Fighting promoter Bob Arum in a credibility contest is easy. It?s like being in a battle for truth against Pinocchio.
Manny Pacquaio says that Antonio Margarito, more commonly known now as Margocheato, knew his handwraps were illegal before the Sugar Shane Mosley fight Jan. 24 in Los Angeles.
Oscar De La Hoya said all fighters know what is in their handwraps because, after all, the hands are as important to the fighter as they are to the pianist. Boxers make their livings with their hands as their instrument.
Now along comes another credible fellow, Ricky Hatton. He co-signs the statements of Pacman and Oskie and adds that the Mexican mauler deserves serious punishment.
Let’s not forget the searing statements of another Arum chattel, Boricua Bomber Miguel Cotto. He may or may not have been cheated in his KO loss to Margy. I guess we’ll never know on that one. Cotto said Margy should be banned worldwide, not just in Cali.
But, as Margocheato?s chief apologist, Arum?s nose keeps growing.
For those of you who began following big time boxeo recently, like let?s say this morning, I ask you to keep in mind the Top Rank honcho?s most famous public uttering.
One day Arum told crusty but prolific Newsday boxing scribe Bob Waters that the sky was blue and the following day he told the journalist the sky was red.
Waters demanded to know which was true. Arum said the truth had changed because ?yesterday I was lying and today I am telling the truth.?
Versatile and flexible? The Indian Rubber Man in the carnival sideshow can?t bend himself into knots the way Uncle Bobster can.
Daniel Petrocelli, high-priced LA lawyer who beat OJ Simpson in that civil forfeiture case, is handling Margorito?s appeal and you may be sure that Arum is footing the bill.
In the wake of lab results done for the Califrornia State Athletic which revealed the presence of illegal substances in the boxer?s handwraps, Arum went to a brief period of radio silence.
But Arum couldn?t remain silent. He?s said that the charges which resulted in a one-year license suspsension for the boxer and trainer Javier Capetillo (although Arum could care less about the handwrapper) are ?complete and utter nonsense.?
Now, chemical expert Arum explains, that calcium and sulfur found in the handwraps are also commonly found in hand creams.
Cue up the music, maestro. Arum filling in for Johnny Otis and singing, ?Crazy Hand Jive.?
Or, alternatively, maybe Arum croons ?Last Time I Saw (Plaster of) Paris.?
I guess Arum wants the gullible world to believe that Margarito had a wicked attack of arthritis just as he arrived in his dressing room.
Nice try, Roberto, nice try. Your schnoz is starting to look like Jimmy Durante?s protruding beak.
For the prosecution, Deputy Attorney General Karen Chappelle points out that gauze and tape and nothing else are permitted in the handwraps.
That?s not LA law, that?s the statewide law.
I may be na?ve but I will repeat my belief that Margarito?s one-year ban will be lifted if he goes before the boxing board next January or February. I don?t think California?s intention is to ruin what remains of the Tijuana boxer?s finite career.
I think the commission will temper justice with some mercy.
But Arum?s squawking doesn?t help the situation. Neither do threats to thumb, you?ll pardon the hand area reference, noses at the boxing board by having Margy fight in the friendly confines (no handwrap checks here, senor) of Tijuana or elsewhere in Mexico.
The song Margarito should be listening to is by Willie Nelson, ?The Healing Hands Of Time.?
He needs to sit in the corner wearing his dunce?s cap and keep quiet.
They call that remorse, Mr. Arum.
Petrocelli?s chances for a successful appear seem extremely slim. But he needs to throw the off switch on Arum?s continuing audio.
Margarito?s mantra needs to change to ?I?m sorry, it won?t happen again. I?ve fired Capetillo. I am asking for a second chance.?
Such humility, sprinkled with a little contrition, would really be music to the California commission?s ears next year.
Right now, though, I?ve got the score as Pacquiao-De La Hoya-Hatton batting a thousand and Promoter Pinocchio 0 for about 72.
Dummy up, Bob, dummy up.
(Michael Marley?s last KO took place in Reno in January of 1971 when, wearing the silver and blue of the Nevada Wolf Pack, he somehow knocked out Chico State 156-polund demon Bob Walters with a looping right hand. It must be true as it was so reported in the next day?s Nevada State Journal. Coach Jimmie Olivas, a critical sort, said Marley ?should work for Western Union the way he telegraphs his punches.? Be that as it was, the only thing found in Marley’s handwraps were two 69 cent breakfast coupons for the Cal-Neva Club. Big shout-out to Coach Michael Martino and the current Wolf Pack boxing team Maybe it was those Awful Awful burgers that sent Marley ballooning to 256 and then to 330 pounds, White Gorilla weight.
Marley?s also serves as the NY Boxing Examiner at Examiner.com)
