Athletic Commission Official Fired; Allegedly Received Gifts

Marty Denkin, the state boxing official under fire since being accused in January of accepting unauthorized gifts, was fired Wednesday.

Denkin’s dismissal was announced by Michael A. Kelley, director of the California Department of Consumer Affairs, in Sacramento. Kelley cited a departmental investigation which, he said, revealed Denkin accepted jewelry and cash from boxing managers and promoters in exchange for approval of bouts.

Denkin, 54, was the California Athletic Commission’s assistant executive officer and ran the commission’s Los Angeles office.

His difficulties first arose last January when the San Jose Mercury News reported that three unidentified managers had accused Denkin of accepting more than $10,000 in cash and jewelry in exchange for favors for their boxers.

The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office said at the time that Denkin was the subject of an investigation. However, no charges were filed by the office.

Then, last February, it was learned by The Times that Denkin and Ken Gray, Athletic Commission executive officer, had issued a manager’s license to Harold Rossfields Smith. A decade ago, Smith was convicted of embezzling $21.3 million from Wells Fargo Bank. Smith served nearly six years of a 10-year prison term before being paroled.

Normally, commission members said, applications from individuals who have been convicted of felonies are submitted to the eight-member commission and considered at public meetings. Denkin, Kelley said, has 20 days to appeal his dismissal.