Antonio Margarito has become the sanctimonious hobby horse of the hour. In a comical hearing not exactly the dramatic equivalent of Jimmy Stewart in Anatomy of A Murder or Gregory Peck in To Kill A Mockingbird, Antonio Margarito, shot down by a 5-1 vote against, was denied a license to fight by the California State Athletic Commission. Insisting that the doctored knucklepad was the sole work of his trainer, the Renfield-like Javier Capitello, Margarito will have to go elsewhere in the United States for a license.
The Association of Boxing Commissions issued a statement, posted on fightnews.com, regarding Margarito: “At this time Mr. Margarito has fulfilled his obligations per the ABC (which was to appear before the CSAC before applying for licensure to another state/tribal commission in the United States) and thus he is now free to pursue licensure with any ABC member commission. There is nothing under the federal law that would prohibit consideration for licensure.”
But that has not stopped certain pious press members from bawling from one end of cyberspace to another about the injustice of Margarito possibly facing Manny Pacquiao on November 13th. Worst of all are the general sports columnists who have jumped into the picture. These folks, also known as “The Black Eye for Boxing” crew, only choose boxing as a subject when something controversial occurs among some of the bigger names in the sport. David Whitley, of Fanhouse, recently wrote what he thought was an impassioned plea against licensing Margarito in Texas. All Whitley, who has recently covered NASCAR, the PGA, basketball, Lance Armstrong, and cheerleading as a sport, managed to prove is that general sports columnists can be just as ignorant and dull as most boxing writers.
But other observers have emerged hoping to hand wring their way to a few more penny-clicks here and there. And they have done so with the kind of preachy bombast that so often passes for writing these days. Now, if they could slip in a nice metaphor now and then, or have some control over pitch and rhythm, then maybe their opinions could at least be considered tolerable based on an appreciation of workable prose. No such luck, unfortunately, even getting that from most of the boxing media, so we just have to move on to the drabness of their ideas. These ideas, such as they are, boil down to this: “Margarito is bad and should be banned form boxing forever!”
The argument that Margarito should not be allowed to fight Pacquiao because he is a lowlife is moralistic cant. Simply put, if you are that high-minded and upright, then you would not be following a bloodsport overrun by cutthroats and sleaze in the first place.
Boxing is a sewer from top to bottom. Certain fighters, promoters, and matchmakers, for example, have done substantial bids in prison. Even Steve Smoger, universally lauded as a fine referee, was barred from being a Municipal Court judge in New Jersey for several ethical violations. From the Atlantic City Press, July 4, 2002: “Former Municipal Court Judge Steven Smoger can never again serve as a judge in New Jersey, the state Supreme Court ruled Wednesday. The court adopted the findings and recommendation of the judicial conduct committee that recently found that Smoger was ‘a dishonest person unfit to serve as a judge.’” And, of course, there are plagiarists and convicted felons on the roster of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Whoops!
If the stars were to align just right in boxing, we might see, on one spectacular night, a bout promoted by a convicted murderer, refereed by a defrocked judge, arranged by a matchmaker who spent time in prison for tax fraud, covered from press row by a drug dealing sports reporter, and featuring a BALCO client against a boxer convicted of battery against women.
Chaos, malfeasance, and amorality are to boxing what torture, mass surveillance, and death squads are to totalitarian regimes. Except boxing, of course, is more or less anarchy.
Within the last few weeks, in fact, Tavoris Cloud showed up to his fight with Glen Johnson wearing gloves that were not approved by the commission, and Alexander Povetkin fought an unannounced, unsanctioned bout in Philadelphia against a shot opponent, Bruce Seldon, who also happens to be suspended. Last week, The Cruelest Sport shined its flickering light on the Cloud story:
One of the strange twists of the Tavoris Cloud glove issue is that fact that it took place under the auspices of the Missouri State Office of Athletics. Its Executive Director, Tim Lueckenhoff, is also the president of the Association of Boxing Commissions. What a way to inspire confidence in an organization whose mission statement includes the following: “To promote the uniformity of health and safety standards and other requirements pertaining to the conduct of combat sports events.”
As for the Povetkin-Seldon smoker, Pennsylvania State Athletic Commission Executive Director Greg Sirb promised an “investigation.” Ultimately, how did Sirb respond to the Povetkin-Seldon bout? It was, he claimed, a sparring session. As if sparring sessions were held during actual fight cards with a crowd and a referee on hand. As if a sparring session would produce multiple knockdowns. Sirb is the vice-president of the Association of Boxing Commissions, but that does not, obviously, make him immune to the “Outer Limits” ambience of professional boxing.
The point here is that since there is no governing body to bar Margarito from boxing and since he was not levied with–or found guilty of–criminal charges, then he has to be allowed to compete in whatever jurisdiction will permit him to. Margarito may or may not deserve to be barred from boxing permanently, but that is irrelevant since there is no structure or authority extant to mete out such a punishment. Yes, Margarito is villainous, and yes, his actions were deplorable, but his fate now belongs to the whims of the marketplace. If consumers feel that rewarding Margarito is repugnant, then they can simply skip the pay-per-view and short circuit his comeback by unpopular demand.
And what about Top Rank? Is Bob Arum wrong to push Margarito as an opponent for Pacquiao? The answer to this is simple: he is wrong if the fight fails to produce the revenue he expects it to. In a sport that often resembles—at every level—a prison etching by Piranesi or a parable by Kafka, right and wrong are mere afterthoughts, if they were ever considered in the first place.
*****
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Tags: Antonio Margarito, Bob Arum, Fanhouse, Manny Pacquiao
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Pacquiao/Margarito "story" = Pacquiao/Margarito "fight" there in that attempt at a 2nd paragraph. Although, perhaps "story" is more appropriate! I need an intern, methinks.
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