Bob Arum has had a long and successful career. After over 40 years in the business, Arum has seen his share of controversies as well. But at no point in his entire career in the sport should he have been more ashamed of himself than he should be right now.

Arum’s defense of Antonio Margarito, and his subsequent statements and actions since Margarito and his trainer had their licenses revoked, is shameful and embarrassing to the sport of boxing.

To get you up to speed, Margarito and his trainer, Javier Capetillo, each had their boxing licenses revoked in the state of California for one year. This was after the California State Athletic Commission found them guilty of having used a foreign material in Margarito’s hand wraps prior to his fight with Shane Mosley.

Upon receiving the official decision, Arum’s first instinct was not to apologize on behalf of his fighter or anything near like that. It was to begin arranging a fight in Tijuana for Margarito, since Arum believes that he was only suspended because he is Mexican.

Say what?

Arum said that he definitely is going to arrange for Margarito to fight in Mexico, and that the ruling was unfair.

Specifically, Arum says it is wrong that the commission punished Margarito for basically being the captain of a team that did wrong.

“What Capetillo did was outrageous and he should be punished, but they punished him on the grounds that he’s the captain, he’s the boxer, and if anybody on his team does anything wrong he’s responsible. That’s not the law and that’s wrong. That is absolutely wrong.”

I suggest Arum do a blind “feel-test,” where he takes all of the fighters under his promotional banner, and has their trainers wrap their hands. Randomly, some will insert similar foreign objects into the hand wraps. If none of them feel any difference, or don’t notice, I’ll believe his argument has merit. But being the professionals that they are, I submit that 100 percent of the tampered gloves will be immediately recognized by the fighters.

Margarito’s hands were the ones that were in the gloves, and like it or not, he is 100 percent responsible for them falling within the rules of boxing. As A.C. Slater once said: “I was in the seat, I’ll take the heat.” That’s just the way you’re supposed to take responsibility for things.

Arum also pointed out that when Roger Mayweather stepped into the ring to confront Zab Judah, Floyd Mayweather was not punished, just his uncle. What Arum doesn’t recognize is that in that case, Mayweather was the only one who directly put someone else at risk. He was not sending someone else out there with a deadly weapon. Additionally, many people disagreed with the ruling in the ring, feeling that Mayweather should have been disqualified for Roger’s actions.

Arum is not alone on this either. The incomprehensible Jose Sulaiman, leader of the WBC, is having a hard time understanding how a fighter can get punished for something his trainer did. What he doesn’t seem to get is that the trainer is not the one that is potentially killing someone with concrete fists. The fighter is the one cashing the check, winning the belts, and headlining the card. He is responsible for his actions and has an obligation to follow the rules. Claiming ignorance is not an acceptable defense.

But for Sulaiman, who I believe is also the president of the Manny Pacquiao fan club, states plainly that the Mexican fighter is completely without fault and echo’s Arum’s belief that this ruling is only happening because Margarito is Mexican.

I’ve heard some stupid things come from the mouths of those in the boxing world, but this is in the running for the stupidest. Margarito is not being punished because he is Mexican. He is being punished for having the equivalent of concrete on his fists for a fight, and if any of these men truly believe that Margarito was ignorant to the whole thing, then they have no business being quoted, since they are too stupid to be listened to about anything.

The WBC’s official stance on this (you won’t believe this is from an “impartial” boxing organization”):

Based on the previous facts and many more pieces of evidence that will be obtained, the Mexican boxing authorities, in a very respectful and amicable way, will request the California State Athletic Commission to extend the courtesy of sending all the prescriptive documents of the case, to immediately proceed to submit a respectful but firm appeal against the suspension that Antonio Margarito, who is ABSOLUTELY INNOCENT without a doubt, was placed on; Margarito shall be restored his damaged prestige and dignity.

Here’s the kicker: This was not a WBC fight! Why are they getting involved, you ask? Since Margarito is Mexican, and the WBC is based in Mexico, Sulaiman has taken it upon himself to right this wrong in his eyes.

This is a man who instead of sanctioning the fights, as the WBC is only really in business for, often gets far too involved in the process. This is the man that adamantly opposed Ricky Hatton getting even 50 percent of the cut against Manny Pacquiao, since Pacquiao had just beaten Oscar De La Hoya and is seen as the better fighter (solid business understanding), and also said that he didn’t want Pacquiao fighting Hatton because it was too tough of a fight. Are you kidding me? Why should the WBC President be telling a fighter who is their lightweight champion that he should be taking easier fights?

Sulaiman has already solidly entrenched himself as an embarrassment to the sport with his actions over the recent years, but Arum is really treading new ground with this caper.

Defending someone who attempted to fight (and perhaps has fought in the past) with loaded gloves is pathetic. I don’t care if Margarito knew specifically what was going on. When it comes to hand wraps, the fighter is responsible. I don’t care what kind of argument you make, or how many fighters vow that hand wraps aren’t their business. If you’re a fighter, and you don’t know what’s going into your wraps, you better start paying attention.

Arum has embarrassed himself with his actions this week. And after Garry Shaw made a fool out of himself by making it clear that he would never allow Vic Darchinyan to avenge his only loss for promotional reasons, it’s becoming more and more clear why Golden Boy is taking over boxing.

These men continue to hurt the sport of boxing, from their rivalries and treatment of fighters, to the occasional asinine statement about mixed martial arts, to defending the indefensible.

Sulaiman is already a worthless figure in boxing, but Arum should know better. For his actions this week, Arum should be ashamed of himself.

And if he allows his suspended fighter to fight in Mexico, all but guaranteeing that he won’t be relicensed in the United States, he should one-by-one lose his whole stable of fighters as they leave for promoters who may actually be looking out for their best interests.

Margarito needs to take a lesson from A-Rod and just take your medicine. One quote of, “I was not aware of what was going on, but as the fighter, I accept responsibility for the actions of my team. It was a terrible mistake, and I hope to win back the trust of my fans when I return from this suspension.”

How hard would that be? Then you sit out a year (God knows you can afford it), and start training for a fight next February or March. Like it or not, Margarito screwed up. He has to take his medicine now and try to rebuild. Allowing your promoter and an idiot alphabet talking head to make it worse is the wrong move for Margarito.

But as we’ve seen, he isn’t exactly the smartest guy in the world when it comes to who he surrounds himself with. I suppose you get what you deserve, and every day that goes by, Margarito is making it easier and easier for me to believe that he deserves all of this.

I, for one, would not be heart broken if Margarito, Arum and Sulaiman all retired to Mexico together, never to be heard of again. I don’t think boxing would miss a single one of them at this point.