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The Attempt of An Assault In the Ring:
From
Francisco Guzman to Scott Sanders
I am a writer and
photographer of boxing web site braggingrightscorner.com. I was just scrolling
through some of the articles posted on the site when I came across
Scott
Sanders'
“The Persecution of Antonio Margarito.”
The first thing that
stood out was Sanders question... "When does punishment turn into
outright vindictiveness?"
How is anyone being vindictive towards Margarito when: a) He already had a
fight in Mexico against Robert Garcia and b) He now has a chance - undeserved
as it may be- to fight Manny Pacquiao? All of this after having been caught
using an illegal substance (Plaster of Paris) in his hand wraps? Sanders, why
don’t you tell that to Billy Collins' family, who had to witness their son
being unmercifully
beaten
for 10
rounds by Luis Resto, after Resto had the padding in his gloves removed by
trainer Panama Lewis? (Refer to documentary “Assault in the Ring”).
In addition,
how do you know that there is zero evidence that Margarito hit
another boxer with loaded gloves? Actually, no one knows how long
this has been going on. The fact that he got caught might be
evidence that Margarito and trainer Javier Capetillo have done this
before or they might not have tried it in the first place.
Moving along, and in
reference to Margarito not knowing what was in his gloves... Think about it,
the hand wraps go on the fighter’s hands. Thus, if something doesn’t feel
right, it’s the fighter who feels it, especially a substance like “Plaster of
Paris” that hardens when wet. Miguel Cotto has taken punishment in other
fights, but never has his face looked like the bloody mess it did in the
Margarito fight.
There is another
incident that makes this case suspicious, and I am referring to the
incident which involved one of Freddie Roach's fighters, Rashad
Holloway. Rashad had been sparring with Margarito and ended up with
a broken orbital bone.
There were reports that the substance
Margarito was caught with had blood on it, and had been used in the gym to
supposedly protect the fighter's hand while hitting the punching
bag.
Let's say Margarito was
never caught until after the fight with Shane Mosley. I ask you, would it have
become a crime after Margarito had caused Mosley serious physical damage? Does
it become a crime then and because he got caught before the fight, before he had
the opportunity to injure a fellow boxer, it doesn’t make it a crime?
Why would Margarito admit to knowing what was in his wraps? Such admission
would almost guarantee the end of Margarito's boxing career, and I'm
sure you know that Sanders. Most believe Margarito shouldn’t be able to fight again
and should be jailed based on the criminal nature of what was attempted by him
and his trainer.
We have witnessed
incidents that have lead to the death of several fighters, and we know that in
the sport of boxing when a fighter steps into the ring that’s what's at stake.
Something like using loaded gloves is not, and can not be part of the deal, as
this practice would only add to the dangerous nature of an already dangerous
sport.
I believe that Antonio Margarito is lucky to even be able to
entertain the possibility of getting his license back. Very lucky
that he is not going to face
jail time. So, calling it a "persecution" is an understatement for a
man who attempted to commit a serious crime against another human
being and as it stands now
will never be held accountable for his actions, but is free to
attempt to fight again.
8-22-2010
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