Bob Arum has hired a high-profile attorney to defend Antonio Margarito.
By GEORGE WILLIS
Bob Arum is confident Antonio Margarito didn’t doctor his hand wraps before his bout with Shane Mosley last Saturday night and has hired a high-profile attorney to make sure his fighter is cleared.
“My feeling knowing Margarito is he’s totally innocent,” Arum told the Post Wednesday night. “I’m sure he’s going to be exonerated. I don’t know what if anything about this wrap, but everybody is jumping to conclusions.”
The California State Athletic Commission announced late Wednesday Margarito and his trainer Javier Capetillo are temporarily suspended while an investigation continues into the two pieces of hardened plaster-like gauze that were found in Margarito’s wraps before his bout with Mosley at the Staples Center.
Margarito and his trainer have been asked to appear at an initial hearing set for Feb. 10. Arum said Margarito will be represented by Daniel M. Petrocelli, who has represented Top Rank in cases against Victor Ortiz and Golden Boy Promotions, and also represented Fred Goldman in the wrongful death lawsuit against O.J. Simpson.
“I want (Margarito) to have the best possible representation because I believe him to be completely innocent,” Arum said.
The Top Rank boss said the CSAC’s announcement Wednesday of a temporarily suspension lacks teeth because Margarito is under a mandatory 60-day suspension for suffering a ninth-round TKO to Mosley.
As for the hand wraps, Arum says this wouldn’t have happened in Nevada where the gauze used to wrap hands is supplied by the Nevada State Athletic Commission. “In California, they permit the trainers to bring their own gauze,” Arum said, “and some of the gauze is harder than others. The fact that there are inconsistencies is perfectly reasonable.”
He called any suspicions about Margarito’s hand wraps in a victory over Miguel Cotto last July at the MGM Grand “a non-story” because the gauze was supplied by the commission and his hands were wrapped in front of commission inspectors.
“I don’t know if anything was in the gauze or whatever,” Arum said of the Mosley fight. “From my standpoint I just believe Margarito. He’s a decent, honest guy. He’s not a cheater. If he had anything in his hands, it would have only made him slower than he was.”
Arum is confident a proposed rematch between Margarito and Cotto tentatively set for June 13 at the Garden can still happen. The fight might be even bigger because of the controversy. “It’s sick to say, but it’s true,” Arum said.
#
