By the Way, Josh Barnett Might Not Be Licensed to Fight in Texas Yet

from cagepotatoe

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After Josh Barnett‘s re-licensing bid was stonewalled by the CSAC in December — leading him to basically give up on California altogether — Strikeforce figured they could solve their problems by hosting Barnett’s promotional debut in Texas, a lawless wasteland whose notoriously lax athletic commission allowed Antonio Margarito to box Manny Pacquiao at Cowboys Stadium the year after after he was caught loading his gloves.

That fact that we hadn’t heard anything about Barnett’s licensing status in the lead-up to June 18th’s “Overeem vs. Werdum” event at the American Airlines Center seemed like a good sign. But problems remain — namely, that the Babyface Assassin reportedly hasn’t completed his Texas licensing application, with just ten days until showtime.

Via Bloody Elbow:

Yesterday, Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker assured the media that Barnett would be licensed in time for the fight. According to Susan Stanford, Public Information Officer for the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, Barnett has until 72 hours before fight time to complete his application, but has not yet done so.

Earlier today Stanford told Bloody Elbow that “Mr Barnett’s application is incomplete.”

She declined to state what additional materials Barnett needs to submit to complete the application, but she did confirm that he has submitted some materials to begin the application process.

Ominously, Stanford also indicated that Texas authorities would weigh Barnett’s status with the California State Athletic Commission when deciding whether or not to license him to fight.

Barnett, who is slated to face Brett Rogers in the quarterfinals of Strikeforce’s heavyweight tournament, responded to the original report via Twitter in his usual lovable style:

I would just like to give a warm and hearty “Fuck You” to BloodyElbow and anyone else for irresponsible “gotcha” journalism…I am being bombarded w/unnecessary questions and friends and fans are getting stressed for nothing.

Okay, so fuck us, then. But aren’t we allowed to be skeptical considering Barnett’s history with American athletic commissions? He’s the last person who should be waiting until ten days out to get his papers in order.

Semi-related: Where the hell has Brett Rogers been lately? Is it weird that the dude’s been a ghost since February?