Antonio Margarito

Antonio Margarito Montiel (born March 18, 1978) is a Mexican American former professional boxer who competed between 1994 and 2017. He held multiple welterweight world championships, including the WBO title from 2002 to 2007, the IBF title in 2008, and the WBA (Super) title from 2008 to 2009. He also challenged three times for a light middleweight world title between 2004 and 2011. Nicknamed El Tornado de Tijuana ("The Tijuana Tornado"), Margarito was known for his aggressive pressure fighting style and exceptionally durable chin. He is also known for cheating by putting plaster in his gloves for which he was banned for 1 year. In 2009, just before his fight with Shane Mosley, Margarito was involved in an incident where he was caught with illegal hand wraps containing gypsum (calcium sulfate) which, when combined with moisture, forms plaster of Paris. His signature stoppage victory over Miguel Cotto in 2008 was subsequently called into question. Following consecutive losses to Manny Pacquiao (a fight in which Margarito sustained career-changing eye damage) and a rematch against Cotto, Margarito retired from boxing in 2012 but returned for three more fights between 2016 and 2017.