on Margarito?s sordid history with hand wraps, he should be under surveillance like no other boxer. Garcia told Maxboxing on Thursday afternoon, “I know the commission is going to have someone assigned to my dressing room. I know that a person from Freddie Roach?s camp- it could be Freddie Roach himself- will come in and watch my wrappings. That?s all I know and that?s how it should be.?
Roach, who has made strong comments regarding Margarito?s usage and knowledge of illicit hand wraps, wants more enforcement than usual from the Texas regulators.
“I?ve seen Robert Garcia before; I know he?s a good wrapper. My worry is that before I?m there and after I?m there,” he explained. “So what I requested, what was approved, is that I can have a representative in his dressing room from start-to-finish and he can in mine from start-to-finish. Then this way, they can?t wrap their hands and they wet ?em or something like that. There?s nothing that can be done because, again, I don?t trust anybody anymore. Robert Garcia was a world champion, a respectful guy and stuff like this. But Margarito, I feel that he?s cheated before and he was caught, so I don?t trust him.”
The question is, is there enough oversight in this process from the commissions and, in the wake of the Margarito scandal, should all the supplies used to wrap hands be provided for by the commission?
“Y? know, the thing is, some people like certain materials. Some guys like shorter gauze; some like longer gauze. I think it?s OK [to bring your own]. But one of the stipulations I would make is when they make the pad,” explained Roach. “Usually the pads are made prior to people getting in there; they make them up in their room or something like this. I may request the pads being made in front of each other because that?s the best place to hide something- in the middle of the pad- and that?s where they tried to hide the Plaster of Paris.
“The thing about commissions, though, they don?t know boxing and the thing is, I know boxing. So I?m going to make sure everything is on the up and up.”
In the past couple of months, because of the history of his new client, no trainer has had more footage of them wrapping hands than Garcia, which amuses him to a degree.”The thing is, hey, it wasn?t me,” he says, laughing. “I?ve always done a good job; everybody, the commission has always said, ?This is one of the best wraps we?ve ever seen.? I?m a clean person.”
Garcia says there will be no pressure on him come the night of the fight.
“Not at all, it?s actually fun. It?s fun to see everyone around.”
SHAMEFUL
In what became a story that went beyond the scope of boxing and overshadowed the talk of hand wraps and such, there was the now infamous video clip of Margarito?s camp, which included Garcia and Brandon Rios (who fights on this card) mocking Roach?s physical condition, due to his Parkinson?s Syndrome.
It was as classless and callous as could be (and just outright dumb, if you think about it). For a fighter who couldn?t afford any missteps from a public relations standpoint, it was like committing a cardinal sin. A clear line was crossed and, to many observers, Margarito just further shamed himself. Those who were willing to forgive and forget (at least partially) are now inclined to not do so.
“To us, it?s something we got to clear up and apologize to the world because it was something between our camp and their camp, nothing in reality to do with us making fun of Roach?s disease. Of course we would never do something like that,” said Garcia.
Of course, the problem is, they did for the whole world to see. And this video not only went viral; it made the mainstream media.
“It?s my gym and I regret all this happening, especially when it comes to myself, my fighters, Tony and Brandon. That?s bad. But I know my fighters aren?t that type of people,” said Garcia. There was palpable and justifiable outrage from the public at large. Garcia understands why they are being harangued. “This is a disease that goes throughout the world, not just [with] Freddie Roach. But that was not our intention.”
Margarito and his camp gave some rather dubious excuses for their comments at the Wednesday press conference, claiming, among other things, that they didn?t know of Roach?s ailment. That?s tantamount to not knowing that Pacquiao is a Filipino. On Thursday, at the press conference for the undercard, Margarito issued a firmer apology.
Bob Arum, who promotes both sides of the equation in this fight, said, “I talked to them before the press conference yesterday (Wednesday) in their suite- they?re all crushed because they saw it. Margarito says that he was doing the hands shaking in relation to the fact that, ?Oh, he?s scared?- and I believe that. But I think Brandon crossed the line. So anyway, they apologized. It?s not a federal case.”
This is an example that not all publicity is actually good publicity.
“It?s bad because you don?t want that. You don?t want people making fun of somebody?s infirmary and that?s not acceptable behavior,” said Arum.
As for the offended party, Roach admitted, “I had trouble sleeping that night; I was really angry about it. I thought about all the Parkinson?s patients in the world, maybe seeing that and so forth, the Michael J. Fox Foundation and stuff like this. It just went a little too far. Robert Garcia just got off the phone with me and gave me a very sincere apology; he told me how great I was. I?ve always been good to him and so forth, which I have; I?ve gotten him sparring partners and so forth.
“So I accepted his apology; they went a bit too far. And y? know what? Let?s go on with the fight. I?m not going to worry about that. I?m not going to worry about that. I?m not going to get my fighter wound up in personal stuff about me.”
Once again, Roach shows everyone he?s a man?s man and why he is one of the most respected figures in the sport. As for everyone involved, let?s just hope they can learn from this.
WEIGHTY ISSUES
Pacquiao-Margarito might be the biggest weight disparity since David vs. Goliath?well not really, but more than a few eyebrows were raised when Manny Pacquiao weighed in at just a shade over 146, while Margarito came in at the weight limit of 150. This means that in this battle for the vacant WBC junior middleweight title, Pacquiao is much closer to junior welterweight than junior middleweight.
There are several ways to look at it; Pacquiao might be simply too small and maybe he is a bit ill-prepared. Or perhaps he is doing the wise thing by coming in as light as possible and accentuating his advantage in quickness and speed. Then there is the belief that maybe Margarito has over-trained and had problems shedding the last few pounds (although members of that camp vehemently deny this).
Maybe the difference in weight won?t matter much. Maybe Pacquiao is that much better than Margarito. Or maybe the laws of physics finally catch up to the ?Pac-Man.?
That?s why they fight the fights.
And then the storylines, excuses and alibis will all be written.
That?s just the way it goes.
GRAPEVINE FLURRIES
I asked Roach if this fight had gotten personal. His response was, “It?s very personal but Manny said he will take care of everything. He promised me.”…Not a good week for Brandon Rios, not only with what was discussed earlier but at the weigh-in, he got into a minor scuffle with his foe, Omri Lowther. He then was a couple pounds over the 139-pound weight limit. In his next attempt, he came in at almost ? of a pound over and had to cut a deal with the opposing camp to get the fight going…The weigh-in was incredible, the energy, the enthusiasm. There were more people that attended this function than the last three Paul Williams and Andre Berto fights combined…Yes, we will be tailgating before the fights at Cowboys Stadium. If you?re around, please feel free to drop by. We won?t know our exact location till we get there but go to my Twitter page at www.twitter.com/stevemaxboxing and I?ll keep everyone posted…I can be reached at [email protected]. We also have a Facebook page at www.facebook.com/MaxBoxing.
