Alamo ready to be just a fan again

So, too, is John Bailey. Only Bailey isn’t leaving the commission.

Alamo’s two-term run as chairman of the NAC ends Wednesday, and Bailey takes Alamo’s spot as chairman Thursday. Pat Lundvall and Bill Brady are the two newest appointees by Gov. Jim Gibbons, replacing Alamo and Joe W. Brown, whose terms are expiring.

“It was one of the most fun times I’ve ever had,” said Alamo, a physician who has served the fight game on behalf of the state for 10 years. “But I’m really looking forward to being a fan again, going to the fights with my son (Tony), just like my dad did with me when I was young. It’s like coming full circle.”

Bailey, a Las Vegas attorney, was chairman of the commission from 2003 to 2004, so it’s not like he’s venturing into uncharted waters.

“It was an honor then, and it’s an honor now,” said Bailey, elected unanimously for his upcoming term as chairman by the other four members of the board. “Having been there before, I’m familiar with the responsibilities, and I look forward to continuing Tony’s fine work.”

With Alamo’s medical background, Nevada has attempted to put itself at the forefront when it comes to boxer safety, along with testing for illegal substances. Bailey said that will continue under his stewardship over the next 12 months. All fighters who win in Nevada will be drug tested, and the goal is to eventually test all fighters on all boxing and mixed martial arts cards in the state — win or lose.

“We have to be vigilant about this,” Alamo said of the need to test for steroids, human growth hormone and other banned substances. “When you’re talking steroids in boxing, you’re talking about something extremely dangerous because the intent of the sport is to hit someone. If someone has the help of steroids, it theoretically makes him stronger and increases the possibility of injuring his opponent.”

Alamo remembers his days as a ringside physician, later overseeing the commission’s medical board and eventually becoming a commissioner.

He was on board when mixed martial arts was first regulated in Nevada and admits to being a huge MMA fan. In 2006, taxes paid to the state on tickets sold at mixed martial arts events in Nevada surpassed $5 million, more than boxing brought in.

“I’ve grown with the sport,” Alamo said of MMA. “I didn’t know anything about it at first, but I love it, and I’m proud to have been part of its growth from a regulatory standpoint.”

Alamo said the toughest part of serving on the commission was the time it took away from his medical practice and his family.

“The time commitments were very difficult,” he said. “I’m lucky I have a family that supports me. My wife, Karen, and my son have been behind me, and I’m looking forward to getting the chance to spend more time with them.”

• LOVEFEST — Before their fight last spring, Floyd Mayweather Jr. couldn’t say enough disparaging things about Oscar De La Hoya. Now they’re suddenly best buddies as they partner in the promotion of Mayweather’s world welterweight championship fight against Ricky Hatton on Dec. 8 at the MGM Grand Garden.

“I think Oscar De La Hoya and Richard Schaefer have done a hell of a job with their company,” Mayweather said last week on a conference call. “And you must crawl before you walk. I mean we’re talking small steps right now (with our company). We got our building, we got our people, that’s where our company will be at.

“What else, can I say? They’ve done one hell of a job with their company. I mean, there’s no company like Golden Boy. … They pay (or) they don’t play. They pay. And when they say they’re going to make something happen, they make it happen, and that’s the kind of company that we’re trying to be like.”

Contact reporter Steve Carp at scarp@reviewjournal.com or (702) 387-2913.