Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

ESPN boxing analyst calls Nevada safety study ‘a joke’

A Nevada State Athletic Commission study aimed at making boxing safer is "a joke" that is unlikely to produce meaningful improvements, says colorful ESPN television boxing commentator Teddy Atlas.

Atlas also was sharply critical of the recent replacement of Dr. Flip Homansky on the commission, describing it as "a travesty" that could put boxers' health at greater risk.

Atlas, a former boxing trainer based in New York who is color analyst for ESPN's "Friday Night Fights," said boxing lags behind other sports on health and safety standards because it remains "unstructured" and mired in politics.

"Boxing cannot afford to lose people who are good at what they do," Atlas said in a telephone interview.

"This business attracts too many cronies who are appointed because of politics. There's not enough propriety in boxing, and I'm sick and tired of it. People don't care as much about this sport because they don't care about the participants."

Atlas' comments come as the issue of boxing safety is drawing heightened attention in Las Vegas because of the deaths of boxers Martin Sanchez in July and Leavander Johnson in September, the first time since 1933 that two fighters died in Nevada in the same year.

Their deaths, coupled with two other local bouts in which fighters suffered career-ending brain injuries, led the state commission to establish a special five-member advisory panel to examine possible ways to better protect boxers' health.

The committee, which is to make recommendations by April, already is being second-guessed by boxing observers who question its credibility. Atlas counts himself among the critics.

"I don't even know if they have the right people to understand the kind of research they need to look at," Atlas said. "It's another joke. Boxing has a lot of jokes, except when somebody gets killed. Then it's not a joke."

Atlas was particularly upset over Gov. Kenny Guinn's decision earlier this month to replace Homansky -- widely respected for introducing boxing safety innovations -- on the commission with Reno businessman Theodore Day, a major financial contributor to political parties and campaigns.

"You have to have the right medical people to come up with the proper ideas to take care of this sport," Atlas said.

"Replacing Flip Homansky on the commission wasn't a mistake, it was a travesty, because he's a good, solid doctor who understands all the dimensions of the sport. The health of fighters could now be put at greater risk."

Atlas also criticized the U.S. House of Representatives for voting last week to defeat a proposed federal boxing commission.

After the Senate passed a bill to form a federal boxing commission -- which would have created a national medical registry for boxers and uniform medical regulations nationwide -- the House, by a 233-190 vote, killed a similar measure last Wednesday.

"I'm not shocked," Atlas said. "They're always voting it down because nobody cares about this sport. If you want to say there are racial overtones to it, go ahead and say that because I believe it."

Another safety question under discussion is whether boxers should be required to routinely undergo brain scans before and after fights.

Atlas, who was a TV analyst for Summer Olympic boxing in 2004 and 2000, said that he is putting together a study to examine the potential benefits of regular magnetic resonance imaging scans. Nevada currently requires licensed boxers to have MRIs only once every five years, unless special circumstances call for more frequent scans.

He also advocates more competency for ringside physicians, arguing that some do not recognize quickly enough when a fighter is in trouble. And he said there needs to be more scrutiny of trainers to reduce the possibility of boxers getting hurt while sparring or losing weight improperly to meet weight class standards.

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