Antonio Margarito may need only $20 check to get Texas boxing license

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The inexact justice in boxing is poised to reach a stark new level.

California denied Antonio Margarito a boxing license after a six-hour hearing Wednesday, with commissioners expressing skepticism about his rehabilitation following a suspension for nearly taking plaster-loaded gloves into his failed January 2009 title defense against Shane Mosley. By a 5-1 vote, the commissioners voted to bar Margarito from California rings for at least another year.

Now, a spokeswoman for the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation said there’s a possibility Margarito may get licensed in Texas as soon as Monday, when it’s expected his official mailed-in application arrives, accompanied by a $20 license fee check.

‘No hearing is required unless it gets denied,’ spokeswoman Susan Stanford said Friday. ‘If it’s denied, he can ask for a hearing. But it’s my understanding his license is no longer revoked, and that his application will be treated like any other license.’

That’s good news for those wanting to see a Margarito pay-per-view fight against Manny Pacquiao on Nov. 13 at Cowboys Stadium outside Dallas.

But the lack of scrutiny is quite a contrast to Margarito’s Wednesday hearing, where California Assistant Atty. Gen. Karen Chappelle accused the boxer of lying about his absence of knowledge regarding the existence of the hardened inserts confiscated from inside his hand wraps.

‘Some conduct is so egregious, you should never get a second chance,’ Chappelle said. ‘Our commission did the right thing. We have a record of his actions.’

Yet Texas is acting based on the direction of the national Assn. of Boxing Commissions, which has advised that all state commissions are free to consider Margarito as a new applicant after his 2009 license revocation period expired by his appearing before the California commission.

‘We asked states to hold off until he went back to California,’ ABC Vice President Greg Sirb said. ‘He did that. Now it’s up to each individual commission how they want to deal with him.’

By approving a license application and cashing a $20 check?

‘It’s up to Texas,’ Sirb said.

Todd duBoef, an executive in Margarito’s promotional company, Top Rank, said the ABC advisement represents ‘a clean slate’ for Margarito.

Chappelle said, ‘I don’t have any control outside of California.’

-- Lance Pugmire