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Eyes Wide Shut at the State Boxing
Commissions
By Ron Widelec
27.05 - Recently, Cedric Boswell was announced as the
next opponent for Vitali Klitschko on the June 21st
undercard of Lewis/Johnson. Upon hearing this, I decided
to take a look into Boswell’s background, and check
to see who he has fought that justifies his placement
in this fight. What I found was a record built on victories
over nobodies. However, I also stumbled on something
far more interesting and important.
I found something that I had noticed before, but had
never really taken the time to consider. On Boswell’s
record are two fighters named Jordan Keepers (2-39)
and Danny Wofford (16-60). So I began to wonder, how
is it that a guy with a record of two wins and thirty-nine
losses, or 60 losses, is allowed to fight. Than I began
to wonder how many fighters like this are there today,
and who is allowing this to happen. It is hard to believe
that these fighters will be able to avoid serious long
term damage at this rate. At some point someone should
have stepped in to stop these fighters from getting
in the ring anymore.
And thus the investigation began. I starting flying
through fighters records, finding scores of fighters
with similar records fighting over and over again, some
as often was 15 times a year. I was horrified at the
amount of fighters like this. Most of these fighters
can be found by looking at the records of the many B-level,
decent, fighters, with awesome records that get crushed
when they move up to the A-game; guys like Cedric Boswell.
In fact, the same names appear over and over again on
all these fighters. Simply go to Boxrec.com
and click on a fighter with a terrible record, a guy
with dozens of losses and only a handful of wins. You
will likely find numerous opponents that you have heard
of or seen on TV.
It seems that most of these fighters make their rounds
in the lesser well-known states, as far as boxing in
concerned; states like Indiana, Tennessee, Alabama and
a few others. After looking at some of the more blatant
examples, Tennessee and Indiana seemed, by far, to allow
this more often than any other state.
So on May 15th I wrote and sent the following letter
to Frank Evans, the Director of Pro-boxing at the Indiana
Boxing Commission, and a very similar one to Thomas
Patrick at the Tennessee Boxing and Racing Commission.
Frank Evans
Director of Pro-boxing
Indiana Boxing Commission
302 West Washington St. Room E034
Indianapolis, IN 46204
Dear Frank Evans:
I am writing this letter to inquire about a situation
that has come to my attention in the state of Indiana
while doing research for an article. Upon checking
the records of several fighters that have participated
in bouts in your state, I noticed many fighters
whose ability to continue fighting is dubious at
best.
There are many fighters who seem to fit this bill.
Here are a few of the more obvious ones. Brian
Yates fought in your state as recently as two
years ago despite the fact that he has 96 losses,
and had been knocked out 24 times. Donnie Penelton
fought in Indiana less than a week ago. He has lost
145 fights, 22 by knock out, and has lost as many
as 35 fights in arrow. Perhaps the most glaring
and dangerous situation involves a fighter name
Eric Crumble. Crumble has a record of zero
wins and 30 losses, all by knock out. Yet he has
also been allowed to fight in your state recently.
There are a multitude of other fighters with similar
records, and amount of times knocked out, which
have fought in Indiana many times. Perhaps I am
unaware of some details, but it seems to me that
these situations are extremely dangerous to these
fighters, as well as the integrity of your state
commission and the sport of boxing in general.
I would appreciate if you could take the time to
explain to me the circumstances behind these situations
and how these fighters have been continuously cleared
to fight, especially how these fighters were medically
cleared. Thank you for your time and consideration.
Respectfully,
Ron Widelec
EastsideBoxing, BoxingInsider
The letter sent to Tennessee was identical except it
mentioned three other fighters:
· Caseny Truesdale
(45 losses, has been KOed 32 times)
· Roy Bedwell
(71 losses, has been KOed 42 times)
· Frankie Hines
(110 losses, has been KOed 77 times)
I have yet to receive a response from either commission.
Meanwhile, these fighters are continuing to fight, some
of them are on the national suspension list (although
most are not), but either way many state commissions
are allowing them to fight, lose, get knocked out, and
fight again within a week or two. It makes you wonder
who, if anybody, is really watching the state commissions.
At this rate, it is only a matter of time before someone
gets seriously hurt or killed in one of these states.
I will be sure to post their letters of response, IF
they ever send one.
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