By Jake Donovan

Perennial lightweight contender Raymundo Beltran was issued a temporary suspension by the Nevada State Athletic Commission during its monthly agenda hearing Thursday morning in Las Vegas. The suspension stems from a positive drug test for a banned substance after his May 1 win over Takahiro Aoh, also in Las Vegas.

The temporary suspension was issued despite a plea from Beltran’s assigned lawyer, David Chesnoff pleading with the commission for a continuance on the commission request, in hopes of fast-forward to a hearing for a full suspension at the next available agenda meeting.

A concession offered by Beltran’s counsel was that the fighter would agree to not fight while the matter was still being discussed. The argument presented by the Las Vegas lawyer was for his fighter to avoid a scenario of the fighter being saddled with an admission of guilt with such a ruling.

The commission wasn’t buying it, though going into full detail as to why the panel would not deviate from tradition.

“We’ve had a fighter come before us in the past and promise he wouldn’t fight anywhere else,” recalled commissioner Pat Lundvall. “Lo and behold, that fighter resurfaced and wound up on a fight card (in another state).

“The purpose of a temporary suspension is there is reciprocity from state to state, that no other state will allow (the suspended fighter) to fight. There is no such duty or honor to recognize such agreement without a suspension in place.”

The matter was deliberated by the five-person panel, who unanimously voted to stay within industry standards and invoke the temporary suspension.

Beltran was in line to face Humberto Soto on a June 27 show at StubHub Center in Carson, Calif., topped by a welterweight showdown between Timothy Bradley and Jessie Vargas. Both bouts were to air on HBO, but the positive drug test result killed such plans for the co-feature.

A continuance of a temporary suspension could have provided a legal loophole for Beltran to still go through with that fight, or any other while awaiting a hearing for a ruling on a full suspension. His legal team insisted that wouldn’t be the case, rather that they were eager to expedite the process.

The stated agreement was that Beltran would live with whatever ruling comes of the future session, but that—with the agreement of a waived temporary suspension in lieu of a full hearing—any such full suspension would retroactively date back to the May 1 fight with Aoh.

Such request was met with a noncommittal response from the commission, rightfully so since the matter has yet to reach a final determination. Rather, Beltran and his team were assured that having to wait out the process would not equate an admission of guilt.

“A temporary suspension does not act as an admission of any kind,” Lundvall stated. “There’s no admission, there’s no perception of admission. From my perspective, it’s not acting in adjudication; you’re not waiving any rights.”

With the temporary suspension, Beltran is not allowed to fight or even legally train in a sanctioned gym until—and pending—the results of his full suspension hearing. The matter will be discussed and potentially resolved during the next commission agenda session, which will not take place until August.

Jake Donovan is the Managing Editor of BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox