ESPN's Dan Rafael initially reported the situation.
The 32-year-old Margarito (38-6, 27 knockouts) is coming off of May's 10-round, unanimous decision over Roberto Garcia in a junior middleweight (154 pounds) clash that was fought in Mexico, which licensed him for the bout.
The performance ended a more than one-year ring absence for Margarito, who had been suspended by the California State Athletic Commission after a ninth-round knockout loss to Shane Mosley in January of 2009 dethroned him as WBA champion.
Margarito's ring exile stemmed from the discovery by Mosley's trainer, Naazim Richardson, that the Mexican's fist wrappings included a plaster-like substance that was subsequently removed and confiscated prior to the fight.
"Antonio is well-represented, and he's going to present his case to the Nevada Commission, and hopefully, they will see it his way and give him a license," said Arum. "I think that he's been out for more than enough time."
Margarito's suspension ended on February 11.
Margarito claims no knowlege of the wrappings, instead blaming his trainer, Javier Capetillo, for the illegal substance in his gloves -- even amid speculation that Margarito's gloves may have been loaded against vanquished rivals such as Kermit Cintron and Miguel Cotto, whom Margarito beat savagely and bloodily before scoring knockouts.
"He's [Capetillo] the one that wrapped the hands. So he's the one who does the job," Margarito has told FanHouse. "All that I do is put my hands out there so that he can wrap them, and that's what I did."
Nevada State Athletic Commission director Keith Kizer could not be reached. But in April, Kizer told FanHouse that Margarito had a number of options.
Initially, Kizer said that Margarito should return to California to re-apply for a license before attempting to fight anywhere in the United States, although Texas had indicated a willingness to allow the former champion to fight there.
"Margarito could come to Nevada today, apply for a license, and I could give him a license administratively, but I'm not going to do that," said Kizer. "He would have to be placed on our agenda, and that would be up to our chairman. She could put him on it right away, or she could make him wait a while."
According to the ESPN report, Margarito's request is the last of the 32 items on the agenda.
If Margarito is licensed, Arum said that he could eventually match Margarito against Manny Pacquiao in November or Cotto, the newly-crowned WBA junior middleweight titlist, in December.
Pacquiao, however, is in negotiations for a potential bout against Floyd Mayweather that could happen in either November of May, Arum said.
"I would have some questions that he would need to answer from me," before granting Margarito a license, said Kizer. "And if he doesn't answer them truthfully, then I would recommend not granting a license to him."
Margarito has fought in California more than a dozen times during his career, but was not granted a license to return to the ring for the undercard of Pacquiao's March 13, unanimous decision victory over Joshua Clottey at Cowboys Stadium. He would have fought Carson Jones (26-7-1, 15 KOs).
Arum said then that he believed that Margarito's next fight "will be in the United States," mentioning that he hoped "to get Margarito licensed in various states, as he should be," such as "Nevada, or Texas, one of those places."
In another development, Kizer also told FanHouse that he believed that Margarito did not have loaded gloves during his 11th-round knockout of Cotto -- as many have speculated -- for the WBA welterweight title in July of 2008 at the MGM Grand.
"I know that he wasn't rigged during the Cotto fight because we had our inspectors check him out and everything, as did Cotto's people. He was fully checked out. One of our referees, Jay Nady, was back there, we had our inspectors back there. Cotto's guy was back there. They all checked him out and everything was fine," said Kizer, referring to Margarito's fight prior to the one against Mosley.
"They felt the hand wraps and everything, and we have an inspector who I've seen check the hand wraps before, and he checks them out thoroughly," said Kizer. "He watched the hand wraps that night. If you don't have experienced inspectors, you can probably slip something through."
Source: boxing.fanhouse.com
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