Manny Pacquiao's next fight will not be in Las Vegas after all.
Citing an inability to get Antonio Margarito licensed in Nevada in a timely fashion, Top Rank chairman Bob Arum decided Friday to withdraw his request to have Margarito apply for a boxing license on the Aug. 9 agenda of the Nevada Athletic Commission. Arum was hoping to have Pacquiao face Margarito on Nov. 13 at the MGM Grand Garden.
The fight now appears headed to Cowboys Stadium
in Texas.When Margarito appeared before the NAC on July 9, his request for a license was tabled by a 4-1 vote, with chairperson Pat Lundvall the lone dissenting vote.
Those who voted to table the request told Margarito to go back to California, where his suspension had expired on Feb. 10, and take care of business there. Then he would be welcome to return to Nevada to seek a license.
"Because time is running out, we can't wait for Nevada to make a decision so we have to think about moving the fight elsewhere," Arum, who promotes both fighters, said Friday. "The commission, other than Pat, have other views. We decided we can't engage them in trying to change their views, so we're taking it elsewhere."
After talking to Arum and learning of his decision, NAC executive director Keith Kizer sent an e-mail to the commissioners indicating Arum's intentions.
"He said he didn't want to wait," Kizer said. "That's his call. Obviously, you have to have both fighters licensed to fight here and I don't know that the commission would have put (Margarito) on the (Aug. 9) agenda."
Lundvall said: "I'm very disappointed that the state of Nevada didn't have the opportunity to bring a fight of this magnitude and this caliber to Las Vegas. Las Vegas is where this fight should have been held."
Economically, the loss of Pacquiao-Margarito will be a missed opportunity for the city, which thrives on these kind of big events that bring in high-rollers as well as fight fans from around the world. Millions of dollars in potential gaming and nongaming revenue will not be realized with the loss of the fight.
MGM officials would not comment on Arum's decision to move the fight from Las Vegas.
The likely place for the fight to land is Cowboys Stadium. The facility, which played host to Pacquiao's most recent fight on March 13 when he soundly defeated Joshua Clottey in front of more 50,000 fans, is available. The Cowboys play at the New York Giants on Nov. 14, the day after the fight.
Arum said Cowboys Stadium is in the mix and he has talked to owner Jerry Jones. However, he also said other venues have expressed interest.
"New York wants it. New Jersey wants it. Seattle wants it," Arum said. "But let's see what happens in California first."
According to Arum, the Association of Boxing Commissions will announce on Aug. 19, the day after Margarito's California hearing, whether other states can move forward and license him.
"It's a unique situation," Kizer said. "Obviously, the incident in California was a very serious one and the commission treated it as such. And if and when Mr. Margarito comes before the (NAC) again, I'm sure it will be a very serious hearing and they'll have to make a decision as to what to do.
"What happened in California was horrible, regardless of who was to blame for it -- whether it's one guy, two guys, or more than both guys -- it's a horrible situation. That's why he got the stiffest penalty possible by the California commission. This isn't something that's going to go away. This is going to haunt him the rest of his career -- as it should. Whether he can meet his burden is a different story."
However, Kizer said he understood Arum's position.
"Some of these big fights take months and months of preparation and promotion to happen, especially with a fighter who hasn't won a fight of significance in nearly two years," Kizer said, referring to Margarito. "I think most promoters, if not all promoters, would say their No. 1 choice is Las Vegas. We've certainly seen that over the last 20 years. But sometimes things don't go their way and they have to go to Plan B or Plan C."
Arum said he has plans to hold a fight card on Dec. 4 that would feature Miguel Cotto facing Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. in the main event. He would like to have that fight in Las Vegas but he said he has not made an offer to MGM officials.
"We don't have (Pacquiao-Margarito) for Nevada, so we have to think about another fight," Arum said.
Contact reporter Steve Carp at scarp@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2913.
Source: lvrj.com
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