Almost exactly a week after being denied in California, former welterweight champion Antonio Margarito has been approved for a new boxing license in Texas.
The move makes Texas the first commission in America to approve Margarito for a new license following his suspension in February 2009 for attempting to use illegal hand wraps in his TKO loss to Shane Mosley. In adherance to his suspension, Margarito fought his comeback fight in May against Robert Garcia in Mexico.
Margarito’s promoter Top Rank had put their sole focus on Dallas Stadium as the site for Margarito-Pacquiao after being turned away by the Las Vegas Athletic Commission last month. He was informed that he had to at least attempt to be reinstated in California first before applying for a license elsewhere. On August 18, California refused to re-license Margarito by a 5-1 vote, stating several of his actions over the past year (sparring illegally in California, not being informed of his lawyer’s stance) did not show he was completely remorseful and “rehabilitated” from his past transgression.
Top Rank CEO Bob Arum already had a strong working relationship with Texas through Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones. The pair partnered in March to bring the first ever boxing match to Dallas Stadium in Manny Pacquiao vs. Joshua Clottey. The fight drew well over 50,000 fans and was the first fight held in a stadium in decades. During negotiations with Floyd Mayweather earlier this year, Arum had initially proposed having the aborted Mayweather-Pacquiao superfight happen at the stadium.
While Margarito still has many critics who feel he should be banned from boxing, the former champion is one win away from redeeming his career if he can defeat arguably the #1 pound for pound fighter in the sport in Manny Pacquiao (51-3-2, 38 KOs).
“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 statement shortly after today’s verdict. “I have dedicated my life to giving the fans of the sport entertainment and excitement. On Nov. 13, this great opportunity will ultimately be fulfilled when I battle Manny Pacquiao.”
A standing verbal agreement has been in place for several weeks concerning the fight. However, each side held off on signing a contract until Margarito’s license situation was stabilized. Arum is confident that the fight will shatter the attendance number for Pacquiao-Clottey (50,994 fans), as Margarito brings his own sizable Mexican fan base that Clottey lacked. In addition, Arum notes that with this fight occurring during football season there will be opportunities to cross-promote between the two sports.
“I think the crowd will be much bigger and Jerry [Jones] thinks it will also. The last fight was not during football season,” Arum explained to ESPN.com. “This one is, and we have all the Dallas Cowboys assets they use during the season to help this time. We have a lot of stuff that we didn’t have for the Clottey fight. With Margarito being Hispanic, and this is North Texas, which has a huge Hispanic population, that will make this even bigger.”
Pacquiao-Margarito will be contested at junior middleweight for the division’s vacant WBC title. Pacquiao will be seeking to win a title in his eighth weight class. Margarito will be looking to secure a belt in his second division.
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