by Luiz Bravim

Created on: July 27, 2010   Last Updated: August 14, 2010

Antonio Margarito is the real-life Rocky of modern boxing. He’s slow. He lacks the skills of more elite fighters. No knockout punch power. But he keeps coming forward, taking hits, gaining points with more grit than grace. The Mexican boxer nicknamed the ‘Tijuana Tornado’ turned professional at fifteen. For the American boxer, this is a formative period in an amateur career. He may be thinking ahead to the Olympics, but the pro ranks are far off. Margarito took advantage of Mexican law and turned pro to put food on the table. He became a fan favorite by taking on the toughest opposition in the welterweight division.

On July 26, 2008, Tony was on top of the world. He demolished a highly-favored, undefeated Miguel Cotto in an 11-round slug-fest. Cotto was the guy Floyd Mayweather and others elite fighters had been ducking. Even the great Shane Mosley lost to Cotto by decision. Margarito came into his next fight against future Hall-of-Famer ‘Sugar’ Shane Mosley as a favorite. Mosley’s age (37), recent loss to Cotto, and a nasty divorce were looming large. Margarito was coming off the biggest win of his career and boasted size/age advantages.

The problems began a just a couple hours before the scheduled HBO fight time. Nazim Richardson, Mosley’s trainer, spotted something irregular in Margarito’s hand wrap. It turned out to be sulfur and calcium, which turn hard when combined with oxygen. Loaded gloves can be used to increase the effectiveness of punches, inflicting severe damage to the opponent. The practice is extremely rare and illegal in every state. Samples were taken from the wraps and Margarito was forced to re-wrap his hands three times just before the seminal fight of his career.

Suddenly, the weight of pressure was on Margarito. Mosley’s marital problems were far less interesting to the boxing fans than the possibility than one of the few stars in the sport was a cheat. Margarito appeared slow and clunky at the start of the fight, not dissimilar to the Paul Williams loss in 2007. His tendency has always been a building sort of punishment, which has cumulative effects in late rounds.

Mosley would not be outdone. He seemed to be landing everything. Hooks, jabs and combinations were hitting Margarito almost at will. Mosley had better footwork and never seemed bothered by the forward-pressure which doomed Cotto a few months prior.  Mosley was dancing around the ring, toying with his larger, younger

• 1
• 2
• Next Page >>