Bungling boxing commissions abound in the beak-busting business. The California State Athletic Commission?the clowns who, among other things, approved Pablo Sarmiento as a main event opponent last November despite the fact that Sarmiento had not been in the ring for over six years?is the usual gathering of incompetent hacks looking to climb sticky ladders. Of course, there is also the notorious Texas commission, too, run with the kind of logic that fuels a Jim Thompson novel. But the Michigan Unarmed Combat Commission is in another league altogether. This crew suggests one of those over bred turkeys that can barely walk, capsizes because of its own weight, and drowns in a rain puddle.
With the first big fight of the year, Tim Bradley-Devon Alexander, scheduled to take place in a less than a week, it seems as good a time as any to take a look at the Michigan Unarmed Combat Commission.
First, why is Demetrius Jenkins, 0-10, in his last ten starts and winless since 2002, fighting on the undercard against 20-0-1 Marcus Oliveira? Jenkins, 39, has not fought in two years and has been knocked out 5 times during his winless streak. That kind of resume suits a Golden Boy Promotions ritual sacrifice, but it should not be allowed to pass an HR department anytime, anywhere.
Next?and eventually more troubling?The Detroit Free Press quoted Carlos Llinas of CLIP Boxing on the subject of Tim Coleman pulling out of his scheduled bout with Detroit fighter Vernon Paris, who, mysteriously, nearly always winds up fighting a late substitute. From the article by Mark Brudenell: ?Paris promoter Carlos Llinas believes Coleman is ducking his fighter. ?I don?t think Coleman dislocated his shoulder ? I think he dislocated his heart,? Llinas said today, upon learning the news. ?He didn?t want to come to Detroit and get murdered in the ring. ? He needs to go to a cardiologist for a checkup on his heart. We?ve trained long and hard for this fight. It?s a shame.??
Llinas spent some time in New York City in the past, so hardboiled quotes are probably second nature to him by now, but the funny part of this article concerns the fact that Mr. Llinas is not, according to the Michigan Department of Energy, Labor & Economic Growth website, licensed to promote boxing events in Michigan. Never mind the fact that he has been doing so for years; Mr. Llinas appears to be one of the many renegade figures who uses boxing as a back alley detour to a few quick?and dirty?sawbucks. And the Michigan Unarmed Combat Commission knows this. So does much of the local media in Michigan. The Cruelest Sport brought this issue up, via email, to one of the big sports writers in Michigan, who was, presumably, too busy working on his horticultural skills to reply. (A bogus press, increasingly being replaced by bogus bloggers?boglers??is probably a bigger problem in boxing than sanctioning bodies, but who on earth is going to admit that?)
What is it that prevents Mr. Llinas from getting a license in Michigan? And more importantly, what is it that prevents the Michigan Unarmed Combat Commission from taking action? Of course, there may be some strange loophole that allows Llinas to operate without a license, but that would serve as merely a different kind of indictment against the Michigan Unarmed Combat Commission.
But Llinas, as well as what he apparently represents, is not the only problem in Michigan.
If the Keystone Cops ran their own crystal meth lab and got high on their own supply they would probably run boxing in Michigan better than the current commission does. Last year alone saw Michigan involved in several strange events that underline just how bizarre things can get in Wolverine state when it comes to boxing.
First, two fighters?Eddie Gates and Luigi Gjokaj?reported that they were not paid after their respective bouts. Gjokaj claimed he was stiffed by none other than Carlos Llinas himself, who, as noted, is not a licensed promoter, and therefore should not be in the position to stiff anybody except maybe a cab driver or a waitress.
In March, another promotional firm, HeavyHitter Promotions, was fined a whopping $50,000 for staging fights without a license. A few months later, however, the fine was struck down because of bureaucratic incompetence. The details of this case are worth quoting in detail because of their ?Outer Limits? vibe. Here is the rundown from SportsSummary.com, a Michigan-based boxing website:
The problem is that HeavyHitter owner Gino Cicarella says he was never aware that officials were investigating and never received any notice of a hearing. In fact, the first he learned of it, he said in March, was when someone read a story on Sportssummary and called him. State officials, it seems, are unable to prove that they served him and then officials lost the paperwork that is needed for an appeal. So, at the UCC?s last meeting, in June, they rescinded their previous action ? and the $50,000 fine ? and ordered a new hearing.
What makes one unlicensed promoter worth fining and another not is an oddity in itself.
Finally, the Association of Boxing Commissions turned its wrath on a card that took place last May at the Kawadin Casino and was overflowing with unsanctioned bouts. The card was ?a disgrace,? wrote ABC president Tim Lueckenhoff. In addition, referee Frank Garza, well-known in the boxing community, apparently posed as an ABC official to some involved in the Kewadin fiasco.
Now that the new owners of the Silverdome are looking to get into boxing on a regular basis, maybe these questions should be raised before they step into the boggiest professional sport in America. Here we are in 2011 and boxing continues to operate like some sort of fly-by-night clipjoint. Its biggest scourges remain an inept media and a corrupt regulatory apparatus?one that promotes abuse in an anarchic pursuit whose guttersnipes need no encouragement.
