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any knew news today on what he had under his wrap?
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LOS ANGELES – A controversy erupted about a half-hour prior to Antonio Margarito’s defense of his WBA welterweight title against Shane Mosley on Saturday, before 20,820 at the Staples Center.
Dean Lohuis, the interim co-executive director of the California State Athletic Commission, said an illegal substance was found in Margarito’s hand wraps. A boxer’s hands are wrapped with tape and gauze to protect them before he puts on his gloves.
“It was a plaster-like substance,” said Golden Boy Promotions attorney Stephen Espinoza. “It was bagged up by the commission and taken as evidence.”
****m Richardson, Mosley’s trainer, complained that Margarito’s wraps looked too large with a lump. An inspector for the commission agreed and ordered the wraps to be cut off and then rewrapped.
That is when the illegal substance was discovered. HBO analyst Larry Merchant, who was in the dressing room area doing interviews, said he had been told it was some kind of a wet substance.
Eric Gomez, the matchmaker for Mosley’s Golden Boy Promotions, said that it was the same material used to make plaster of paris.
Top Rank president Todd duBoef, who promotes Margarito, said he was told the wrap was simply gauze that was balled up by the knuckles. DuBoef said that when Richardson objected, Margarito’s camp was happy to comply and rewrap.
Margarito’s hands were wrapped by his longtime trainer, Javier Capetillo.
By Mark Vester
Before Shane Mosley (46-5, 39KOs) stopped Antonio Margarito (37-6, 27KOs) in the ninth round of their action-packed bout at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California, HBO announced to the televised audience that Margarito's hands were found to be illegally wrapped and had to be re-wrapped three times to make them legal.
According to the HBO announcers, Mosley's trainer ****m Richardson, was in Margarito's dressing room to observe the wrapping of his hands. He saw some kind of substance in Margarito's wrappings that was not suppossed to be there. He alerted someone from the California State Athletic Commission. A person from the commission checked Margarito's wraps and agreed with Richardson, noting that a substance had been used on the wraps which made them harden into a plaster like shell. The allegation by Richardson, and from what HBO had reported, is the substance was being used to harden the wraps to add more punching power to Margarito's shots.
During the live broadcast, HBO continued to ask the repeated question of whether or not Margarito had used the same substance on his wraps prior to entering the ring for last July's knockout win over Miguel Cotto. The incident is sure to put a black cloud above Margarito for some time.
So he tried to put the plaster on 2 times then finally they said "**** it no plaster for the 3rd"Comment
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