Mouths Wide Shut as well in Indiana Commission

By Ron Widelec

This is a follow up article to "Eyes Wide Shut at the State Commission" from May 27th.

Well, it seems that questions about the safety of fighters is not a very important concern for the state of Indiana Boxing Commission. The commission has elected to remain silent on the issue of allowing fighters with terrible losing records and a multitude of KO loses to continue fighting, sometimes fighting only weeks apart.

In May I wrote two letters to the Indiana and Tennessee boxing commissions raising several questions about fighters that are continuously licensed dispute the inability to effectively provide a competitive performance and the obvious health risks of being knocked out as many as 75 times. Now, nearly two months later I've still yet to hear back from the Indiana commission. I would, however, like to thank the Tennessee commission for taking the time to get back to me in such a timely manner.

Meanwhile, fighters continue to fight in Indiana after numerous and successive KO losses and the Indiana commission chooses to take a "hear-no-evil see-no-evil attitude about the whole issue. This brings to mind the scene from Jaws, in which Richard Dreyfus is trying to convince the mayor to shut down the beach before another person is eaten. Dreyfus, furious at the Mayors stupidity on this issue, screams "you will continue to ignore this problem until the shark comes up and bites you in the a$$" or something to that effect. This situation is horribly reminiscent of that situation, but this is no movie, and real people are going to be hurt unless this commission opens its eyes to the reality of the situation.

You would think that after Greg Page was seriously hurt due to the incompetence of the Kentucky commission, that other commissions would take heed, and deal with these situations properly. But why would they, the Kentucky Commission got off scot-free as well. One can only hope that the commission will open their eyes before the lid to the casket of a fighter is opened due to the commission's wrongdoings. And it should be mentioned that Donnie Penelton, who was mentioned in my previous article (has lost 145 fights!) fought just last month in Indiana, his fifth fight and fifth loss of the year. He was knocked out in one round, making it 19 straight losses. It's only a matter of time…. (Key the music from Jaws)

As for the Tennessee commission, I received a response on June 2nd from Scott Ledford, the legal counsel for the commission. In this letter I was assured that "[every] professional boxer must pass a pre-fight physical before every contest" as well as a comprehensive physical examination that includes drug tests and x-rays before receiving a license in Tennessee. However, their was no mention cat-scans, or any type of scan specifically aimed at locating possible brain damage, even though a fighter may have been KOed 75 times.

I was guaranteed that the Tennessee Commission, which just hired a new Director, will be paying careful attention to this matter for the health reasons, as well as promoting fair and competitive fights. I certainly hope that that is the case, because while the eyes of commissions may be closed, I assure you, I see 20-20.

Any questions or comments…. Email me at Beowolf88@aol.com