See You In Tijuana, Tony

Everyone's favorite plaster craftsman/welterweight boxer, Antonio Margarito and his trainer Javier Capetillo had their boxing licenses revoked by the California State Athletic Commission (and therefore the rest of the US) for at least one year:

Voting 7-0 on both motions for revocation, the panel found that they put a
plaster-like substance on illegal pads inside Margarito's hand wraps.

Before Margarito was knocked out in the ninth round, Mosley's trainer, Naazim Richardson, had objected to the way Margarito's left hand was wrapped. When the wrap was cut off, officials found a suspect bandage wrap inside the knuckle pad that would be placed over Margarito's hands.

Richardson then insisted that the wrap on Margarito's right hand be checked and another identical illegal pad was discovered. Margarito eventually had his hands re-wrapped and went on to lose the fight.

Margarito told the panel that he just held his hands up to be wrapped, and had no knowledge of what his trainer was doing. His trainer echoed the sentiment, saying:

I don't want this young man to have problems. I'm here to cover any responsibility. I take full responsibility. I committed this innocent mistake.

Pleading ignorance? Yeah fucking right, Antonio. So I'm assuming they wrapped your hands with plaster in your sparring matches and training sessions, right? Oh, no? So you just closed your eyes when they were being applied? You couldn't feel the illegal pads when Javier put them on? You didn't notice that your hands were significantly heavier? Your wraps didn't feel any different? Really?

What incentive would your trainer have to do this without your consent? Why is it that when lost your illegal edge, you got your ass handed to you by a 37 year old dude?

In related news, Roger Clemens just held down his pants so Brain McNamee could inject him and had no idea what was in those syringes. And that "innocent mistake" resulted in other people taking vicious and illegal blows to the head with a rock hard substance. Altering hand wraps is considered an especially serious violation in the boxing world, for obvious reasons. After the one year ban, Margarito and his trainer can apply for reinstatement but there is not guarantee that they will be accepted.

This now opens the door for legal action from Miguel Cotto, Kermit Cintron, Joshua Clottey and other past opponents. After the his fight with Margarito, Cotto said it felt like he was being "hit with bricks". Doesn't sound like hyperbole anymore, does it? Unfortunately for him, his bell cannot be unrung, and he may never be the same fighter again. But at least people know he wasn't taking a knee for no reason.

Antonio Margarito: Humble Artisan

Would everyone leave Antonio Margarito alone? The guy had to rush from his second job as a craftsman, putting some finishing touches on a bathroom in Santa Monica, just to get to the Staples Center on Saturday night, which is why he looked so flat. He didn't have time to wash off his hands, which explains the "plaster like substance" found in his wraps.

The substance was found before the fight, so he was re-taped under the supervision of a boxing official. Then, coincidentally, the Tijuana Tornado got his ass handed to him by a 37 year old "Sugar" Shane Mosley. Boxing gloves weigh about 12 oz, and I'm guessing a handful of plaster is going to increase that pretty significantly.

The real loser of that fight was Miguel Cotto, who beat Mosely in November 2007, but lost his WBO Welterweight title to Margarito in July.

That was Cotto's first career loss, and it looks a whole lot different after the revelation that Margarito was cheating. You might doubt whether Margarito used the plaster in his 11th round defeat of Cotto, but ask yourself this: Why would you win the Welterweight title and THEN start cheating?