The Las Vegas Review-Journal is reporting that the Nevada Athletic Commission finally passed a regulation to oversee boxing's sanctioning organizations, and it should put that authority to immediate use.
The regulation, adopted Wednesday, gives the commission authority to ask the WBA, WBC, IBF and other sanctioning bodies to register with the commission. While it can't demand registration, the commission should put its weight behind the measure. It should send out notices next week to every sanctioning body, large or small, that has come to Nevada and require them to register.
One of the best parts of the long-overdue regulation is it enables the commission to request information from the sanctioning organizations. If the sanctioning body doesn't comply, its registration can be suspended or revoked. That's just the way it should be.
Nevada chief deputy attorney general Keith Kizer, who drafted the regulation with commission input, said it gives the state a strong level of protection by letting the commission gain knowledge of the inner workings of the sanctioning groups.
"It is also a benefit for the sanctioning bodies because it brings them into a dialogue with the Nevada Athletic Commission," Kizer said.
I'm not sure the sanctioning organizations agree. I think they would rather operate in their usual secretive ways.
IBF president Marian Muhammad, IBF legal counsel Linda Torres, and Robert Mack, an attorney representing the WBA, attended Wednesday's commission hearing. They weren't thrilled about the new regulation, and were most concerned about what sorts of information the commission might request.
Commissioner John Bailey rightfully said the commission should have broad powers in requesting information, and commissioner Raymond "Skip" Avansino reminded the sanctioning groups that operating in Nevada was a privileged license.
"We are in the business of regulation," Avansino said. "We cannot be restricted on the information we may need in order to determine their qualifications. They have to rely on our good faith to request information that is pertinent to our inquiry. We are not going to be arbitrary or capricious. That isn't our goal, nor would it be."
Some questions I would ask the sanctioning bodies include: What do you do with the sanctioning fees you collect in Nevada? How do you come up with those crazy rankings sometimes? Why do you allow some champions more time to defend and strip others for failing to defend?
Commissioner Flip Homansky said, "It has been my feeling that, because (the sanctioning groups) are a significant factor in terms of ratings and championships and they impact the sport in our state, they need to be regulated just like every other aspect of boxing."
Commission executive director Marc Ratner welcomes the regulation.
"I think it is important that we have some regulatory function over them because they are taking money from the fighters," he said.
"There have been a couple of fights here where the sanctioning body didn't think the decision was right and they said, 'We don't care who the judges say won. We think it belongs to the other fighter.' This (regulation) gives us the right to bring them in when they make disparaging remarks to have a form of discipline over them. That is a great benefit from my standpoint."