Minutes before a 2009 fight in Los Angeles, inspectors unwrapping this Mexican welterweight champion's hands found something hard set into the padding — and a state commission took his licence away without ever deciding whether he knew.
The full story
Before his 24 January 2009 bout in Los Angeles, California State Athletic Commission inspectors found gauze knuckle pads in Antonio Margarito's hand wraps adulterated with a hardened plaster-like substance, in breach of CSAC Rule 323. The wraps were replaced and he fought and lost. The commission voted 7-0 on 10 February 2009 to revoke his licence, and his trainer's. The California Court of Appeal upheld the revocation in 2010 on a strict-liability basis, holding it did not matter whether he personally knew what his trainer had done; Margarito has always denied knowledge.
The clues we handed out
— The wraps were cut off and redone. He went out and fought anyway, and lost.
— The commission voted 7-0. His trainer lost his licence on the same day.
— An appeals court upheld it on the principle that a fighter is answerable for his own hands, knowledge or not.
— He held world titles at welterweight and light middleweight, and was known for walking straight through punches.
— Initials: A.M.
How this case played
ALLEGEDLY* edition No. 76. Three strikes to name Antonio Margarito, with a free clue
unlocked after every miss.
*A blind item you can check. Every puzzle is drawn from the public record —
court records, official rulings, and moments that unfolded on live television — and the
records are linked above. Allegedly.
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