By Lem Satterfield
Top Rank Promotions CEO Bob Arum has indicated that Antonio Margarito will face Manny Pacquiao on Nov. 13 for the vacant WBC junior middleweight title either in Las Vegas, if Margarito's license is renewed there, or Monterrey, Mexico. If it happens, Pacquiao would be pursuing a record eighth crown in as many different weight classes against the 32-year-old Margarito.
Margarito still is not licensed to fight in America, this after his boxing license was revoked by the California State Athletic Commission following an illegal hand-wrapping scandal in January 2009. Margarito, whose suspension officially ended on Feb. 11, unsuccessfully applied for a license in Nevada, whose state athletic commission ruled that he must re-apply in California before attempting to fight in Las Vegas.
Nevada State Athletic Commission director Keith Kizer, says Margarito, through his attorney, David Marroso, applied for a "conditional," one-fight license to meet Pacquiao in Las Vegas.
The entire situation with Margarito and his license is something the Nevada commission has never experienced. Kizer says the only scenario that comes close is when heavyweight Mike Tyson lost his license for biting the ears of Evander Holyfield in their 1997 rematch. Tyson, like Margarito, tried to apply for a license in another state. In that case, Tyson lost his license in Nevada and tried to reclaim his boxing license in New Jersey. Public pressure forced Tyson to withdraw his application from New Jersey, and head back to the state that took away his license, Nevada.
"I've been with the commission for 13 years now, and I don't remember anything anywhere analogous to this. On the flip side, though, you know, Mike Tyson had the ear-biting situation against Evander Holyfield here in Las Vegas. Mike Tyson's license was revoked here in Las Vegas, and he went to New Jersey first and then came back to Nevada. So we were sort of, back then, in the shoes of the California commission. That was the only thing I can say that was close," Kizer said.
"But in that situation, we were on the other side. Las Vegas had suspended him, and he went to New Jersey, and then, came back to Las Vegas' commission. If I recall correctly, I don't know if it was the Nevada Commission who was saying that Tyson should come back and apply in Las Vegas, but more, people like you and reporters, etc., saying, "hey, you really should go back to Nevada and apply before going to New Jersey."
"There was no legal obligation to do so, and the Nevada Commission didn't really take a stand either way. It was just the general public outrage and media outrage that he didn't go to Nevada first. Tyson then went to New Jersey, had a hearing, and at the end of that hearing, he withdrew so that he could go to Nevada first. And then he came back before our Nevada commission and there was a two-day hearing over a 30-day period."
Lem Satterfield is the boxing editor at AOL FanHouse and the news editor at BoxingScene.com. To read more from Lem Satterfield, go to AOL FanHouse by Clicking Here.