Citing a “costly divorce” and an “itch to compete,” two-time former welterweight champ Antonio Margarito is preparing for a full-time ring comeback. And while financial details have yet to be worked out between Margarito and promoter Bob Arum, it’s hard to imagine a scenario where a return-minded “Tijuana Tornado” wouldn’t eventually find someone, somewhere to bankroll his comeback.
Margarito, of course, was the key figure in the “Plastergate” scandal which saw him and trainer Javier Capetillo have their licenses revoked by the California State Athletic Commission (CSAC) for attempting to enter the ring against Shane Mosley in 2009 with a “plaster-like” substance over his knuckle pads.
The former “Most Feared Man in Boxing” was never able to win back his license in California, but boxing being boxing, he was able to get licensed in Mexico, Texas, and New York.
After Plastergate, however, Margarito was never the same, finishing his career with a 1-3 run and not the slightest hint of the punching power he carried pre-scandal. In 2010, he was dealt a one-sided beating at the hands of Manny Pacquiao that severely injured his right eye and the bone surrounding it and then lost to a revenge-minded Miguel Cotto a year later, causing further damage to the eye.
Now, four years after his loss to Cotto and with a right eye, post retina surgery, still visibly deformed, Margarito wants back into boxing.
The question, though, is whether he can still do something, anything in the business or if the comeback is purely about stuffing his pockets with as much cash as possible before somebody pops his eyeball like a grape. He allegedly has the doctor’s green light OK, but we all know that in boxing anyone looking for the “right” doctor to say the “right” thing can easily find him.
Margarito’s comeback, likely to begin at 160+ and settle into 154, will last as long as he can keep finding fall guys to beat and/or until he can score a really big payday against a top earner. Even with a best case scenario, it would be hard to imagine him having any sort of real chance of doing anything at 38 years of age, with one googlie eye, at a higher weight, and sans plaster knuckle pads. Most likely, we’ll see Margarito in against a couple of patsies, who will be rehearsing their stunning KO losses in the dressing room before the fight, and then move on to be a human sacrifice placed at the altar of some hotshot younger fighter.
But, played right, there could be some interesting bouts for Margarito.
With enough ring rust knocked off, he could probably provide five or six compelling rounds up against career-depressed Alfredo Angulo before being crushed. If Team Tornado really wants to go the circus sideshow route, they could match him against Ricardo Mayorga at the top of a Bad Boys of Boxing PPV. There may even be a few bucks left in a rematch with Joshua Clottey.
But the temptation will be there to take the big money and run as soon as possible. Any number of fighters would be willing to pummel Margarito for an easy win against a recognizable name. Saul Alvarez would probably love to get his hands on the bad boy of Mexican boxing in order to further his own image as the good guy of Mexican boxing. And if Margarito works with Top Rank, Bob Arum would likely try and eventually match him against 24-year-old Mexican prospect Gilberto Ramirez Sanchez for the same reason Alvarez would probably like to pursue the former welterweight champ.
Lost in the comeback talk, though, will be an honest conversation about whether Margarito really belongs in the ring again with his injury and whether he deserves to keep earning a living as a fighter after his Plastergate scandal. But, for now, there’s money to be had with a comeback-minded Margarito, so everything else goes out the window.
