After he was easily beaten by Mosley, it kinda makes you think.
2009-01-28T19:15:10Z
Doesn't this count as an admission from one of Margarito's trainers:
"As reported over at Boxingscene.com, Espinoza denied that there had been any wrongdoing by Margarito or his trainer, Javier Capetillo, and offered the explanation that the “plaster-like” substances in question were actually gauzes that had been prepared two weeks before the fight with a wet cloth that caused the gauze to become humid and then hard." Even granting that it wasn't plaster, anything that would cause gauze to harden would in fact be cheating wouldn't it?
Anonymous2009-01-28T18:31:47Z
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Outside of either Marga-cheat-o or one of his trainers admitting to it, there will never be conclusive proof of it.
HOWEVER:
I believe that there is some circumstancial evidence that implies as much.
#1: Mosley vs Marga-cheat-o is the only fight in which we are 100% certain that Marga-cheat-o didn't have his wraps loaded with plaster. It's also the only fight in which Marga-cheat-o's opponent didn't wear down. It was the worst fight of his career, and, once having been considered the most durable fighter in all of boxing, was KO'd by a blown-up lightweight.
#2: Cotto's face blew up in a way that, while plausible, seemed uncharacteristic for him. There has been cut-prone fighters in the past that would blow up like that, but Cotto has never done so in the past. And he did fight Mosely, the same guy that demolished Marga-cheat-o.
#3: Plaster takes time to harden. I think it's likely that it took Marga-cheat-o's plaster-soaked wraps a good 6 rounds to harden. Against both Cotto and Paul Williams, Marga-cheat-o surged after round 6. There was another fight in which Marga-cheat-o was being outboxed against an African fighter (i think), in which the fight had to be stopped due to a freaky cut. I believe these 3 fights infer that Margo-cheat-o's hands become harder once the plaster sets.
#4: Cotto's behavior. It's very subjective, but I imagine a fight between a guy wearing 10 oz gloves, and a bare fisted fighter would be very similar. Cotto simply couldn't find a way to land good shots without paying dearly. He didn't know what to do, so he tried to reduce the amount of actual fighting with some rather useless side to side movement. The fact that Cotto quit tells me that he was hurt rather than debilitated. He had his wits about himself, but he just couldn't handle the pain. I think that this could be a sign of getting hit with plastered hands rather than a typical hand. I once sparred an opponent that used 18 oz gloves while I used 16 oz gloves. I was able to stay in there while the opponent couldn't trade. It was a very obvious advantage that we didn't realize until we started sparring. My opponent's behavior was similar to Cotto's.
#5: comparative study using similar opponents. Both Mosley and Margarito fought Cotto. Mosley and Cotto was mostly a draw. Cotto and Marga-cheat-o was a wipeout after 6 rounds. Given that Cotto and Mosley were similar in talent, then both fighters should turn in generally similar performances, meaning close decisions all around. Mosley blasted Marga-cheat-o.
The difference maker is that Marga-cheat-o didn't have his hardened plaster "kicking in" for him against Mosley like it did against Cotto and Williams. It explains why he was such a great late-rounds/attrition fighter.
I just watched Bloodboxings new video on youtube, and he was saying a lot of things that make sense and I think that everyone should check it out. You don't know all the facts, so don't start trying to tear this man down. With all of the rat bastards in boxing today they just might of wanted an excuse to discredit Margarito win or lose. It is not like the higher ups wanted him to win against Cotto, so they want to make it seem like he cheated. He is not as marketable as Cotto stylistically and he doesn't have the mainstream audiences attention like Cotto. When Margarito beat Cotto, he took away a huge payday for everyone in boxing, because a fight with Mayweather was finally starting to get on the horizon. If they find a way to prove this is right, the loss could be erased and the fight could still happen. All I am saying is in boxing you will never find a clear angle in the controversey. Blood put it best when he said "It is not guilty until proven innocent, it is innocent until proven guilty."
This will bring boxing down a notch. We have to wait for the results somewhere Feb 10. Investigation is ongoing now. But if hardening matter was in the gauze then Margo and trainer should be banned from Boxing. And perhaps law suits left and right from previous boxers follow up. Especially from Cotto, his face was badly batter. One fact to point out here is every boxer gets assigned a person from the boxing commission as neutral observant. from the time the boxer steps into the locker room all the way till the final glove is done. This person assures the proper bandage is placed and no illegal matter is inserted in the gloves.