“Culturally, what did King represent?” asks historian Randy Roberts. “Well, as King himself was fond of saying, ‘Only in America!’ Only in America could a loud flamboyant black man, recently released from prison, where he’d served three years for beating a man to death while he was one of the largest numbers racketeers in Cleveland, take over an industry that was ingrained in the fabric of America, become famous virtually overnight, and make tens if not hundreds of millions of dollars in the process.”
“King and Arum were Ali and Frazier,” Jerry Izenberg proclaims. “They fought each other with everything they had and made each other better.”
Angel Garcia and the New York State Athletic Commission
Keith Thurman vs. Danny Garcia shaped up as everything a fight should be. But there was a problem.
At a January 18, 2017, press conference at Barclays Center to announce the March 4 championship bout between Keith Thurman and Danny Garcia, Angel Garcia (who trains his son) called Keith Thurman a “nigger” (or “nigga” or both).
Angel Garcia is a provocateur with a well-deserved reputation for unacceptable public conduct. Sooner or later, most of his son’s fights have an unpleasant pre-fight moment as a consequence of Angel crossing over a line. Here, he repeated the epithet several times as part of an incendiary rant and also had a few choice words for “motherfucking immigrants [who] come from another country.” Another member of Team Garcia called Thurman a “faggot.”
There’s a line that separates decency from indecency, and Angel Garcia crossed it. That afternoon, he fit the stereotype of a hate-filled bigot. The press conference could have turned physical if Thurman weren’t the person he is. But Keith took the high road, labeling Garcia’s rant “unnecessary” and “a form of ignorance” before adding, “I can go that route too, but I don’t have to and I’d rather not. I’m above that.”
In a properly run sport, Garcia would face serious consequences for his outburst. Imagine how NBA Commissioner Adam Silver would react if a coach spoke like that at a press conference, or if New York Knicks owner James Dolan said of former Knick power forward Charles Oakley (with whom Dolan is feuding), “Fuck that nigger.”
Garcia’s views are antithetical to the core beliefs professed by DiBella Entertainment (which is promoting the fight), Barclays Center (where the bout will take place), and CBS (which will televise the contest in conjunction with Showtime).
One day after the press conference, Showtime executive vice president Stephen Espinoza condemned Garcia’s outburst, saying, “The remarks were reprehensible and have no place at this event, or anywhere else for that matter.” That followed a statement from Lou DiBella, who tweeted, “N-words, homophobic epithets, and anti-immigrant rhetoric have no place at a boxing press conference (or anywhere else).”
But DiBella then evinced less wisdom, announcing that, to avoid future problems, no member of either fighter’s team would be allowed on the dais at the final pre-fight press conference. That will deprive Angel Garcia of a microphone to use in disseminating his poison. But it was the wrong response because it treats Dan Birmingham (the thoroughly decent man who trains Thurman) as Angel’s equivalent in terms of disgraceful public conduct.
Meanwhile, CBS is still planning to televise the fight, with or without Angel Garcia in his son’s corner. Lou DiBella will still promote it. Barclays Center will still host it. And boxing fans will come out in force because Thurman–Garcia shapes up as a very good fight. Any sanction against Angel Garcia will have to come from the New York State Athletic Commission, which has regulatory authority over the bout.
Angel Garcia is not currently under the jurisdiction of the NYSAC. His previous license to work as a trainer in New York expired last year. However, Section 207.1 of the commission rules and regulations states that no person shall act as a trainer or second in a professional boxing or mixed martial arts competition unless he or she has a valid license issued by the commission.
In other words, Garcia will have to be licensed by the commission before he can work his son’s corner on fight night. Under the law, a license to work as a trainer on fight night is a privilege, not a right.
On January 20, the NYSAC issued a statement that read, “The New York State Athletic Commission does not in any way condone or excuse Mr. Garcia’s words and actions. Angel Garcia is not a licensee of the Commission and therefore is not subject to its jurisdiction at this time. In the event Mr. Garcia pursues a license with the State Athletic Commission, this incident and all relevant information will be reviewed and this matter would be revisited in that context.”
Sources say that, thereafter, the NYSAC communicated indirectly with Garcia, told him that a final decision on licensing wouldn’t be made until fight week, and suggested that, if he avoided further incidents, the license would be granted.
On February 21, a spokesperson for the New York Department of State (which oversees the NYSAC) told this writer that NYSAC personnel had “been in contact with Mr. Garcia and his camp regarding this matter,” that commission personnel would meet with Angel Garcia shortly to discuss his request for a license, and that “the matter will be resolved before the March 4 bout.”
Meanwhile, Danny Garcia hasn’t helped matters. Commenting at the kickoff press conference on his father’s bigoted rant, Danny told the media, “That’s how he is. I can’t change him. I just sit back and laugh.”
Except Angel’s rant wasn’t funny. Good people have an obligation to rebut bigotry and prejudice. At the very least, Danny should have disassociated himself from his father’s diatribe. Instead, he took an opposite tack. Following a February 15 media workout, Danny publicly challenged the NYSAC’s authority by threatening to pull out of the March 4 bout if his father were denied a license to work his corner during the fight.
“I won’t fight,” Danny said. “Nope. What got us here is teamwork. And I know, if they wanna do that, then it’s just something personal. You know what I mean? Who’s gonna work the corner? A ghost?”
Most likely, that’s an idle threat. Pulling out of the fight would expose Danny to lawsuits that could bankrupt him. And to return to the NBA for a moment; suppose Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr called LeBron James a “nigger” (or “nigga”) and several of the Warriors said they wouldn’t show up for a game against the Cleveland Cavaliers if Kerr were suspended. Does anyone on the planet think that Adam Silver would roll over and play dead?
That said, the New York State Athletic Commission has shown in the past that it sometimes administers one set of rules for the powerful and another set of rules for everyone else.
So . . . what can and should the commission do?
Article 41, Section 1007 of the New York General Business Law requires that all trainers and seconds in combat sports competitions be licensed by the NYSAC and further provides, “The commission shall establish by rule and regulation licensing standards for all licensees.”
Section 207.7 of the NYSAC rules and regulations enumerates these standards, which include demonstration “to the satisfaction of the commission” that the applicant is knowledgeable with regard to the commission’s rules and regulations, understands the fundamentals of training, and evinces “general fitness” and “trustworthiness.”
Other than the terms “general fitness” and “trustworthiness,” there’s nothing there that’s remotely relevant to Angel Garcia’s remarks.
Article 41, Section 1014 of the New York General Business Law states, “The commission shall promulgate regulations governing the conduct of authorized professional combative sports that . . . (4) establish responsibilities of all licensees before, during, and after an event; (5) define unsportsmanlike practices.”
Last summer, the NYSAC revised its rules and regulations. But it did nothing to address what constitutes unsportsmanlike conduct, other than to define the use of illegal performance-enhancing drugs and certain fouls committed during competition as “unsportsmanlike conduct.”
In other words; we’re
in uncharted territory.
One point of view regarding Angel Garcia can be expressed as follows: The New York State Athletic Commission can issue all the lofty press releases it wants. But if New York governor Andrew Cuomo’s handpicked commissioners license a man who spreads hate by spewing racial epithets and attacking “motherfucking immigrants,” then the governor and his commissioners are enabling hate. Donald Sterling was forced to divest himself of his ownership stake in the Los Angeles Clippers because he objected to his mistress bringing people of color to NBA games. Is it too much to ask that Angel Garcia be required to sit out for one fight?”
But . . . And this is a big but . . .
The NBA is a private enterprise. The New York State Athletic Commission is a government entity. Thus, there must be a constitutionally permissible basis for the NYSAC’s decisions regarding who it licenses and refuses to license in conjunction with fights.
Let’s assume for a moment that it was Danny Garcia (rather than his father) who uttered the venomous remarks. Should Danny be licensed to fight?
Floyd Mayweather called Manny Pacquiao a “sushi-eating faggot.” Pacquiao called gay people “worse than animals” and posted a Biblical verse on Instagram that, in his view, endorsed gay people being “put to death.” Bernard Hopkins ripped a Puerto Rican flag from Felix Trinidad’s hand and threw it on the ground at a press conference in San Juan to promote their 2001 Madison Square Garden middleweight championship bout.
Suppose a fighter refuses to stand for the National Anthem?
Denying a license can be a slippery slope, particularly when one recalls that Muhammad Ali was denied a license to fight because he refused induction into the United States Army at the height of the war in Vietnam. Ultimately, Ali vs. Oscar Bentvena and Ali–Frazier I were allowed to proceed at Madison Square Garden because a federal judge sitting in New York ruled that the New York State Athletic Commission’s refusal to grant Ali a license to fight was a denial of Ali’s right to “equal protection” under the Constitution.
The issue here is whether the government should be in the business of making judgments about and punishing speech, however reprehensible that speech might be. We wouldn’t trust Donald Trump with the power to decide this issue. Should we trust Ndidi Massay, John Signorile, and Edwin Torres (the three sitting NYSAC commissioners)?
However, there’s one more factor to consider. Not all speech is protected from government interference. The most commonly cited example of this is the illegality of falsely shouting “fire” in a crowded theater, because doing so presents a clear and present danger to public safety.
The NYSAC has to weigh the possibility that Angel Garcia’s presence in his son’s corner on fight night will constitute an increased danger to public safety.
Ethnic tensions contributed to the July 11, 1996, riot at Madison Square Garden that erupted after Andrew Golota was disqualified for repeated low blows inflicted on Riddick Bowe and one of Bowe’s seconds (manager Rock Newman) assaulted Golota.
Many of the fans at Barclays Center on March 4 will know the history of Angel Garcia’s bigoted rant. Will that lead to added tension between diverse ethnic groups attending the fight? Maybe not. But Danny Garcia didn’t help matters when he declared last week, “I don’t like Thurman. The bad blood will run on March 4th.”
Boxing is an emotional sport. Emotions always run high on fight night, particularly in a fighter’s corner.
Angel Garcia can be calm and rational. And in the next minute, without provocation or warning, he can explode. We don’t know what Angel is going to do on fight night because Angel doesn’t know. He might conduct himself in exemplary fashion. He might be erratic. Left to his own devices, he might decide to walk to the ring wearing a red Donald Trump “Make America Great Again” baseball cap. Under normal circumstances, that would be protected speech. But given the circumstances that presently exist, it would increase tensions outside the ring.
What will Angel do during the fight if Danny is getting beaten up? What if something else goes wrong during the bout? Remember, Danny isn’t just any fighter. Danny is Angel’s son. And Angel has shown that impulse control isn’t his strong point.
If the NYSAC thinks there’s a danger that Angel Garcia will go off the rails on fight night, it’s not enough to warn him not to. Remember, a license to work as a trainer is a privilege, not a right.
Moreover, it’s troubling that Angel Garcia has yet to apologize publicly for his comments. At this point, such an apology might be a matter of convenience rather than heartfelt. But a refusal to apologize and retract would speak to Angel’s mindset and increase the likelihood of problems on fight night.
Important principles sometimes conflict with one another. The Angel Garcia conundrum involves issues of (1) free speech; (2) the desire to rebut open expressions of bigotry and prejudice; and (3) the need to minimize the possibility of conduct that could endanger NYSAC personnel, members of the boxing community, and the general public. Where the lines should be drawn is subject to debate. But lines have to be drawn.
Trouble at the Arkansas State Athletic Commission
Instead of giving CT-scans to fighters, maybe boxing should administer CT-scans to state athletic commission personnel who allow certain things to happen.
Part One
On Wednesday, November 22, 2017, Association of Boxing Commissions president Mike Mazzulli sent a letter to Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson. In the letter, Mazzulli advised the governor that the Arkansas State Athletic Commission is engaging in conduct that the ABC believes constitutes “an egregious disregard for health and safety standards” and “appears to be a direct violation of Federal Law.”
Mazzulli’s concern traces directly to a fight card that was contested in Arkansas on November 11. On that day, Mazzulli’s letter declares, “The State of Arkansas Athletic Commission knowingly allowed an HIV positive fighter to engage in a bout.”
Making matters more troubling, as Mazzulli’s letter points out, the boxer in question was denied a license in the State of Florida due to a positive HIV test in July. Thereafter, he was placed on the national suspension list maintained pursuant to federal law under the auspices of the ABC.
Worse still, as Mazzulli’s letter recounts, “Both the Florida Commission and I notified Arkansas through the Department of Health [which oversees the Arkansas State Athletic Commission] of the HIV positive status of a boxer but he was allowed to fight anyway. Since Arkansas had actual knowledge of the HIV positive result, the fighter should not have been allowed to engage in a bout and, under Federal Law, the action of Florida denying a license for medical reasons should have been honored.”
“This situation,” Mazzulli’s letter to the governor concludes, “is one of the most serious we have seen in many years. Hence we feel compelled to bring this matter to your attention.”
Copies of the letter were sent to Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge and a half dozen personnel at the Arkansas Department of Health.
The Arkansas State Athletic Commission website has a “mission statement” that proclaims, “The Arkansas State Athletic Commission is committed to maintaining the health, safety and welfare of the participants and the public as they are involved in the combative sports regulated by the Commission.”
But in truth, Arkansas trifles with fighter safety. Under ASAC rules and regulations, the commission isn’t even required to conduct blood tests. There is a question on the Arkansas fighter license application form that reads, “Have you ever tested positive (even if a 2nd test was negative) for HIV or Hepatitis or Staph infection. If yes, please describe, including dates and name of doctor or medical provider.” The application also includes a HIPPA release.
While the administration of a blood test is discretionary under Arkansas law, the commission’s regulations provide, “A positive test for the presence of infectious diseases shall result in an immediate suspension of the licensee’s license.”
The fighter in question is not being n
amed in this article so that he can be the one to tell family members and others of his situation should he choose to do so. Suffice it to say for the moment that he has had a long association with at least one well-connected person in Arkansas boxing. He fought on November 11 and won his bout. There’s no indication that the opponent was advised of the situation so that he could make an informed decision as to whether to participate in the bout. Nor is it publicly known at this time whether the physician who cleared the boxer to fight was informed of the boxer’s HIV positive status.
An HIV-positive test result doesn’t necessarily mean that a person has AIDS. And false positive test results have been known to exist. But the fighter in question is still on national suspension because of the findings in Florida. And the Arkansas commission can’t claim ignorance of the situation. As Mazzulli told this writer, “Multiple people at the Arkansas State Athletic Commission and Arkansas Department of Health were notified by the ABC, and the fight was still allowed to take place. We have not heard from them since the fight, either.”
Also, the facts suggest that a possible cover-up of wrongdoing might now be taking place. As Mazzulli’s letter to Governor Hutchinson states, “Eleven days later, the bout still has not been reported to the Boxing Registries, which is in violation of the Federal Muhammad Ali Act requiring that results be reported to the ABC official record keepers within 48 hours.”
A telephone call by this writer to the Arkansas State Athletic Commission was answered by a voice message that advised, “Office hours are by appointment only.” A return call was requested. To date, no one from the commission has called back.
Meanwhile, Greg Sirb (the Pennsylvania State Athletic Commission executive director who has worked with Mazzulli on this issue) has his own take on the matter.
Protect Yourself at All Times Page 29