Reporting from New York ? At this point, Antonio Margarito realizes he’s not going to change anyone’s opinion about whether he knew there was plaster inside his hand wraps before a title fight in 2009 ? which led to him being suspended from boxing.
If fans wants to think of him as a “criminal,” as his Saturday-night opponent Miguel Cotto does, then so be it.
“Here comes a criminal, open the doors for the criminal,” Margarito said Wednesday, his first words upon being introduced at a Madison Square Garden news conference for his junior-middleweight title bout against Cotto. “They say I’m not a gentleman, not a great person. I don’t know why they say that.”
Those closest to the “Tijuana Tornado” say Margarito (38-7, 27 KOs) doesn’t care much about what others think.
The controversy dates to January 2009, when the California State Athletic Commission removed plaster-caked inserts from inside Margarito’s hand wraps before his welterweight title defense against Shane Mosley at Staples Center. Margarito denied knowing his gloves were loaded, but his license was revoked for a year.
