Perhaps only Alex Rodriguez, Miguel Tejada, Roberto Alomar and Chris Brown had a worse week than Antonio Margarito, who had his boxing license revoked for at least one year by the California State Athletic Commission along with his trainer, Javier Capetillo, this past Tuesday.
No ‘plaster of paris’, horseshoes or hand grenades were found in what are now the most notorious and most talked about handwraps in the history of the sport. (In fact, for whatever reason, the lab results were not available for the hearing, which makes you wonder why the hearing wasn’t called off till those results were made conclusive.)
But the damage has been done to Margarito’s reputation.
Like a baseball slugger who was found to have used a corked bat or illegal performance enhancing drugs, whatever he has accomplished up to that point will be questioned and looked upon as tainted. That may not be fair, but it’s perfectly logical in many respects.
You want to believe that Margarito had no knowledge of what Capetillo was doing. Having gotten to know him the past few years, you come to think that he’s an honorable man whose honest fighting style had endeared him to a growing multitude of fans across the land. He’s about as pleasant a personality as you’ll come across in this sport. Almost nobody treats his fans better. And though loyalists can take defeats, they are dismayed by cheaters. They want to believe that what he has accomplished was driven by his impregnable work ethic and stout heart – not aided by a breaking of rules and regulations.
But it would’ve been very difficult – perhaps impossible – for the CSAC to have punished Capetillo without penalizing Margarito. With everything that was said in the immediate aftermath of what took place in his dressing room on the night of January 24th, where the term ‘foreign substance’ became ubiquitous, this commission was under great scrutiny and pressure to make an unyielding ruling. With speculation and innuendo running rampant leading up to February 10th, it felt as though Margarito was already tried and convicted on many fronts beforehand.
Bob Arum, who promotes Margarito, would release a statement on the matter that said, “The commission punishment is based on the theory that the boxer is the captain of his team and is responsible for any wrongdoing of his trainer or any of his cornermen.
“That is not the law.
“When Roger Mayweather, trainer for Floyd Mayweather, entered the ring improperly during the Mayweather vs. Judah fight, Roger was punished but the Nevada commission quite properly suggested that Floyd be punished.
“We in America should respect the law, fundamental legal principles and not be swayed by emotion. The ‘message’ sent by the California Athletic Commission is the wrong message. The correct ‘message’ is that a person should only be punished if he or she is guilty of wrongdoing. We hope that Margarito will appeal the unjust revocation of his California boxing license.”
His points were echoed by WBC president Jose Sulaiman (yeah, yeah, insert your own punchline). But it can be argued that having a cornerman rush into the ring is not nearly as serious a crime as having illegal handwraps on. And what may have sealed their fate was the rather flimsy defense of Capetillo, who admitted to mistakenly using a hand pad that was meant for gym usage.
Boxing is among the most dangerous endeavors in the world. Protecting the safety of its participants is the first and foremost job of any athletic commission. Perhaps the California commission has a zero-tolerance policy for any type of irregularity – accidental or otherwise. But moving forward, it may be time to re-educate all the inspectors across the world as to what is legal and illegal to apply on a fighter?s hands. Remember, the original handwraps of Margarito that evening were OK’d and signed off on by the inspector in charge, as were previous handwraps of Margarito in past fights with respected commissions in the state of Nevada and New Jersey. This is not to say that any malfeasance took place then, but only to point out that in those instances, nothing was found to be illegal and no issues were raised by the opposing camps. But if you believe that the Margarito fight is the only case of a gray area being exploited or breached when it comes to a fighter?s handwraps, then you’re being awfully naive. Just about every single trainer and handwrap specialist possesses tricks of the trade that they guard with their life.
Maybe another step in eradicating what took place with Margarito is to put in a rule that clearly states that any materials going on a fighter?s hands the night of the fight must be brand new (which may be unrealistic to ask every trainer to buy a new roll of tape for every single fighter) or that whatever is constructed for the boxer’s hands must be made in front of an inspector in the locker room. Everything must be oven-baked and made from scratch as they say. This not only protects the trainer, but also the fighter himself, against any charges levied against him.
Moving forward, Arum, who is screaming bloody murder, says that until California reverses its course and reinstates his fighter, Top Rank will be doing no business in ‘the Golden State’. He says that Margarito will fight in Mexico – where politicians have already expressed support for the idea – and be kept active. You have to admire Arum for standing up for his man and being a true promoter (perhaps the last one remaining), but you wonder if this only makes Margarito into more of a prizefighting pariah as he performs as a boxing leper below the border. Who will be willing to televise such an event in the States? Who would be willing to face him under these circumstances? Plus, you’d have to think that by participating in another jurisdiction with this ruling, any chance of him being reinstated in California would be greatly reduced. Miguel Cotto, who was to have rematched Margarito, has clearly stated that he would not face Margarito under these circumstances.
His reputation has taken enough of a hit.
Letting him lay low and away from the glaring spotlight could be just what the doctor ordered. A year can go by pretty quickly. And rest wouldn’t be the worst thing for Margarito in light of the physical nature of his past few fights. But the man does have to make a living, and boxing is a career that has a finite life span. If he doesn’t get his license back next year – well, at that point I don’t think he has any choice but to go the rogue route. Honestly, I wouldn’t blame them for doing this now, but it’s just this reporter?s opinion that this should be a secondary option.
And whatever he does in the ring, he will have to make the uncomfortable decision to find a new trainer to help him prepare for fights and wrap his hands on a daily basis. Why? Well, ever heard of guilt by association? That’s why.
It’s been quite a roller coaster ride for Margarito the last seven months. Long an overlooked and avoided fighter, he finally hit the big time with his incredibly strong-willed effort in July against Cotto. He had finally made it. And the 20,000-plus patrons that came to see his bout with Mosley was confirmation of that. But that would be the high point as he was decisively beaten by Mosley at the Staples Center.
But it turns out that his knockout loss wasn’t the worst of his problems.
As someone who has followed his career with great interest (and admittedly, a fan) I hope that there will be at least a form of redemption for him. If he can return in the correct fashion and finish his career with a string of notable victories, much of this will be forgiven – if not forgotten about. We’re funny that way; if you produce results, we are more than willing to forgive and move on. It’s perverse in many ways, but that’s the reality.
It’s a stormy spell in time for ‘the Tijuana Tornado’.
