Article In The L.A Times Says Antonio Margarito’s Confiscated Hand Wraps Had Plaster Of Paris Ingredients On Them

Shane Mosleyby James Slater – As surely all fans know, former Mexican boxing hero Antonio Margarito and his trainer got into some deep, deep water shortly after his KO loss to “Sugar” Shane Mosley back in January. To cut a long story short (a story that everyone with an interest in boxing should know anyway), “Tony’s” hand wraps were seen as suspicious by Mosley’s trainer Nazeem Richardson, they were thus removed before the Jan. 24th fight, and a big investigation followed.

Weeks of speculation and accusations and denials followed, but today, in an article that has been published in The Los Angeles Times and has been reported on a number of boxing web sites, it has been revealed that the fighter’s confiscated wraps did indeed have traces of two of the ingredients needed to make plaster of Paris on them.

This from ESPN.com’s reporting of the newspaper’s article: The hand wraps confiscated from former welterweight champ Antonio Margarito shortly before his defence against Shane Mosley contained two primary elements of plaster of Paris, the Los Angeles Times reported, citing documents obtained from California’s top law enforcement agency..

A California Department of Justice senior criminalist who inspected the wrappings under a stereomicroscope and with an X-ray fluorescence spectrometer determined the wraps contained sulfur and calcium, according to a document obtained by The Times. Those two elements, with the addition of oxygen, make plaster of Paris.

As we know, Margarito – who many fans have dubbed “Margacheato” post-Mosley – was banned for a year after losing to Mosley (along with his trainer, Javier Capetillo). This was the punishment as dealt out by The California State Athletic Commission. Now, in light of this new and very revealing article, this punishment looks to have been more then warranted.

“The Commission’s decision appears to be supported by that report, “Karen Chappelle, the state supervising deputy attorney general for licensing said. “The only things that are allowed in hand wraps are gauze and tape and those items are not gauze and tape,” Chappelle said, according to The Times.

What this all adds up to is more bad news for Margarito and his trainer. It seems now there are no longer any claims possible of the two men not doing wrong. Plaster of Paris – or at least two of the necessary ingredients to make it – on a fighter’s hand wraps? How could they have ever gotten there if not on purpose? And for what reason other than a sinister one would these ingredients be put there?

Going by The Times report at least, Margarito’s reputation may never, ever recover!