Boxing / Earl Gustkey : A National Commission: It’s an Idea Whose Time Has Come

The list of reasons supporting the need for a federal commission to govern the sport of professional boxing is long.

And a look at the behind-the-scenes finances of the Feb. 25 Mike Tyson-Frank Bruno fight here would indicate that the sport’s three governing bodies are seemingly less concerned with controlling the sport than they are with fattening their treasuries and their frequent flyer programs, both of which bulk up every time an “undisputed” championship event is held.

Tyson-Bruno was for the undisputed heavyweight championship, meaning the International Boxing Federation, World Boxing Assn. and World Boxing Council all sanctioned it as a world title bout.

Sanctions aren’t free. Promoters and fighters must pay for them.

The Tyson-Bruno sanction fees paid to the three organizations totaled $600,000, believed to be a record.

But the costs of merely staging Tyson-Bruno--on which the host Las Vegas Hilton lost nearly $3 million--didn’t end with the sanction fees.

In addition, all travel expenses for about 10 “officials” from the three groups had to be paid--air fare, meals, cab fare, incidentals, etc. When you throw in the ringside seats they were given--$900 seats the Hilton couldn’t sell--it could be another $40,000.

And the costs of conducting major boxing shows just went up. The WBC recently mailed an announcement to promoters and U.S. state boxing commissions.

Some excerpts:

--Promoters shall provide up to five seats in the technical zone (ringside) for “WBC officials and executives.”

--The certification fee (for insurance, legal costs, etc.) for a heavyweight championship fight was raised to $15,000, lesser amounts for lower weight classes.

--Promoters shall pay the expenses of the WBC representatives to championship contests, not to exceed two, including transportation, meals, hotels and other incidental expenses.

--Any attendance by the WBC president (Jose Sulaiman) at any championship contest will be in an official capacity and all his expenses will be paid by the promoter.

The WBC is based in Mexico City, the WBA in Caracas, Venezuela, and the IBF in East Orange, N.J. So what we have is a sport fueled by American television money, yet one that is two-thirds controlled by foreign bureaucrats.

“It’s gotten completely out of hand,” said a source with the Nevada Athletic Commission, who asked not to be identified.

“For the Julian Jackson-Francisco DeJesus fight (for the WBA junior-middleweight title) on the Tyson-Bruno undercard, the WBA sent a supervisor from Italy, and for Tyson-Bruno, they sent someone from El Salvador. As far as anyone could tell, they did absolutely nothing.

“These organizations aren’t in the boxing business, they’re in the travel business. All they do is dole out trips to each other.”

Change is in the wind.

A federal boxing commission, many believe, would eventually bring control of the sport to where the money is, the United States.

Within two weeks, Rep. Pat Williams (D-Mont.) will introduce legislation in Washington that would create within the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) a 13-member boxing commission and an executive director.

Such legislation has been introduced before in Washington, and there is still no federal commission. But an aide to Rep. Williams, Art Noonan, said prospects are better now.

“The climate is better right now for federal control of pro boxing than it has been at any time in the last 25 years,” Noonan said.

State Sen. Joseph Montoya (D-Whittier) has introduced legislation that would require operators of all boxing gyms in California to log daily all boxers’ and sparring partners’ workouts.

The proposed law would also require a gym operator, fighter, trainer, second or manager to report any injury or knockout occurring in a gym.

Hearings on the bill are scheduled to begin April 10.

Lou Duva, the venerable New Jersey-based trainer who has been training fighters since the late 1940s, says he’s going to start scouring National Football League cut lists.

“I’m going to try to put together a list of all NFL players who’ve done any amateur boxing at all,” he said.

“I was at a dinner in Chicago not long ago and sat next to Mike Ditka (head coach of the Chicago Bears). He gave me the names of two guys he’s going to have in camp this summer--guys he doesn’t expect to make the team.

“He said to me: ‘They can’t play football, but I think they can fight.’ ”

Hockey players are on Duva’s scouting list, too. So are hockey fans.

“I went to a hockey game not long ago at the Meadowlands and went to the lobby for a hot dog. I saw great fights in the lobby. I saw fans that night who are better fighters than boxers I’ve had.”

Boxing Notes

Amateur boxing’s 1991 World Championships have been awarded to Sydney, Australia. The 1989 World Championships are in Moscow, Sept. 17-30. . . . Lightweights Benny Lopez of Upland and Armando Baeza of Norwalk meet April 24 at the Irvine Marriott.