BOXING : Athletic Commission Chief Chosen

Richard DeCuir, 38, assistant executive officer of the California Board of Dental Examiners for seven years, was named executive officer of the California Athletic Commission on Friday.

DeCuir succeeds Ken Gray, who retired last June. He has no boxing experience but said his fiscal and administrative skills will enable him to run the commission’s staff effectively.

“The state dental board hired me not because I knew anything about dentistry, but because of my fiscal and administrative ability,” he said. “From what I’ve learned, the Athletic Commission has some problems, and I think I can solve them.

“The immediate challenges are to computerize all the commission’s files. Secondly, the state boxer pension plan needs to be reviewed. And with state funding cutbacks continuing, the commission staff, like everyone else in state government, needs to run itself more efficiently.”

DeCuir was appointed by the commission at its Sacramento meeting.

DeCuir will take the $61,000-a-year post Dec. 1.