The Nevada State Athletic Commission has tabled Antonio Margarito’s application for a boxing license. After two hour panel, the NSAC voted 4-1 to table his application which means it wasn’t actually denied. Had the commission formally denied it, Margarito would not have been eligible to apply in Nevada again for a year.
While the Nevada commission could have licensed him, the feeling was that he should first apply in California.
“We were hopeful that the commission would rule on the application after hearing our presentation and hearing Antonio answer all of their questions. He did and he did magnificently,” David Marroso, Margarito’s attorney, told ESPN.com after the hearing. “We’re disappointed in their decision to, using their words, kick the can down the road, but we heard their instructions. Antonio, his family, the lawyers and Top Rank will huddle and decide what options we’ll pursue.”
“I understand their position, but don’t necessarily agree with it,” said Top Rank president Todd duBoef. “He has served his punishment in California and is not looking to fight in California, so why apply there for a license?”
Margarito made his presentation to the commission with the following statement.
“Before the fight, my trainer Javier Capetillo, my former trainer, put a knuckle pad made of gauze on my hand,” Margarito said through a translator. “I learned later the knuckle pad had something irregular on the inside but I didn’t know that truthfully in the moment. The knuckle pad didn’t seem different to ones he had put on my hands before.”
“I never felt anything hard or irregular. Everything I felt was that it was a knuckle pad that was normal. In that moment, I was focused on one thing and that was preparing myself to go out to the fight with Mosley.”
“I accept responsibility because they are my hands and that is why I have taken steps to make sure this never happens again.”
At this point Antonio Margarito can’t not fight anywhere in the US. He could fight again outside the United States or he could wait and apply in California or other states but one thing is for sure, the United States is where the big money fights are. We just have to wait and see what he plans to do next.