Antonio Margarito
will fight in the United States once more.The ex-world champion from Mexico was granted a license on Thursday to fight WBO welterweight (147 pounds) champion Manny Pacquiao on Nov. 13 at Cowboys Stadium for the vacant WBC junior middleweight (154 pounds) title, an official from the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation told FanHouse.
"On Monday, August 23, the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation received a complete application for a Texas Professional Combative Sports Contestant license from Antonio Margarito," said William Kuntz, the executive director of the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, in an e-mail to FanHouse. "After a thorough review of his application, it was determined that Mr. Margarito met the requirements of the Texas Combative Sports Act and Rules."When Margarito (38-6, 27 knockouts) faces Pacquiao (51-3-2, 38 KOs) in the HBO televised pay-per-view event, Pacquiao will be pursuing his eighth crown in as many different weight classes.
"I want to thank the state of Texas for granting me a boxing license, which enables me to continue my passion for the sport of boxing in the United States," said Margarito in a prepared statement. "I have dedicated my life to giving the fans of the sport entertainment and excitement. On November 13, this great opportunity will ultimately be fulfilled when I battle Manny Pacquiao."
Margarito had been unable to fight on American soil since his license was revoked by the California State Athletic Commission following a hand-wrapping scandal stemming from his ninth-round knockout loss to Shane Mosley in January 2009.
Margarito, whose suspension ended on Feb. 11, denied knowledge of the illegal plaster-like substance in his wraps, blaming it all on his former trainer, Javier Capetillo.
Magarito tried to file for a license in Nevada, but was directed by that commission to return to the CSAC for a ruling. He was turned down, yet again, by the CSAC. Margarito was then free to apply at any of the other state commissions, with Texas being the first.
Margarito is coming off of May's 10-round, unanimous decision over Roberto Garcia in a junior middleweight clash fought in Mexico, which licensed him for the bout.
The review of Margarito's application included "the application form, the California order revoking the fighter's Margarito's boxing license, the transcript of Margarito's license revocation hearing before the California State Athletic Commission, his August 18 license application hearing before the California State Athletic Commission, and a letter from the Association of Boxing Commissions to its members that they may now consider licensing Mr. Margarito," according to Kuntz's statement.
"Based on the review of the above information," stated Kuntz, "I have authorized the issuance of a license to Mr. Margarito."
Top Rank Promotions' CEO Bob Arum had expressed optimism all along that Margarito would be licensed in Texas.
"This is absolutely great. For my point of view, it's been a situation where I just thought that Antonio Margarito was really treated unfairly and that Antonio Margarito had no knowledge of this, and that they were piling on to him, particularly after his license was revoked," said Arum.
"And then, to deny him a license again, I thought that that was just horrible. A boxer has a certain number of years during which he can perform, and they really took it all away from him," said Arum. "I just really feel good for him."
On March 13, Pacquiao drew more than 50,000 to Cowboys Stadium when he decisioned Joshua Clottey in the first-ever boxing event held at the venue. Margarito also was present at Pacquiao-Clottey, his popularity rivaling that of Pacquiao's.
"I think that this is going to be huge. I really think that this is going to be a big, big event," said Arum. "I think that, you know, Margarito, an Hispanic fighting at the [Cowboys Stadium], with this fight being during football season, where the Cowboys are playing, we can utilize their assets to promote the fight. It will be really great."
Arum plans to stack the card with other big names such as Cuban-born southpaw and two-time former Olympic gold medalist Guillermo Rigondeaux (6-0, five KOs), a super bantamweight (122 pounds), as well as 28-year-old former WBO and WBC middleweight (160 pounds) champion Kelly Pavlik (36-2, 32 knockouts) of Youngstown, Ohio, against an opponent to be determined, and rising Philadelphia welterweight (147 pounds) Mike Jones (22-0, 18 KOs) in a bout opposite Mexican-born Jesus Soto Karass (24-4-3, 16 KOs) of Los Angeles.
BoxingScene.com cited sources close to Arum in reporting that Felipino featherweight (126 pounds) contender Bernabe Concepcion (28-4, 15KOs) and Panamanian southpaw featherweight Ricardo Cordoba (37-2-2, 23KOs) are two of the names being mentioned as candidates to face Rigondeaux, with Cordoba being the preferred option.
"I think that we're working on all of the undercard fights, and I think that we'll have announcements next week," said Arum. "It's going to be a great celebration of boxing."
Arum told FanHouse earlier this week that he already had scheduled a press tour that will begin on Tuesday with stops in Los Angeles, New York and Dallas.
Source: boxing.fanhouse.com
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