Philadelphia welterweight's next fight staying in New York

As his Tuesday afternoon media session came to an end, Mike Jones didn't seem to care very much about the location of his next fight.

And he has little reason to worry, anyway.

After much speculation, Antonio Margarito was granted a boxing license on Tuesday evening by the New York State Athletic Commission. Therefore, Margarito's fight with Miguel Cotto will remain at Madison Square Garden.

As will Jones' fight with Sebastian Lujan.

The Philadelphia welterweight will face Argentina's Lujan (38-5-2, 24 knockouts) on the undercard of the Dec. 3 Margarito-Cotto pay-per-view event.

New York was hesitant to license Margarito because of the severe eye injury he suffered last November in a loss to Manny Pacquio. But after Margarito underwent eye tests, the commission said Tuesday that he would be cleared to fight.

If Margarito's license had been rejected, one of the possible locations for the card would have been Denver.

Did the thin, mile-high air worry Jones?

"Nope," said Jones, 28.

Since Lujan had been training in Mexico's air, would that give him an advantage in Denver?

"It don't matter," Jones said.

Jones (25-0, 19 KOs) said he hoped the fight would stay in New York, but not for his own reasons.

"I would want to stay in New York for all the people that bought their tickets and booked their rooms," Jones said. "My sympathy would go to them."

Jones' trainer, Vaughn Jackson, said he didn't want the fight to be relocated, adding that the air issue was "in the back of my mind."

Jones and Jackson will honor the memory of Joe Frazier by wearing Frazier T-shirts to the Madison Square Garden ring.

Frazier trained Jones as an amateur.