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Naazim Richardson, the trainer for the legendary Bernard Hopkins among others, is in Las Vegas and it's suspected that he's there as a member of Team Martinez, possibly to watch the hand-wrapping process of Julio Cesar Chavez Jr tomorrow night, according to Lance Pugmire of the LA Times.
[ Full Coverage: Chavez Jr vs Martinez ]
Richardson is well-known as the man who balked at the hand-wrapping process of Antonio Margarito before Margarito fought Richardson-trained Shane Mosley in 2009, and ultimately, Margarito wound up suspended when the original wraps were confiscated and found to have a foreign substance on them.
Richardson says he's simply there because, "I love the fights."
The veteran trainer was also used last December by Miguel Cotto when he rematched Margarito, and most suspected that was more a psychological ploy than any real fear over Margarito using tainted wraps again. But whatever it was, it was a story all night, and it might be a story tomorrow night on the HBO PPV broadcast, too. The Margarito camp wasn't pleased to say the least, and one would suspect the Chavez Jr team won't be, either.
We'll see if anything really comes of it, but it seems again like this is more a mind game than any true concern from Team Martinez. Naazim being used as a wild card by fighters for this purpose does amuse me, though.