It was a used pad.

Capetillo testified at the hearing that he prepared Margarito’s knuckle pads in the dressing room at the Staples Center and put them on top of the contents in his training bag. Then, when it was time to wrap, he pulled the wrong knuckle pads out of his bag by mistake. He further testified that the confiscated pads had most likely been used by another boxer while hitting the heavy bag in the gym.

“They just throw their things in my bag,” Capetillo told the commission.

The following colloquy exemplifies his testimony:

Q: Is this the kind of pad you usually use in a championship fight?

Capetillo: No, sir.

Q: Have you ever used a pad like that in a professional boxing fight?

Capetillo: No, sir.

Q: So is it your testimony that, when you wrapped Mr. Margarito’s hands, you reached into your training bag and grabbed the wrong pad?

Capetillo: That is correct . . . I put my hand in my bag to pull out, they are like little pads. And by mistake, that I had those in my bag, I put them on and I wrapped them on without realizing that it had been a big mistake.

There was no direct evidence that Margarito knew about the inserts inside the knuckle pads; only inference. Antonio denied any knowledge of the inserts, and Capetillo testified, “I commit a big mistake and I acknowledge it. I don’t want that this young man have any problem because he is not at fault. He didn’t realize what I had put on.”

SecondsOut Boxing News - Thomas Hauser - Antonio Margarito and the Handwrap Issue