BY KEITH IDEC
The Record
STAFF WRITER
Atlantic City’s Boardwalk Hall is one of three U.S. sites promoter Bob Arum is considering for the Manny Pacquiao-Antonio Margarito junior middleweight title fight Nov. 13.
MGM Grand in Las Vegas and Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, are considered Arum’s top two choices, but sources close to the situation believe Boardwalk Hall has become a viable alternative because executives at Arum’s Top Rank Inc. think New Jersey’s State Athletic Control Board would approve Margarito’s application for a license to box in this state. Haledon native Nick Lembo, general counsel for the SACB, declined comment Tuesday because Margarito has yet to submit an application.
The California State Athletic Commission suspended Margarito for a year in February 2009 because he was caught in his dressing room trying to use illegal hard pads in his hand wraps prior to his ninth-round technical knockout loss to Shane Mosley in Los Angeles.
Margarito, 32, hasn’t boxed in the United States since Mosley dominated him in January 2009 at Staples Center. The former welterweight champion returned from a 15-month layoff May 8 and beat Roberto Garcia by unanimous decision in a 10-round fight in Aguascalientes, Mexico.
Margarito hasn’t applied for a license in the United States since the suspension, but Arum hopes to get Margarito’s license request on the agenda for the Nevada State Athletic Commission’s Aug. 9 meeting. The NSAC voted, 4-1, in favor of tabling Margarito’s license request July 9, and requested that Margarito first apply for a license in California.
The CSAC won’t convene again until September, however, and might not review a license application from Margarito unless Margarito drops a lawsuit against the CSAC for suspending him without due process. Margarito needs to get licensed somewhere soon because Top Rank must start selling tickets and promoting the pay-per-view card headlined by Pacquiao-Margarito by next month.
Arum also is considering Monterrey, Mexico, but only if Margarito cannot get a license to box in New Jersey, Nevada or Texas.
Pacquiao (51-3-2, 38 KOs) will fight Margarito (38-6, 27 KOs, 1 NC) because Floyd Mayweather Jr. (41-0, 25 KOs) wasn’t interested in opposing Pacquiao on Nov. 13. A Pacquiao-Mayweather match would crown boxing’s mythical pound-for-pound champion, earn each boxer more than $30 million and probably become the most lucrative event in boxing history, but negotiations for the fight have fallen apart twice this year.
BRIEFS: Ross Greenburg, president of HBO Sports, has publicly acknowledged that there were negotiations between him, Arum and a Mayweather representative for a Mayweather-Pacquiao fight Nov. 13. Leonard Ellerbe, an adviser for Mayweather, said in a statement released last week that there were never negotiations for the fight, in an attempt to refute Arum’s claim that he had to make another fight for Pacquiao because Mayweather wouldn’t commit to facing Pacquiao by the July 16 deadline. … Totowa-based promoter Kathy Duva said heavyweight contender Tomasz Adamek (41-1, 27 KOs), a Kearny resident, will fight an undetermined opponent Nov. 6 at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City if he defeats Michael Grant (46-3, 34 KOs) on Aug. 21 at Prudential Center in Newark. Tickets ($53-$253) to the card can be purchased by calling 800-745-3000 or visiting www.Prucenter.com.
E-mail: idec@northjersey.com
Atlantic City’s Boardwalk Hall is one of three U.S. sites promoter Bob Arum is considering for the Manny Pacquiao-Antonio Margarito junior middleweight title fight Nov. 13.
MGM Grand in Las Vegas and Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, are considered Arum’s top two choices, but sources close to the situation believe Boardwalk Hall has become a viable alternative because executives at Arum’s Top Rank Inc. think New Jersey’s State Athletic Control Board would approve Margarito’s application for a license to box in this state. Haledon native Nick Lembo, general counsel for the SACB, declined comment Tuesday because Margarito has yet to submit an application.
The California State Athletic Commission suspended Margarito for a year in February 2009 because he was caught in his dressing room trying to use illegal hard pads in his hand wraps prior to his ninth-round technical knockout loss to Shane Mosley in Los Angeles.
Margarito, 32, hasn’t boxed in the United States since Mosley dominated him in January 2009 at Staples Center. The former welterweight champion returned from a 15-month layoff May 8 and beat Roberto Garcia by unanimous decision in a 10-round fight in Aguascalientes, Mexico.
Margarito hasn’t applied for a license in the United States since the suspension, but Arum hopes to get Margarito’s license request on the agenda for the Nevada State Athletic Commission’s Aug. 9 meeting. The NSAC voted, 4-1, in favor of tabling Margarito’s license request July 9, and requested that Margarito first apply for a license in California.
The CSAC won’t convene again until September, however, and might not review a license application from Margarito unless Margarito drops a lawsuit against the CSAC for suspending him without due process. Margarito needs to get licensed somewhere soon because Top Rank must start selling tickets and promoting the pay-per-view card headlined by Pacquiao-Margarito by next month.
Arum also is considering Monterrey, Mexico, but only if Margarito cannot get a license to box in New Jersey, Nevada or Texas.
Pacquiao (51-3-2, 38 KOs) will fight Margarito (38-6, 27 KOs, 1 NC) because Floyd Mayweather Jr. (41-0, 25 KOs) wasn’t interested in opposing Pacquiao on Nov. 13. A Pacquiao-Mayweather match would crown boxing’s mythical pound-for-pound champion, earn each boxer more than $30 million and probably become the most lucrative event in boxing history, but negotiations for the fight have fallen apart twice this year.
BRIEFS: Ross Greenburg, president of HBO Sports, has publicly acknowledged that there were negotiations between him, Arum and a Mayweather representative for a Mayweather-Pacquiao fight Nov. 13. Leonard Ellerbe, an adviser for Mayweather, said in a statement released last week that there were never negotiations for the fight, in an attempt to refute Arum’s claim that he had to make another fight for Pacquiao because Mayweather wouldn’t commit to facing Pacquiao by the July 16 deadline. … Totowa-based promoter Kathy Duva said heavyweight contender Tomasz Adamek (41-1, 27 KOs), a Kearny resident, will fight an undetermined opponent Nov. 6 at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City if he defeats Michael Grant (46-3, 34 KOs) on Aug. 21 at Prudential Center in Newark. Tickets ($53-$253) to the card can be purchased by calling 800-745-3000 or visiting www.Prucenter.com.
E-mail: idec@northjersey.com