I was surprised to say the least at the Board’s press statement dated 9th May 2012 in relation to the Haye v Chisora fight at West Ham and particularly the references to the Federation Luxembourgeoise de Boxe. I am also concerned at the threats made to our members and other licence holders of the Board of Control to withdraw their licences if they participate in the show.
Our Association has worked alongside the BBB of C for 13 years. Generally speaking this has been a good working relationship and we see no reason for this to change if we all genuinely share a passion for the betterment of British Boxing. However, over the last few years certain actions taken by the Board have alienated license holders and we have no effective vote on these decisions. The only people who can vote andhave a say in how the Board is run are the Area Council Officers. However, these Officers are not voted in by the licence holders but are appointed by the Board and the Board itself appoints its own directors. Therefore, there is no-one who can vote on any issues at all who has any duty to represent the licence holders and we feel we have no voice.
Whilst we raised these concerns with you, nothing happened and you refused to even discuss them. This culminated last year with a protest by license holders at the Company’s AGM. As a result of which the AGM was suspended with the Board agreeing to meet with a delegation of license holders to discuss the way forward. The delegation (democratically elected) met with you in Birmingham. We were told that you would listen to what we had to say but would make no changes; there was little point in us meeting.
Since our meeting in Birmingham, there have been further matters which caused us concern. Firstly Jane Couch’s licenses were taken away from her in what seemed to us to be a personal dispute with her and the Chairman rather than a matter which should have concerned the Board. This dispute exposed worrying concerns about Mr Giles before the Board stepped down having spent time and money fighting the dispute. Secondly, a complaint was made by Mr Frank Warren over the lack of BBB of C support of Dereck Chisora when he fought in Germany.
He alleged that had the Chairman been more pro-active then the issues in Germany (including checking the security arrangements) could have been avoided. I was not present in Germany and so do not know what happened, but whoever was responsible, it does show that the Board and the Chairman have lost the support of various licensees. I speculate, but this could be because the Chairman has other loyalties which could cause licence holders to question his full support. He is the Vice Chairman of the EBU and holds a prominent position with the WBC.
After our meeting in Birmingham, the members of our Association together with other licence holders entered into discussions with the Federation Luxembourgeoise de Boxe. The Federation has been in existence in its present form since inception in 1922. It is affiliated to the EBU, WBA, WBO, IBF and WBC and it therefore is recognized by the BBBofC. Indeed the BBBofC have authorised boxers to fight in tournaments regulated by the Federation on many occasions in the past. It could not do otherwise without being in breach of its own Rules. Less than a month ago the Federation regulated and staged a show in Germany with the full support of the German Federation who permitted its own licence holders to take part.
We were attracted to the Luxembourg Federation because its safety record is second to none and it has personal injury insurance in place and strict procedures for protecting the safety of boxers. However,coupled with that, it is run by its members for its members. Managers, promoters and trainers are allowed to vote at the Company’s AGM and therefore have a real say as to how boxing is run. Whilst the Federation regulates the safety of boxing, it confines this to licensing, ringside supervision and the protection of the boxers in the ring, allowing the members freedom in
other areas. Therefore we entered into an agreement so that the Association is now the Federation’s representative in the UK and has been since March 12th 2012. I informed you of this and I informed you of the insurance and safety provisions when we met. This makes press release all the more surprising as I had been completely open with you as to what we were doing, the reasons why and the protection which would be afforded to the boxers under the Federation.
Moving onto the licensing of Haye v Chisora. Neither boxer is on the banned / suspension list. Chisora was sanctioned by your own body and having heard the evidence you decided to withdraw his licence rather than ban him. It is worth noting that this was under enormous pressure and scrutiny of the press. We are surprised that you question whether these boxers should be licensed as they are both fit and well to fight, neither have a criminal conviction and neither have been banned by yours or any other sanctioning body. This is especially so when there has been not a squeak out of the Board over Mayweather, Tyson, Scott Welch, Danny Williams and currently Scott Dixon to name but a few.
From the perspective of our Association, I am concerned about your attempt to intimidate your own members into not taking part. You do this in two ways. First, you claim that you will de-licence any member who takes part in the fight. This is unlawful and a breach of your own Rules. Secondly you seek to limit the insurance for boxers who are licensed by the BBBofC and would ordinarily have the benefit of insurance even if they fight under a different sanctioning body. This, in particular, is an extraordinary move for the BBBofC to seek to limit its own boxers’ insurance when they have paid license fees and taxes for the benefit of this insurance. I seek from you the confirmation of your insurers of their position – presumably you got this before issuing the press release and so can send it to me by return.
On behalf of our Association and the Federation, we require from you agreement that you will not seek to interfere with the fight and show. If this is not forthcoming by close of business on Friday 18th May 2012 then the following will happen:
1) The membership of the Professional Boxing Promoters Association will move for a vote of no-confidence in the Board; and
2) The Federation of Luxembourg will consult its lawyers to start proceedings for restraint of trade that is if these proceedings have not by then been brought by another individual or company in the meantime.
I look forward to hearing from you and if you wish to meet and discuss
matters, do let me know.
Yours sincerely
Bruce Baker
Chairman
Professional Boxing Promoters Association
Representatives Federation Luxembourgeoise de Boxe
NABF News – May 16, 2012
President’s Report – May, 2012.
by Joe Dwyer
In addition to April showers, we also had some fine NABF Title bouts. In a shocker on April 27 in Austin, Texas, WBC # 2 ranked Ismayl Sillakh was coasting to what appeared to be an easy victory when he was caught with a solid right hand by challenger Denis Grachev, which resulted in Sillakh’s first loss and Grachev’s winning the NABF light heavyweight title by TKO at 2:18 of the eighth round.
On April 14 in Atlantic City, N.J., Garrett Wilson scored a solid KO victory over Andres Taylor in an all-action bout for the vacant NABF cruiserweight title.
Upcoming Fights:
Johnathon Banks will defend the heavyweight title against mandatory challenger Tony Grano; negotiations are in progress at this time.
19 May – Montreal, Canada: Dierry Jean vs Cosme Rivera for the vacant super lightweight title.
26 May – Tucson, AZ: Hanzel Martinez vs Jose German Cruz for the vacant NABF super flyweight title.
7 July – Atlantic City, NJ: Patrick Majewski vs Chris Fitzpatrick for the vacant NABF middleweight title.
WBC/NABF CONVENTION 2012
Tentative dates are December 3 through 8 at the Gran Oasis, Cancun. We are working with Convention Chairman Chuck Williams in preparing our NABF program at this time. A joint convention will best serve the needs of our members, as it means saving them the expense of attending an additional convention while enjoying the occasion of observing the WBC 50th Anniversary celebration.
2013 NABF CONVENTION
It’s time to start planning for next year. Some thoughts include, Florida, Mississippi, Boston, Chicago. Let us know your thoughts!!!
We will have had 37 NABF title bouts in the year since our last convention, a record for NABF title bouts.
Our NABF title is clearly the way to a WBC world title, thanks to the watchful eyes of WBC President Jose Sulaiman, Claude Jackson, Ed Pearson, and the WBC Ratings Committee.
Current WBC Rating of our Champions:
Heavyweight – Johnathon Banks – WBC # 5
Cruiserweight – Garrett Wilson – WBC # 14
Light Heavyweight – Denis Grachev – WBC # 5
Super Middle – Dyah Davis – WBC # 4
Welterweight – Thomas Dulorme – WBC # 3
Lightweight – Hank Lundy – WBC # 2
Super Feather – Diego Magdaleno – WBC # 1
Featherweight – Mikey Garcia – WBC # 2
Super Bantam – Efrain Esquivias – WBC # 18
Bantamweight – Christian Esquivel – WBC # 5
Light Flyweight – Pedro Guevara – WBC # 9
Strawweight – Mario Rodriguez – WBC # 7
TEXAS-SIZED COMEBACKS HIGHLIGHT BOXING SHOW IN PHARR
PHARR, TX – Two highly anticipated comebacks are set to begin Saturday night, May 19, at the Pharr (Texas) Convention Center, when Jerry Belmontes and Odlanier Solis return to the ring in separate spotlight bouts on a full card promoted by Main Events, Cavazos Boxing Promotions and Arena Promotions.
Lightweight Jerry Belmontes, 15-0, 5 KOs, returns after nearly one year out of the ring. The Corpus Christi native had a vast amateur career that included national titles in 2003 and 2007. He also made it to the semi-finals of the USA Olympic Trials in 2008. As a professional, Belmontes has beaten everyone put in his path, including his most recent opponent Justo Vallecillo, whom he defeated by unanimous decision in his last start on June 24, 2011. After the layoff, Belmontes is anxious to get back in action.
“What I’m looking for is getting my name out there as one of the top prospects,” Belmontes said. “I want to get as many fights as I can this year.”
The first of those fights comes Saturday night against Dominican Ramesis Gil, 7-3-5, 5 KOs, in the main event to be televised by TeleFutura on their Solo Boxeo Tecate series. Rising prospects like Belmontes are familiar territory for Gil, who has faced undefeated boxers in his last five starts. Gil upset Luis Joel Gonzalez in his last bout, and will be looking to do the same against Belmontes in their 8-round match.
Heavyweight Odlanier Solis, 17-1, 12 KOs, also looks forward to getting back to business on Saturday. The six-time national Cuban amateur champion and 2004 Olympic Gold Medalist last fought fourteen months ago, in a challenge of WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko, on March 19, 2011. That frustrating affair ended abruptly in the first round when a sudden knee injury forced Solis out of the fight almost before it began. Up to that point, “La Sombra” was boxing comfortably and staying on his game plan against the champ. However, the end came at 2:59 of the first round.
After some time off and a lengthy rehab, Solis is ready to fight again. He’ll face Konstantin Airich, 23-5-2, 17 KOs, in a 12-round fight for the vacant IBF Inter-Continental heavyweight title. Airich, a former European and Intercontinental champion, is riding a six-bout winning streak that includes knockouts in his last three. Solis will have advantages in age, height and weight – not to mention his world class amateur pedigree – but Airich has stayed busy and has never looked better than in his most recent outings. This title fight will be broadcast internationally, and highlights of the fight will be shown on TeleFutura’s Solo Boxeo Tecate.
Although the focus will be on these two major comeback stories, the remainder of the card is a Texas-heavy lineup that should thrill the Pharr fans, as well as TeleFutura viewers.
Super featherweight Oscar Tovar of Alton, TX takes on Gilberto Cancino of Brownsville, TX in the televised 4-round opener. Mission, Texan Raul Tovar faces Juan Ovalle of Mercedes, TX, in a 4-round welterweight bout.
In the non-televised portion of the show, lightweight Angel Hernandez, McAllen, TX, fights Ramiro Torres, San Antonio, in a 4-rounder, and Felix Piedra of Mercedes, TX, and Juan Ruiz, of San Juan, TX clash in a 6-round light heavyweight bout.