By Mark Vester
The reputation of Antonio Margarito, a former three time welterweight champion, has taken yet another hit. Margarito's career has been under fire since his hand wraps were confiscated about thirty minutes prior to the bout with Shane Mosley on January 24. Mosley's trainer Naazim Richardson felt Margarito's wraps in the dressing room, and then indicated to an inspector for the California State Athletic Commission that Margarito's wraps were hard. After Margarito was asked to remove his wraps to have them inspected, two hard inserts were found. He was asked to re-wrap his hands and would later get knocked out by Mosley.
He was ordered to attend a hearing, along with trainer Javiar Capetillo, before the CSAC. The CSAC found that Margarito's wraps contained a foreign substance. They revoked the licenses of Margarito and Capetillo [both can re-apply in one year]. The exact nature of the foreign substance was never revealed because the hard inserts were sent to a lab for a review that would take several weeks to complete.
