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Wasn't Tony accused of taking steroids after the Cotto fight as well?
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If it does turn out to be cheating then at least Karma has already caught up with them.
'' My Name Is Margarito ''Comment
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Antonio Margarito lost more than a fight Saturday.
After suffering through nine rounds of brutal punishment at the gloved but deadly hands of Shane Mosley at Staples Center, Margarito hobbled from the ring without his WBC welterweight championship belt, with little chance at a potential $11-million December date with Manny Pacquiao and with no clue where it all went.
Oh, and as if that weren't enough, Margarito may be about to lose much of the respect he has in the boxing world after a su****ious substance likened to plaster of Paris was removed from his hand wrappings before he left the dressing room.
The California State Athletic Commission has reportedly seized two pads and is investigating, but since the substance was removed from Margarito's hand wraps before he entered the ring, Saturday's bout wasn't affected -- though the champion's focus clearly was.
"I just kept getting caught," a dazed Margarito said. "I just kept caught over and over."
His corner -- as well as a pro-Margarito crowd of 20,820 -- was equally confused.
"Something happened in the first round," his trainer Javier Capetillo said. "He didn't seem to be really [fighting]. It was frustrating for me to watch.
"It could have been a focus problem. He kept getting hit by hard rights."
It may have started in the first round -- or perhaps in the dressing room beforehand -- but it continued until 23 seconds into the ninth round when Capetillo threw in the towel after watching his defenseless fighter, both hands at his side, take shot after shot as he slumped against the ropes near his corner.
"Why'd they stop it?" Margarito, who apparently lost his senses as well, asked from the ring. "I could have continued."
For Margarito, who grew up poor on the potholed streets of Tijuana, it was an inglorious end to what was shaping up to be a fairy tale. After leaving home as a teenager, he turned to boxing to keep him out of trouble -- and it may have saved his life after he turned pro at 15.
He married his grade-school sweetheart, fought his way up the ladder by fighting for little more than cab fare in dank Mexican gyms and the ballrooms of cheap California hotels before finally reaching the big time with a convincing 11th-round knockout of previously unbeaten Miguel Cotto in July.
He made $1.6 million for that fight, and $2.3 million Saturday. His promoter, Bob Arum, confident of a victory over Mosley, was already talking of a rematch with Cotto in June and a bout with Pacquiao, the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world, in December.
And since Arum promotes all three boxers, there's a good chance he could have made all that happen.
David Copperfield couldn't make that happen now.
Afterward, Mosley said he wanted Cotto (32-1) next -- though Cotto has a date with Michael Jennings (34-1) next month to get through first.
"Cotto is the next biggest fight. I want to fight mega-fights," Mosley said.
A gracious Mosley also talked about a rematch with Margarito. That, however, seems unlikely in the near future, especially given the alleged subterfuge that took place before Saturday's fight.
Mosley's physician, Dr. Robert Olvera, said the substance taken from Margarito's wrapped hands was similar to the material used to make casts.
"It gets hard and mobile," he said, likening the substance to plaster of Paris.
Judd Burstein, Mosley's lawyer, said concerns of a scenario similar to the one he said played out Saturday had been discussed at the rules meeting Friday and "they went ahead and violated it" anyway.
An official with Golden Boy Promotions, Mosley's promoter, which of late has been making nice with rival Top Rank, Margarito's promoter, called it "a serious offense. That's cheating."
For his part the 37-year-old Mosley, who seemed to absolve the 30-year-old Margarito of any blame afterward, praised his trainer, Nazzim Richardson.
"My trainer was on his job," he said. "He caught him."
Top Rank President Todd duBoef, meanwhile, tried to downplay the incident, saying that he was told only that additional gauze had been taken from his fighter's hands.
No matter how that eventually plays out, Margarito, who went straight from the ring to the hospital, is now left to pick up the shattered pieces of a career -- and perhaps of plaster -- that flamed out just as it appeared to be taking off.
"My life has changed a lot," he said in the days leading up to the fight. "It's changed in that everyone wants an autograph, they want to shake my hand. But I still want to give more.
"The truth is, I have a lot more to accomplish."
Especially given all that he lost Saturday.Comment
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I dont know the story seems to be changing.
First it was additional gauze that was applied to high.
Now its gauze that was prepared weeks before and got wet and "hardened".Comment
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The substances removed from his gloves, whatever they were, are now in the custody of the CSAC and that body will rule on the issue in due time.
holy****tttttttttComment
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