Forsberg
30-01-2009, 09:50 AM
Antonio Margarito stands accused of cheating with his ‘hands of stone’
Ron Lewis
Skulduggery, or at least the whiff of it, has never been far from the noble art. As long as boxers have been wearing gloves, there has been the thought that something other than a fist could be in there. Charlie Chaplin became a big success in the ring after putting a lucky horseshoe in his glove in the 1915 film, The Champion, but while a horseshoe would probably not even fit inside a glove, dastardly deeds have been known, if mostly condemned to the sport’s dim and dark past.
Or maybe not. Last weekend, in front of a record crowd at the Staples Centre in Los Angeles, Shane Mosley, a three-weight world champion, rolled back the years to stop Antonio Margarito and win the WBA welterweight title at the age of 37. Mosley, the American, is no stranger to controversy, having admitted taking erythropoietin (EPO) and other illegal substances supplied by the infamous Balco laboratory before his 2003 win over Oscar De La Hoya, with whom he is now partners in Golden Boy, the promoter.
Margarito now stands accused of a more basic form of cheating. The controversy happened before the bout, as Margarito was having his hands bandaged. Nazim Richardson, Mosley’s trainer, objected because the taping was too thick. When the excess tape was removed, Richardson pointed to two pads in the wrapped hand that appeared to be wet and, he said, “laced with flecks” of a substance.
That substance, according to Judd Burstein, Mosley’s lawyer, appeared to be “like plaster of Paris”. Richard Schaefer, Mosley’s promoter who saw a photograph of the offending fist, likened it to concrete. The wraps were impounded and Margarito’s hands were rebandaged. On Wednesday night, the California State Athletic Commission (CSAC) suspended the Mexican and his trainer, Javier Capetillo, before a hearing on February 10.
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“A foreign substance was found by CSAC staff in the hand wraps of Antonio Margarito,” Tim Noonan, the CSAC chairman, said. “The substance found in Margarito’s hand wraps is currently being analysed by the California Department of Justice. An investigation as to whether either licensee violated CSAC rules is ongoing.”
The implication is that the substance would have hardened inside Margarito’s gloves, turning his hands into blunt instruments. Now everyone is crying foul, notably supporters of Miguel Cotto, the Puerto Rican who lost his world title and unbeaten record to the Mexican last summer.
Bob Arum, Margarito’s promoter, retained a lawyer for the boxer and said that he was innocent. “We’re absolutely confident he’s going to be exonerated,” Arum said. “He’s not a cheater, he wouldn’t know anything about cheating.” The loading of gloves is not unknown, even in modern times. Last September in South Africa, Edward Mpofu was found to have his fists encased in plaster of Paris after losing a featherweight bout to Thanduxolo Dyani. The winner went to hospital, the loser and his trainer, Eugene Khanyile, fled the scene. “I was wondering why every time he hit, it was like I was being hit by a stone,” Dyani said. Mpofu was banned for life and Khanyile given a ten-year suspension.
One of the legendary mysteries concerns the great Jack Dempsey, when he won the world heavyweight title from Jess Willard in 1919 in Toledo, Ohio. One tale, which has been disproved, was that Dempsey had his fists encased in plaster of Paris. Another is that Dempsey held a railroad spike in his hand. The story goes that the American was holding the metal in his left glove during the first round when he knocked down Willard seven times. At the end of the round, thinking that the bout had been stopped, he left the ring and some allege that he gave something to a member of the crowd.
Others say that an object fell from Dempsey’s glove after the seventh knockdown and that one of his cornermen kicked it out of the ring.
Dempsey was called back and failed to drop his opponent again in two further rounds, before Willard was pulled out with injuries that included a fractured cheekbone and dislocated jaw. The crowd was unforgiving in those days. Some labelled Willard a quitter.
http://www.timesonline.co.u k/tol/sport/more_sport/boxing/article5614881.ece
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Does this expain how he beat Cotto?
Ron Lewis
Skulduggery, or at least the whiff of it, has never been far from the noble art. As long as boxers have been wearing gloves, there has been the thought that something other than a fist could be in there. Charlie Chaplin became a big success in the ring after putting a lucky horseshoe in his glove in the 1915 film, The Champion, but while a horseshoe would probably not even fit inside a glove, dastardly deeds have been known, if mostly condemned to the sport’s dim and dark past.
Or maybe not. Last weekend, in front of a record crowd at the Staples Centre in Los Angeles, Shane Mosley, a three-weight world champion, rolled back the years to stop Antonio Margarito and win the WBA welterweight title at the age of 37. Mosley, the American, is no stranger to controversy, having admitted taking erythropoietin (EPO) and other illegal substances supplied by the infamous Balco laboratory before his 2003 win over Oscar De La Hoya, with whom he is now partners in Golden Boy, the promoter.
Margarito now stands accused of a more basic form of cheating. The controversy happened before the bout, as Margarito was having his hands bandaged. Nazim Richardson, Mosley’s trainer, objected because the taping was too thick. When the excess tape was removed, Richardson pointed to two pads in the wrapped hand that appeared to be wet and, he said, “laced with flecks” of a substance.
That substance, according to Judd Burstein, Mosley’s lawyer, appeared to be “like plaster of Paris”. Richard Schaefer, Mosley’s promoter who saw a photograph of the offending fist, likened it to concrete. The wraps were impounded and Margarito’s hands were rebandaged. On Wednesday night, the California State Athletic Commission (CSAC) suspended the Mexican and his trainer, Javier Capetillo, before a hearing on February 10.
Related Links
“A foreign substance was found by CSAC staff in the hand wraps of Antonio Margarito,” Tim Noonan, the CSAC chairman, said. “The substance found in Margarito’s hand wraps is currently being analysed by the California Department of Justice. An investigation as to whether either licensee violated CSAC rules is ongoing.”
The implication is that the substance would have hardened inside Margarito’s gloves, turning his hands into blunt instruments. Now everyone is crying foul, notably supporters of Miguel Cotto, the Puerto Rican who lost his world title and unbeaten record to the Mexican last summer.
Bob Arum, Margarito’s promoter, retained a lawyer for the boxer and said that he was innocent. “We’re absolutely confident he’s going to be exonerated,” Arum said. “He’s not a cheater, he wouldn’t know anything about cheating.” The loading of gloves is not unknown, even in modern times. Last September in South Africa, Edward Mpofu was found to have his fists encased in plaster of Paris after losing a featherweight bout to Thanduxolo Dyani. The winner went to hospital, the loser and his trainer, Eugene Khanyile, fled the scene. “I was wondering why every time he hit, it was like I was being hit by a stone,” Dyani said. Mpofu was banned for life and Khanyile given a ten-year suspension.
One of the legendary mysteries concerns the great Jack Dempsey, when he won the world heavyweight title from Jess Willard in 1919 in Toledo, Ohio. One tale, which has been disproved, was that Dempsey had his fists encased in plaster of Paris. Another is that Dempsey held a railroad spike in his hand. The story goes that the American was holding the metal in his left glove during the first round when he knocked down Willard seven times. At the end of the round, thinking that the bout had been stopped, he left the ring and some allege that he gave something to a member of the crowd.
Others say that an object fell from Dempsey’s glove after the seventh knockdown and that one of his cornermen kicked it out of the ring.
Dempsey was called back and failed to drop his opponent again in two further rounds, before Willard was pulled out with injuries that included a fractured cheekbone and dislocated jaw. The crowd was unforgiving in those days. Some labelled Willard a quitter.
http://www.timesonline.co.u k/tol/sport/more_sport/boxing/article5614881.ece
******************** ******************** ************
Does this expain how he beat Cotto?