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Manny says Margarito knew
Manny Pacquiao believes Antonio Margarito tried to use illegal hand wraps in the fight that resulted in the Mexican being banned from boxing for a year.
"He is just making some alibi," Pacquiao said in Beverley Hills on Tuesday.
Pacquiao scoffed at Margarito's explanation that he didn't know his trainer was putting a plaster-like substance in his gloves prior to a 2009 fight against Shane Mosley.
"He is the one who wraps his hands and he doesn't know what is in there?" Pacquiao asked. "Of course he knows. What do you think?"
Pacquiao, of the Philippines, is expected to face Margarito for the vacant World Boxing Council super-welterweight title in Dallas, Texas, on November 13.
Margarito, who was granted a licence last week to fight in Texas, has not fought in the US since the Mosley incident.
His licence, along with that of former trainer Javier Capetillo, was revoked by the California State Athletic Commission. The ban was upheld by other state boxing commissions.
The two fighters held a joint news conference in Hollywood on Tuesday. Margarito reiterated that he had no knowledge of what his trainer was doing.
"Everything that happened is now in the past," he said.
Sapa-AP reports that "The Pacman" believes in giving Margarito another chance even though he is not buying Margarito's defence and the passionate arguments of Bob Arum, who promotes both fighters.
During an otherwise genial get-together, boxing's pound-for-pound champion said he wanted somebody to watch Margarito's hands getting wrapped before they meet in Texas.
"My concern is that we have somebody in the dressing room; someone else watching him," Pacquiao said.
The Philippines' new congressman will fight for a title in his eighth weight class when he meets Margarito on November 13 in a bout at Cowboys Stadium, which could be filled with more than 70 000 fans.
The fighters exchanged handshakes and later cracked up when they attempted the usual staredown pose, with Pacquiao laughing when he craned his neck to look up at Margarito, who is about 12 cm taller.
The matchup is undeniably dangerous for the smaller-framed Pacquiao, who has won 12 straight fights, including a one-sided decision over Joshua Clottey at Cowboys Stadium in March.
Pacquiao will make sure it's not more perilous to fight Margarito, whose promising career was derailed when trained Javier Capetillo was caught packing his wraps with a substance resembling plaster before Margarito's loss to Sugar Shane Mosley in Los Angeles in January 2009.
Wearing a canary-yellow polo shirt and demonstrating an increased ease with the media responsibilities of a superstar, Pacquiao took his position just moments after Arum launched another passionate defence of Margarito, who was denied a licence to fight by the California state commission on August 18.
"Antonio Margarito did not know that those hand wraps were illegal, and there was something bad in those wraps," Arum said.
"There's not one shred of proof. There was a revocation. He served his time, and the people in the Texas boxing commission, who reviewed all the testimony, agreed with that conclusion."
But Arum's decision to match his best fighter against his most notorious has been met with widespread criticism, and not just because of his suspension in the Western states.
Pacquiao's record is 51-3-2, including 38 knockouts Although Pacquiao has redefined the importance of weight classes during his near-unprecented rise, the matchup is undeniably dangerous.
Arum lives in Las Vegas, but has not hesitated to stage Pacquiao's two recent fights in Cowboys owner Jerry Jones's palace.
Pacquiao's legislative responsibilities won't prevent him from spending a month training in Hollywood with Freddie Roach before the fight.
He promised a more entertaining bout than his one-sided match with Clottey, whose frightened effort included few punches.
"This fight will be the exact opposite to my last fight," Pacquiao said. "This guy likes to throw a lot of punches. I like
his style, because it's great for me."
