By Matt Stein: After having been rejected by the California Athletic Commission earlier today in his 2nd attempt to get a boxing license in two different states, Antonio Margarito will now be taken by his promoter Bob Arum to the Texas Athletic Commission where Arum hopes he can get Margarito licensed. Speaking to nypost.com, Arum said “We’re very optimistic Texas will grant the license. But that is up to them.” Maybe Arum knows something that we don’t know, because if he’s just hoping that the Texas Commission will give Margarito his license back, he may be in for some bad news. Margarito was soundly rejected by the California Commission by a one-sided vote of 5-1, and told to come back next year.

Chances are Margarito probably won’t. Arum is going to try the Texas Commission and probably followed by the New Jersey Athletic Commission if the Texas doesn’t give him his license. Texas previously gave a boxing license to Edwin Valero, who couldn’t get a boxing license in other states. What makes it difficult this time though is that Margarito has now been rejected by both the Nevada Athletic Commission and the California Athletic Commission. It’s going to look kind of funny if Texas goes against the grain and gives Margarito his license, but then again, Texas has a way of ignoring the trends from other states and dong their own things.

What Arum has going for him in this situation is that he’s already spoken to Jerry Jones, the owner of the Cowboy Stadium, in Arlington, Texas, and Jones really wants to put the Margarito-Pacquiao fight in his Cowboy Stadium. Since Jones is fabulously wealthy and has a lot of pull in Texas, Margarito may end up getting his license by a slam dunk vote. A fight like Pacquiao vs. Margarito would really help Texas bring in big money for this fight and it’s hard to see the commissioners ignoring this and denying Margarito his license.

Whether they give Margarito his license or not, Arum is absolutely committed to matching Margarito up against Pacquiao, even if it means having to take the fight outside of the United States. Arum won’t be denied in getting his way. The fight will do well if it’s help in Texas, because there’s a large Mexican crowd that lives nearby and still support Margarito despite his suspension for having loaded hand wraps last year before his fight against Shane Mosley.