The Georgia Athletic and Entertainment Commission, still at a draw with Secretary of State Brian Kemp over the future of combat sports in the state, has enlisted a third party to approve fight cards for 2013.
The Association of Boxing Commissions, an umbrella organization of state boxing agencies, will temporarily decide whether fighters in proposed match-ups are qualified to face each other. The move, announced Tuesday at a GAEC commission meeting, appears to circumvent the authority of Kelly Farr, recently appointed by Kemp as the commission’s executive director. That’s the official who is supposed to judge the appropriateness of proposed match-ups.
Former executive director Andy Foster left earlier this year to take a similar position in California.
Kemp has refused to budge on his choice of Farr, an assistant secretary of state who held the GAEC position once before. In an interview with Channel 2 Action News, Kemp described Farr’s appointment as a cost-saving move, made necessary by deep cuts to his agency’s budget.
“Any time we have an upper level person that leaves us, we’re immediately looking for efficiencies in the office due to budget cuts,” Kemp said.
He said Farr will stay on as interim director through the upcoming legislative session, at which time he will consider hiring a full-time executive director. Like other state boards and commissions, the GAEC’s executive director has traditionally been an assistant secretary of state, who fills that role along with a host of other duties.
“Obviously there’s a few members on the commission that don’t like that tack, but I have the whole agency to look after,” Kemp said. “I’m fully confident he (Farr) has the ability to do the job, he’s done it before.”
But GAEC commissioners are refusing to sanction any bouts Farr approves, arguing that he is a bureaucrat, unqualified to approve fights and set up match-ups.
While the executive director is appointed by Kemp, the commissioners are appointed by the governor. It’s the commission’s job to formally sanction a match once the director has approved it as appropriate.
“Kelly is not qualified,” said Commission Chair Don Geary. “If you take a doctor from 300 years ago, would you let him perform surgery on you today? That is what we have here. Just because he matched fights before doesn’t mean he knows what he is doing. Times have changed.”
At Tuesday’s meeting, the commission approved three 2013 fight dates — two in January and one in February. Promoters staging fights on those dates will have to submit their cards to the ABC for approval.
“I promote fights for a living. I pay people to punch each other in the face every six weeks,” said promoter David Oblas, whose Jan. 19 date was approved. “Today’s decision will allow me to continue to do my job moving into 2013 and allow fighters to do what they enjoy doing — punch each other in a safe regulated environment in the state of Georgia.”
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