Originally Published in the Nevada Examiner on September 24, 2010
On the June 16, 1983 undercard of Duran-Moore, middleweight journeyman Luis Resto defeated top prospect Billy Collins Jr. in a 10-round assault-- literally. At the conclusion of the fight, Collins' corner discovered that Resto's gloves had been doctored and at least one ounce of padding removed from each. Collins was left with significant injuries and permanent eye damage that changed the course of his life. Meanwhile, Resto and his trainer, Panama Lewis, were charged with assault and banned from the sport of boxing for life.
Over the years, Resto had maintained that Lewis tampered with the gloves without the fighter's knowledge, but he finally admitted 25 years later that not only did he know that the gloves were doctored but he knew that his hands were wrapped in tape that had been dipped in plaster of paris.
That is where we join Antonio Margarito. The Tijuana Tornado is living down his own illegal hand wrap incident while also trying to re-assign the blame to his trainer. Unlike Resto, Margarito's illegal hand wraps were discovered in the dressing room and never made it to ring. So he was never arrested by the law, but the California State Athletic Commission continues to incarcerate his career and the Nevada Commission agrees, for now.
Some might argue with Nevada's wisdom. After all, if they had rubberstamped Margarito (as Texas has) then the year's largest fight would be coming to Las Vegas and its almost 15% unemployment rate, not to mention its rabid Filipino fans. However, anyone who has seen a picture of Billy Collins Jr., with his cheek broken and his eyes swollen shut, knows that approving Margarito's license was about much more than economic impact.
What happened to Collins was attempted murder, and no commission should be able to stomach the idea of licensing a fighter that was willing to do that to someone. Las Vegas has always embraced boxing and its gladiatorial metaphor, but if they're going to license Margarito, then they might as well license feeding Christians to lions at Caesar's Palace.
Margarito maintains, as does Bob Arum, that the fighter was unaware of what was in his hand wraps, but the majority of us remain skeptical. As Manny put it, "Of course, I believe he knew." And why wouldn't a fighter notice a foreign object in his wrap or feel it when he punched? Maybe Margarito will tell us more about it in 25 years.
For now, both parties agree that Team Pacquiao will be watching Margarito's hand wrapping very closely. But why stop there? Check the gloves, the trunks, the mouthpiece, his water bottle, and his hair gel. You don't catch a guy robbing a bank, and then wait for him to rob the same bank when he gets out of jail. If you think Margarito is a cheater, then you should anticipate all of the new and interesting ways of cheating that he could have researched while he was suspended.
That will be the job of Freddie Roach, Buboy or whichever Pacquiao representative is asked to bring a microscope to Margarito's hand wraps. It's a job that someone should have done for Billy Collins Jr. And at the end of the day, while some people believe Antonio Margarito and some people have forgiven Antonio Margarito, the image of Team Pacquiao watching as the trainer wraps the Mexican fighter's hands will remind us all that none of us really trusts Antonio Margarito.
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