By: Christopher Roche

Hugo B. Spindola, Executive Deputy Commissioner of the New York State Athletic Commission, provided Brickcityboxing.com with a recollection of the events surrounding the cancellation of Nicky DeMarco’s bout on June 29, 2007 at the St. George Theater in Staten Island, NY.

I explained to the Commission that DeMarco’s fans were very upset with the cancellation of the bout. I also explained that much of the pre-fight publicity centered around DeMarco and his Staten Island connection. I further noted that while I was not in attendance, it was my understanding that there was a lot of confusion that evening surrounding the status of the scheduled card.

Mr. Spindola recounted the events of the evening.

NYSAC Statement

Dear Mr. Roche:

The New York State Athletic Commission has received your inquiry regarding the June 29, 2007 boxing event at the St. George Theater in Staten Island. The following is a recollection of the events that ocurred that evening.

The Commission approved professional boxer Nick DeMarco to box on the subject event and he was scheduled to compete against Markel Muhammed in the sixth bout of the evening which was to be a four round bout. The fourth bout scheduled for that evening was the main event which featured Emmanuel Nwodo defending his NABF Cruiserweight Championship against Darnell Wilson. During this main event, Mr. Nwodo suffered a loss by technical knockout and was being treated by the Commission’s ringside physicians for several minutes after the bout was stopped by referee David Fields. At the treating physicians’ recommendation and with the approval of the Commission, Mr. Nwodo was ordered to go to the hospital via ambulance to be examined for precautionary measures. At that time, approximately 11:30 P.M., there was only one ambulance at the venue and that vehicle was taking Mr. Nwodo to the hospital.

It must be noted that applicable New York State law prohibits any boxing matches from being commenced without an ambulance present on the premises in order to protect the health and safety of the boxing participants. The Commission informed the promoter of the event, Duva Boxing, that this requirement must be met and the promoter worked diligently to try and get an ambulance to the venue. Unfortunately, the ambulance company could not immediately provide an ambulance and they could not determine how long it would take for an ambulance to become available. Taking into account all of the facts and circumstances (i.e., protecting the health and safety of the boxing participants by ensuring an ambulance being present at the venue, no timetable when an ambulance would arrive, asking the remaining boxers and the public to wait for an uncertain amount of time for an ambulance to arrive before beginning the next match, and the time of event already nearing the midnight hour.), the Commission decided it was in the best interests of all the participants and the public to end the event at that time and it ordered that all of the remaining participants be paid their full compensation for the event.

It must be further noted that the Commission was prepared to allow all of the scheduled bouts to be completed as originally scheduled but not at the expense of the participants’ health and safety nor doing so in violation of state law.

I hope the Commission’s recitation of the facts of this particular event have fulfilled your inquiry.