Commission to consider ‘emergency regulation’ on amateur boxing
The Nevada Athletic Commission will consider a proposed “emergency regulation” related to amateur boxing events at its meeting on Monday, according to the agenda posted on the panel’s website.
Commission Chairman Stephen Cloobeck on Thursday declined to specify what the regulation would be, saying he would reserve comment until the 9 a.m. meeting.
According to the agenda, the regulation is related to Nevada Revised Statutes Chapter 467, which states that the provisions in the athletic commission charter do not apply to competitions that are conducted or participated “exclusively by any school, college or university or by any association or organization of a school, college or university, when each participant in the contests or exhibitions is a bona fide student in the school, college or university.”
That means the commission’s usual jurisdiction, which is laid out in the statutes, does not apply to these types of events.
The possible emergency regulation comes after Nathan Valencia, a 20-year-old UNLV student, died from injuries suffered in a fraternity-sponsored boxing match.
Valencia participated in the main event of a “fight night” on Nov. 19 and died four days later from blunt force head trauma, according to the Clark County coroner’s office. His death was ruled a homicide, though that term does not imply intent.
Valencia’s death has raised accusations from his family — through their attorneys in the Richard Harris Law Firm — that organizers, UNLV’s Kappa Sigma fraternity and the venue where the seven-card fight took place, Sahara Event Center, were ill equipped to offer a safe environment.
The Metropolitan Police Department said that no charges would be filed in the case, directing inquires to the athletic commission.
Cloobeck later said the commission would investigate, adding that the fraternity, UNLV and the Nevada System of Higher Education “have a lot of explaining to do, in my opinion. They cannot duck, bob and weave on this.”
Contact Jonah Dylan at jdylan@reviewjournal.com. Follow @TheJonahDylan on Twitter.