Star boxer angered by 'criminal' label

Star boxer angered by 'criminal' label

Shadow Boxing: Antonio Margarito Has Plenty Of Sparring To Do Before He Even Enters The Ring

In three of his last three four fights, against Miguel Cotto, Shane Mosley and Manny Pacquiao, Antonio Margarito has endured inhuman amounts of punishment. Three of the toughest, most highly skilled boxers in the world have, in essence, had free reign to pummel him about the face and head.

He's been battered and beaten so badly in those fights, it's fair to ask if he'll ever be the same boxer. Every fighter, no matter how tough, can take only so many punches.

Margarito, though, is adamant that, physically, at least, he's fine. He's a fighter, and he's going to come to fight as hard as he can. He loves the macho aspect of the game, the toe-to-toe, me versus you simplicity of it. He'll rematch Cotto on Saturday in front of what is expected to be a sold-out crowd of more than 20,000 at New York's Madison Square Garden and a worldwide pay-per-view audience in a fight that figures to be equally as violent as those other three.

Margarito, though, laughs at the thought that he may shy away from the battle because of the punishment he's absorbed.

"Never," he scoffs. "This is what I do. I don't quit."

For the last nearly three years, though, there has been a curtain of pain and hurt that has enveloped Antonio Margarito and his wife, Michelle. He's become boxing's greatest villain and has been branded as a criminal and a cheater by other fighters, other promoters, media and the fans.

He sat out more than a year. He cut off a relationship with a man who was like a father to him. He's jumped through every hoop he's been asked to jump through. And yet, little he says has altered the overwhelmingly negative opinion of him.

It doesn't help when Cotto, one of the biggest names in the sport, labels you a criminal and will tell anyone who will listen.

"When you put plaster on your hands and you go into a boxing ring, you're a criminal," Cotto says, adamant that Margarito's hand wraps were loaded when they fought in Las Vegas on July 26, 2008. "That's like bringing into a weapon into the ring and that's criminal."

Keith Kizer, the executive director of the Nevada Athletic Commission, has repeatedly insisted there is no evidence that Margarito's wraps were tampered with that night in Las Vegas.

But because of the events of Jan. 24, 2009, Margarito's life has never been the same. And it hurts him, as well as his family, like no punch could ever do.

Star boxer angered by 'criminal' label