Famous celebrity promoter Bob Arum and the president of the World Boxing Council, Jose Sulaiman recently disputed the guilty verdict handed down on boxer Antonio Margarito and trainer Javier Capetillo by the California State Athletic Commission.
Right after the verdict was handed down by the California State Athletic Commission (CSAC) finding boxer Antonio Margarito guilty of glove-padding during his recent fight with Shane Mosley, Bob Arum immediately protested the CSAC decision, insisting that Margarito should not be punished for a crime he has never committed.
Arum contended that Margarito has no prior knowledge of the glove-padding incident.
Yahoo sports: ‘It’s an absolute outrage’, Arum told AP. It’s something that I never thought would happen in the United States, where somebody who is totally and completely innocent, has no knowledge what happened, and didn’t do anything wrong, gets his license taken away, because his trainer allegedly did something wrong. Everybody is blown away. It’s absolutely crazy’.
Bob Arum’s Statement as published in
East Side Boxing:
‘We want to publicly thank the president of the World Boxing Council, Jose Sulaiman, for his forthright and compelling statement regarding the Margarito bandaging situation. President Sulaiman is 100% correct in stating that Margarito should not be punished since he was totally unaware of the improper bandaging. The commission hearing established Margarito’s lack of knowledge and innocence.
The Commission punishment is based on the theory that the boxer is the captain of his team and is responsible for any wrong doing of his trainer or any of his corner men.
This is not the law,
When Roger Mayweather, trainer for Floyd Mayweather, entered the ring improperly during the Mayweather vs. Judah fight, Roger was punished but the Nevada commission quite properly never suggested that Floyd be punished.
We in America should respect the law, fundamental legal principles and not be swayed by emotion. The ‘message’ sent by the California Athletic Commission is the wrong message. The correct ‘message’ is that a person should only be punished if he or she is guilty of wrongdoing. We hope that Margarito will appeal the unjust revocation of his California boxing license.
From a purely legal viewpoint, it would seem that Margarito is indeed innocent for the bandaging incident but a good number of boxing fans are saying that it was near impossible that Margarito was not aware of the ‘plaster-like substance’ that was inserted inside his gloves. Some say that the punishment of a one-year suspension of license to fight in the state of California was not enough for the ‘crime’ that the Martgarito camp has committed in connection with the ‘bandaging’ incident.
