Update (12:15am EST): You will notice if you attempt to play the video below that it is now "private." The video has apparently been taken down. I don't want to jump to any conclusions about that, and don't know if that decision came from the Margarito camp or the original uploader of the video or what. Nothing I say below has changed, though. It still happened.
Update (12:21am EST): Re-linked the video, but this one has been edited to make it appear as though Margarito is doing a "scared" impression of Roach. Brandon Rios' impression of Roach, which couldn't be covered up or turned into something it's not, has been entirely removed.
Update (2:31am EST): Here is the original, unedited video.
Update (11:22amEST): Video pulled at the request of the copyright owners.
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You know, I just posted something below this entry about how much I've hated this fight's marketing. That post dealt with Freddie Roach's thoughts on the Margarito camp making light of their fighter's hand wrap controversy on "24/7."
Then I was watching some videos, and came across this one from Elie Seckbach. He goes into the Margarito camp to get thoughts from trainer Robert Garcia and Margarito about Roach's comments. What we get out of it is three professionals acting the fool and attempting to be funny, and sinking this fight's hype to a pathetic and brainless level.
The part early with Garcia continuing to make lame jokes about Margarito being caught loading his wraps is bad enough. But then you get about two minutes in, and Margarito and stablemate Brandon Rios decide the best way to fire back is to make fun of the fact that Roach has Parkinson's disease.
(Note: The following is the edited version of the video.)
Update (12:46pm EST): The edited version, officially uploaded by Elie Seckbach/FanHouse, has also been pulled.
Is there even a shred of class in that training camp? If they wanted to seal Margarito as the villain of the fight, I guess this was one way to do it, but realistically it just showcases him as a first-rate moron to go along with being a fighter a lot of people already have reservations about paying to see. And Rios shamefully jumps into the muck with the others, showing he can be just as dumb as they are. I guess maybe that makes him a big-time player now. He could have earned that with his all-action style, but now he's got more heavy bad press than good press, and that's a shame and all, but that's just the way it is now. The same could be said of Garcia, really. He's a former fighter, and a good one. He could have become a big-name trainer by continuing to guide the career of Rios and other up-and-comers, as well as leading Margarito's comeback. Instead, he's now known mostly for this and his stumbling performance at Margarito's California hearing this summer.
To stoop this low is... I don't want to call it unforgivable, but it shows you the level these guys are at, and I don't think that's something to slap your knee over. Margarito, Garcia and Rios show their true colors. Congrats, guys. Now people know who all of you are, and it's not for the right reasons.