Antonio Margarito won’t fight in Dallas

Suspended boxer Antonio Margarito, former world champion at 147 pounds, will not fight in a semi-main event prior to the Manny Pacquiao-Joshua Clottey fight March 13 at Cowboys Stadium in Dallas.

Bob Arum of Top Rank, Margarito’s promoter, said that Margarito would fight instead on a card May 8 in Aguascalientes, Mexico.

Margarito (37-6, 27 KOs) was suspended by the California State Athletic Commission after his upset loss to Shane Mosley at Staples Center in January 2009. Mosley’s trainer discovered prior to that fight that Margarito had a plaster-like substance in the hand wraps under his gloves.

Margarito was allowed to re-apply for a license for the first time Thursday. But the CSAC is balking at that, calling his violation severe. Some officials in the sport believe that other states may give him a new license.

-- Bill Dwyre