By Jim Dower: Having been denied once by the Nevada Athletic Commission in trying to get his boxing license back, attorneys for former two-time welterweight champion Antonio Margarito have filed a legal brief to the Nevada Athletic Commission, looking to get his boxing license to fight Manny Pacquiao on November 13th in Nevada, according to news from the LA Times. Margarito lost his boxing license last year after a plaster-like material was found on his hand wraps before his title fight with Shane Mosley in January 2009. At the time, Margarito was the World Boxing Association welterweight champion.

However, he was easily beaten by Mosley and ended up losing by a 9th round stoppage. A short time later, the California Athletic Commission revoked Margarito’s license for a year. However, instead of reapplying with the California Athletic Commission to get his boxing license back, which would seem like the logical thing to do since they are the ones that took it away in the first place, Margarito applied to the Nevada Athletic Commission. They denied his request and told him to go back to the California Commission. They, however, were unable to find time to table Margarito’s request in their next meeting, and he would have to wait until the following meeting to try and get his license back. What Margarito is trying to do now, though, is to go back to the Nevada Commission and let them know that the California Commission can’t hear Margarito’s right now to try and get his license back.

It’s questionable whether the Nevada Athletic Commission will give Margarito back his license without him having received an up or down vote from the California Commission. It’s worth a try, but they may tell Margarito the same thing as last time. In other words, go back to the California Commission. If Margarito doesn’t get back his boxing license, his promoter Bob Arum will likely take the fight out of the country and stage the Pacquiao vs. Margarito fight in Mexico. He obviously would prefer that it take place in Las Vegas, Nevada, but he may not have much choice if Margarito doesn’t get a positive ruling from the Nevada Commission.

The one thing going in Margarito’s favor is that a fight between Pacquiao and Margarito would be good for Nevada. It would bring a lot of money into Las Vegas from fans, tourists and gamblers. It would help the city of Las Vegas and give it a big shot in the arm during November. That alone might be reason enough for the Nevada Athletic Commission to make an exception for Margarito’s case.