Margarito taken to hospital, cornermen blamed

Even as he admires the toughness of Antonio Margarito, Freddie Roach can’t help but put the blame on the Mexican’s corner for the damage he suffered at the hands of Manny Pacquiao. Roach insisted that the 12-round bout with the World Boxing Council (WBC) super-welterweight championship at stake should have already been stopped as early as the end of the eighth round and not allowed to go the full distance. As it was, the 31-year-old Pacquiao won in convincing fashion and Margarito was beaten black and blue. The Mexican was later rushed to the hospital and failed to attend the post-fight conference together with the rest of his team. “He suffered too much unnecessary punishment," said Roach. “Me, I would have stopped the fight." With Pacquiao way ahead in the judges’ scorecards by the time the eighth round ended, the celebrated trainer said it should have been stopped right at that point. “It was just a matter of time," he said. But trainer Robert Garcia contended that no way would the 32-year-old warrior from Tijuana, Mexico allow him to stop the fight. “We have a warrior here and he would never let me stop the fight, “ he said. Roach would have none of it. “I know he’s (Margarito) a tough guy, but the cornermen are supposed to protect his fighter. I don’t know why they wouldn’t stop the fight," he said. The latest exchange of words between the two boxing trainers came amidst allegations earlier in the day that Margarito was preparing to drink a substance, reportedly contained in a small bottle, which Roach’s representative deemed as illegal. Billy Keine, a long-time friend of Roach, was the one who protested the move and had a heated exchange of words with Margarito’s men. “So we called in the Commission," said Top Rank promoter Bob Arum, adding later that Margarito wasn’t allowed by the Commission to drink the substance. "So, he didn't, and everything was handled in the proper manner. It never got into the water. That's what I was told," added Arum. Keane was also with Roach when Garcia was hand-wrapping Margarito inside his dressing room prior to the fight. Roach's presence in that room was made necessary by the controversy that placed Margarito in the limelight. The Mexican was caught with loaded handwraps before his 2009 title fight with Sugar Shane Mosley, an offense that led to the revocation of his license and a one-year ban from fighting. Roach wanted to make sure that what happened during the Shane Mosley fight woudn't be repeated, only to discover something else that could have created an even bigger controversy. - KY, RCJ, GMANews.TV