Guilty before proven innocent? Margarito denied California license
So the verdict is in. Well, one verdict is in, and it isn’t favourable. Banned boxer Antonio Margarito appeared before the California State Athletic Commission to ask for a renewal of his boxing license. It was stripped from him last February after plaster was found in his hand wraps prior to a fight with Shane Mosley. Margarito’s appeal was all the more pressing due to an upcoming bout with Manny Pacquiao.
Had the commission decided to award Margarito his license, it’s likely that Top Rank chief Bob Arum would have made MGM Grand in Las Vegas the venue for the upcoming bout. But as it stands the Nov. 13th fight will almost definitely happen at the Cowboy Stadium in Dallas, Texas.
The commission voted 5-1 against renewing Margarito’s license, and according to Lance Pugmire of the Los Angeles Times one state attorney even slammed Margarito for “lying” about his knowledge of the loaded gloves before the Mosley fight.
California assistant attorney general Karen Chappelle told the commission: “What's so disheartening is that [Margarito] has been given every chance to come forward to give the truth. He has demonstrated no remorse for the potential harm to his opponent."
Chappelle added that it would be “foolhardy [to] trust the safety of other boxers to his whim,” and that Margarito was ultimately willing to cover up his professional shortcomings" with the attempt at using loaded gloves.
It appears as though according to the California commission, one is guilty until proven innocent. The Margarito affair has set off explosions of controversy in the boxing world, but mainly for being so contentious, and not one-sided like the commission’s assessment. After all, top boxing trainers and analysts such as Freddie Roach weighed in and said that it would be perfectly possible for a trainer to hide the plaster without his boxing knowing it. From the beginning Margarito claimed that he unaware of the illegal wraps, and that he couldn’t feel anything out of place in them.
A month ago Margarito appealed to the state of the Nevada for a license and was rejected. The Nevada State Commission suggested he appeal to California first, as it was the state where the controversy occurred. But now with a California rejection the fight conclusively looks to be in Texas. Chances are Arum doesn’t mind that either: a bout a few months back at the Cowboys Stadium between Manny Pacquiao and Josh Clottey brought in 50,000 fans, and most of them came to see “Pac-Man.” Arum expects that with Margarito, a Mexican fighter, he will be able to draw upwards of 70,000 to the fight.
Popular website Boxingscene.com recently asked Bob Arum if he was concerned about negative publicity surrounding a Pacquiao—Margarito fight due to the illegal hand wraps, to which he replied that he was not. Arum has maintained throughout the allegations that his fighter is innocent.
Even Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer, who generally disagrees with just about everything Arum-related, was willing to give Margarito the benefit of the doubt. "It's a tough thing," he recently analyzed. "I think you can make a strong argument for why he should be licensed and you can make a strong argument for him not being licensed. [...] I can see the risk of licensing him, that you establish some sort of precedent that if you have plaster in your hand wraps and you say you didn't know and have the trainer take the fall and have a one-year suspension, you can go on.” He continued: “But at the same time, there is no proof that Margarito really knew. He got punished and sat out a year and I do believe people should have a second chance. You can make a strong case for either one."
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