Antonio Margarito and Miguel Cotto will fight at MSG

The process was convoluted, confusing and confounding, but when the New York State Athletic Commission finally got around to rendering its verdict Tuesday night on a boxing license for Antonio Margarito, justice was an aye for his right eye.

NYSAC forced Margarito to leave his training camp in the mountains outside of Mexico City to fly to New York on Sunday night for an examination Monday afternoon by Dr. Michael Goldstein, a commission-appointed doctor. Goldstein agreed with testimony from Margarito's doctors that it is safe for him to fight following surgery in May to remove a cataract from his right eye and implant an articificial lens.

That means the grudge rematch between WBA super light middleweight champion Miguel Cotto and Margarito will go as scheduled Dec. 3 at Madison Square Garden.

Right up until the moment the decision was announced by Judge Edwin Torres, subbing for commission chairman Melvina Lathan, who was suffering from laryngitis, officials for Top Rank Promotions were making contingency plans to hold the fight in Denver, Phoenix or Tunica, Miss., so as not to disrupt plans for HBO's pay-per-view telecast.

"I'm really appreciative of the New York commission," Top Rank's Todd DuBoeuf said. "It takes a lot to open eyes and embrace new technology in medicine . . . I felt it was a false sense of hope, and now, it's so satisfying. There is nothing like a fight in New York, the electricity that goes on in New York."

DuBoeuf said only 1,400 tickets remain for a fight that will draw more than 18,000 paying customers and an overall crowd of 20,000 for a match between Garden favorite Cotto and his Mexican challenger. Not only did the commission's decision save the gate, but it might have saved the fight. Cotto told reporters in a morning conference call that he would fight only in New York.

Attorney Daniel Petrocelli, who represents Margarito, said, "The testimony [by Goldberg] obviously was impactful on the commission."

At the same time, Petrocelli admitted his frustration with the decision being put off until 12 days before the fight.

"It should not have come to this," Petrocelli said. "I understand the commission's determination to get to the bottom of the issue, but the process should have been expedited. It was an arduous ordeal. Tony was on pins and needles."