Early reports indicated that suspended Mexican boxer Antonio Margarito has been denied a boxing license by the California State Athletic Commission more than a year after he was suspended for putting illegal substance on his hand wraps when he fought Shane Mosley in 2008.
The decision of the California State Athletic Commission to withhold issuance of license to Margarito effectively canceled out the possibility of Las Vegas as venue of his proposed fight with Filipino boxing champion Manny Pacquiao.
It also robbed the boxing match some legitimacy.
While Pacquiao says the Margarito match was okay with him, it was Top Rank?s Bob Arum who really pushed for the match-up after Floyd Mayweather Jr snubbed the offer to meet the Filipino boxing idol.
Arum will try to convince the Texas Sate Athletic Commission to issue Margarito his boxing license after Nevada declined to sanction the bout unless California reinstate the license of the former welterweight champion from Tijuana, Mexico.
Otherwise, Arum will seek to put up the match somewhere in the Middle East or find Pacquiao another credible opponent.
This could affect Manny?s training schedule if Arum pushes for the November 13 fight schedule that he had already arranged with HBO.
Arum will also double his promotional efforts to sell live gate tickets and pay per view buys as there will surely be a backlash over the Margarito boxing license denial. Arum and Pacquiao could not afford a disappointing result in the box office. It will weigh heavily against them if and when Mayweather finally decides to take on Pacquiao probably in the first half of next year.
Manny has to thoroughly beat Margarito to keep his leverage against Mayweather. Along with Miguel Cotto, Margarito was one of the welterweights that Mayweather avoided prior to his ?retirement? in 2008.
Pacquiao, now a member of the Philippine House of Representative, had already proven his drawing appeal in totally outclassing Cotto and making short and better work on two previous Mayweather victims, Oscar de la Hoya and Ricky Hatton.
These are what the Pacquiao-Mayweather fight brings to the table – intriguing match-up between two Hall of Fame bound boxers at the prime of the boxing careers with plenty of partisans and sidebar stories to whet the appetites of even the most uninterested sports fans who hate boxing.
Manny looks like he must again prove his worth as boxing?s top man to beat ? Margarito or anybody else on November 13.
