By Anthony Fenech, Las Vegas Sun
A license for Floyd Mayweather Jr.'s proposed March 13 boxing match at the MGM Grand Garden Arena still hasn't been approved by the Nevada State Athletic Commission.
During a Friday meeting at the Grant Sawyer State Building in Las Vegas, the commmission tabled a request from Mayweather's promotion team, Golden Boy Promotions, until the commission's February meeting because Mayweather's opponent has yet to be determined.
"It's not that we're rejecting this," said Pat Lundvall, the commission's chairman said. "We're just simply tabling it until we know who the contestants are, and how television and the rest of it lines up."
The date initially was conceived for the anticipated showdown between Mayweather (40-0, 25 KOs) and Manny Pacquiao (50-3-2, 38 KO), but talks broke down over methods of drug testing.
Pacquiao signed on two weeks ago to fight Joshua Clottey on March 13 in Dallas, leaving Mayweather without an opponent.
"This is obviously a unique experience with the main event falling out very recently," said Keith Kizer, the commission's executive director. "Usually we wouldn't have this on the agenda without the main event set, the television rights set, in addition to the date."
And while Kizer said Golden Boy Promotions had assured him that Mayweather would be fighting on that date, the commission still tabled the request.
Dave Itskowitz of Golden Boy Promotions said via telephone that they are still in the process of finalizing an opponent for Mayweather. Reported opponents in consideration include former junior welterweight champions Paulie Malignaggi and Kermit Cintron or lightweight Nate Campbell, who also is promoted by Golden Boy.
"From my perspective, I don't see us not approving this at our next meeting," Lundvall said.
UFC fighters licensed
The commission granted mixed-martial-arts licenses to four fighters scheduled to compete in UFC 109 on Feb. 6 at Mandalay Bay.
Because they each are age 35 or older, Randy Couture, Mark Coleman, Matt Serra and Frank Trigg had to apply through the commission.
Couture will fight Coleman, while Serra will oppose Trigg night.
"If we want to fight at this age, this is what we have to do," said the 37-year-old Trigg, who attended the meeting. "There's a lot more stuff to check up on now and it goes a long way. It's great to see how smart and safe we have become."
Couture, 46, said via telephone that his training was going fantastic and that he's feeling very good.
Judges selected
Officials and judges were selected for the WBA/WBC welterweight boxing championship fight between Shane Mosley and Andre Bertoon on Jan. 30 at Mandalay Bay.
Veteran Joe Cortez was tabbed as the referee, and the judges selected were Adalaide Byrd, Robert Hoyle and Ed Kugler. Byrd and Hoyle are from Nevada and Kugler is from Colorado.
Source: lasvegassun.com
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