Antonio Margarito’s promoter and lawyer think it’s time for the disgraced welterweight to reclaim both his reputation and his US boxing licenses.
Promoter Bob Arum and lawyer Daniel Petrocelli renewed their criticism of the California State Athletic Commission on Monday for its decision last year to revoke Margarito’s license, which still hasn’t been restored since glove-loading allegations derailed the former welterweight champion’s career in January last year.
“He sat on the sidelines, and now he wants to move forward,” Petrocelli said. “And most importantly, he wants to remove this cloud over what has been a completely unblemished reputation throughout his career.”
Margarito will return to the ring against Roberto Garcia in Aguascalientes, Mexico, on May 8 in his first fight since two suspect knuckle pads were confiscated moments before the former welterweight champ’s loss to Shane Mosley early last year.
A later test determined the wraps contained elements of plaster, but Petrocelli insists the pads weren’t the hardened weapons many have suggested. He also says the ingredients detected by the test — including sulfur and calcium — can be found in many substances.
Petrocelli insists Margarito had no knowledge the knuckle pads contained anything illegal. The pads had been made before the fight by trainer Javier Capetillo, who no longer works with Margarito.
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
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