CONFLICT OF INTEREST: PART
ONE
THE SMOKING GUN
By Michael
Swann
Chapter 89 of the Professional
Boxing Safety Act of 1996, Article 6308, entitled
Conflicts of Interest, clearly states, “No
member or employee of a boxing commission, no
person who administers or enforces state boxing
laws, and no member of the Association of Boxing
Commissions may belong to, contract with, or
receive any compensation from, any person who
sanctions, arranges, or promotes boxing matches…”
Under 6309, “Enforcement,”
Item B-2 states “Any member or employee
of a boxing commission who administers and enforces
state laws and any member of the Association
of Boxing Commissions who knowingly violates
section 6308 of this title shall, upon conviction
be imprisoned for not more than one year and
fined not more than $20,000 or both.”
By evidence and by his own
admission this article will demonstrate that,
sadly, Armando Garcia, the Executive Officer
of the California State Athletic Commission,
has been guilty of violating this federal law
by accepting compensation for training seminars
for sanctioning bodies and state commissions.
In May of 2006, this reporter
made his first contact with Garcia with a question
regarding the Marco Antonio Barrera-Rocky Juarez
fight, but during the course of the conversation
Garcia told me a little about his early life
as a survivor of the Fidel Castro takeover of
Cuba. I mentioned to him that it might make
an interesting story and perhaps I would get
back to him in the future.
Several weeks later Garcia
called me on a Saturday afternoon to see if
I wanted to do the interview right then and
there. I agreed and we proceeded to cover his
life story at considerable length.
Armando’s story begins
on January 1, 1959 when as he put it, Castro
“stole Cuba.” Garcia’s father
was the youngest member of the senate in Havana,
but was not a follower of the supplanted Cuban
President, General Fulgencio Batista, or the
conquering insurgent Castro. His father was
placed in jail where he remained until August.
Three year old Armando and the rest of his family
arrived in Miami in April. They could barely
find an apartment, according to Garcia, because
of the racial bias of the time.
Signs of “No Pets,
No Cubans” were commonplace as the expatriates
sought housing. Garcia recalled living in a
one bedroom apartment along with his father,
mother, step brother, grandmother, and grandfather.
Eventually the family moved
into a house as his father continued to speak
out on radio against Castro. The house was bombed
on two occasions, the second blowing up their
station wagon and part of the patio where young
Armando often watched TV with his grandparents.
After serving 11 years in
law enforcement, Armando got his start in boxing
as an assistant inspector in 1986. In 1987 he
received a professional license to referee and
also worked amateur fights. In 1991, with Olympic
goals in mind, Garcia was selected #1 of 17
candidates to referee and judge for the International
Amateur Boxing Association (I.A.B.A.), and was
forced to give up the pros. In 1994, he returned
to the pros, and joined the WBA. Although he
was an official for the state of Florida, he
traveled the world as a referee and was named
the WBA Official of the Year and was later named
Chief of Officials.
Garcia spoke of some ambiguous
“politics in Florida” that gave
him some trouble and was later resolved. We’ll
have more on that in Part Two of our series
tomorrow. He also said that he was “good
friends” with Tim Lueckenhoff, the President
of the Association of Boxing Commissions (ABC),
despite a “rocky start.”
The “rocky start”
was apparently because he was giving certification
training to WBA officials. Garcia said that
the ABC didn’t want him to work with the
WBA and sent him a letter that he was in violation
of the Muhammad Ali Boxing Reform Act, citing
a conflict of interest because he was chief
of officials for the WBA while at the same time
licensed by the state of Florida and the Miccosukee
Native Government located just outside Miami.
“I was a dangerous
man on the outside and I was arming those sanctioning
bodies with too much information,” Garcia
said. “It was hurting the ABC program
and the ABC wanted to take over the certification
process. And you know what? They did. But we
have an outstanding relationship now.”
Garcia still does his training
seminars, but now for the ABC.
Armando was voted to become
the CSAC’s chief executive by a 3-2 vote,
effective June 1, 2005, after some controversy
behind the scenes. One source claims that Garcia
told him that “the vote is in” prior
to the election. Regardless, Garcia was the
last man standing out of an estimated 75 original
candidates.
There have been 16 verifiable
ABC certification seminars that have taken place
since his assignment, given both to sanctioning
bodies and state commissions.
At various times during his
interview Garcia mentioned “his enemies”
and even warned his interviewer that some negative
things might be said about him. Specifically,
he mentioned articles written by Charles Jay,
Elisa Harrison, and Fiona Manning, saying that
they were “98% untrue or inaccurate and
2% was unimportant.”
At the conclusion of the
interview this reporter was left with a gut
feeling of skepticism, and began to make some
calls to various people that I highly respect,
including some non residents of California.
One Hall Of Famer told me that I would “embarrass
myself” by doing a story on Garcia.
Garcia was absolutely correct
in his thinking that he had enemies. A number
of people came forward with negative information
about him, but had a definite fear of retribution.
Even while calling Garcia “a power starved
individual” along with other more spicy
commentary, no one wanted to go on the record.
It was clear that while he might not be respected,
he was certainly feared.
A few weeks later Garcia
sent me an email praising an article that I
had written on Seminole Warriors Boxing. He
didn’t mention his article in the message
but the implication was obvious. At that time
I was following up leads of alleged wrongdoing
on his part and there certainly wasn’t
going to be an Armando Garcia puff piece extolling
his virtues.
On August 22, 2006, I replied
to his email, thanking him and explaining that
his story conflicted with other source material
and I would be unable to write his story.
Garcia replied, “Understood,
sort of. Don’t know what u mean but understant
(sic) how it may be. Can you explain please?…”
Of course I couldn’t
explain. I had sources to protect.
Soon after that I filed my
Garcia notes away for awhile, still without
a smoking gun or even witnesses willing to speak
on the record.
But I kept hearing the story
over and over again that Garcia was receiving
compensation for teaching ABC judge and referee
seminars, along with Duane Ford. Jay Nady was
also mentioned. There is nothing inappropriate
about Ford and Nady being compensated for the
seminars. Only Garcia, in his capacity as Executive
Officer of the CSAC would be in a conflict of
interest in accepting payment for such services
according to Article 6308.
The ABC had been rejecting
IBF officials because they did not have ABC
certification, so they felt that it was in the
best interests of their member officials to
get the certification at their 2006 convention
in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Several states conduct
individual training at their annual convention.
It is quite possible that officials could be
getting three courses - state, ABC, and sanctioning
body.
But under SEC.16 of the Ali
Act, “No person may arrange, promote,
organize, produce, or fight in a professional
boxing match unless all referees and judges
have been certified and approved by the boxing
commission responsible for regulating the match
in the state where the match is held.”
A member of the IBF said
that, “A lot of people felt that the Florida
seminars are better than the ABC certification,
but we had our people certified so it wouldn’t
be held as a strike against them.”
The member added that since
the ABC certification the use of their officials
has remained the same, no more, no less.
“ Individual judges
know that if you are not ABC certified you may
not be selected to work in certain jurisdictions,”
the IBF source said. “Our books are open.
The ABC should be held to the same degree of
accountability. But you’re going to have
a hard time getting information because people
are afraid of retribution.”
Marian Muhammad, the president
of the IBF, was very cooperative regarding the
matter and asserting that the IBF is “an
open book,” agreed to forward emails regarding
the ABC seminar at the IBF convention on June
2, 2006.
This is a chronological account
of the exchange of emails, excluding items not
related to ABC training:
Muhammad to Lueckenhoff,
March 1, 2006:
Hello Tim, has the ABC extended
its certification program to the boxing sanctioning
bodies? And if so, would the boxing sanctioning
organization have to use Armando Garcia and/or
Duane Ford as lecturers. Since the IBF does
officiating seminars at our annual conventions,
I would be interested to know if those officials
can get certified for attending. A goodly number
of IBF officials have attended ABC conventions
and became certified officials, as well as attended
some of the regional certification courses.
Lueckenhoff to Muhammad,
March 1, 2006:
Marian, Darryl (Peoples)
has spoke to me about coming to your convention
to do an ABC seminar. We will come and do the
seminar if you like. We use Duane Ford for referees
[judges] and Armando or Jay Nady for referees.
We normally ask that the organization/commission
cover their travel, lodging, and meals. If it
is in you budget we try to pay them $250 for
the seminar. If you cannot swing the $250, the
ABC will take care of that. Your officials will
receive certification and will be posted on
our website. I would probably have to come to
this meeting just to make sure they are giving
a serious seminar (HA HA!).
Let me know if you are interested.
You can pick the referee trainer that you want
either Armando or Jay.
I look forward to seeing
you and the entire IBF group.
Thanks Tim
Muhammad to Lueckenhoff,
March 1, 2006:
How much notice do you need?
Lueckenhoff to Muhammad,
March 1, 2006:
Do you want me to just tell
Duane and Armando to tentatively put it on their
calendar and then probably a months notice to
ensure that they get good airfare to PR.
Muhammad to Lueckenhoff,
March 1, 2006:
Not today. Let me run it
by a couple of members of the board and I’ll
get back to you real soon.
Muhammad to Lueckenhoff,
March 1, 2006:
Do the officials have to
pay anything in addition to the registration
fee to attend the IBF convention? Also, what
is the purpose of using Ford, Garcia, and Nady
for all the seminars? Do we have the option
to agree with the ABC on three officials who
are just as good as Garcia, Nady, or Ford?
Lueckenhoff to Muhammad,
March 1, 2006:
No other fee is required.
We have a powerpoint presentation and just want
to keep it to ourselves right now. However,
in the future we need to branch out to other
qualified officials.
Muhammad to Lueckenhoff,
March 14, 2006:
Please confirm that there
are no other fees than the ones you have expressed
for officials to attend the seminar and take
the test of the ABC to become certified.
Lueckenhoff to Muhammad,
March 14, 2006:
No other fees except Duane
and Armando, airfare, hotel, and we normally
pay them $250 for the seminar day only. I plan
to attend at the expense of the ABC if it all
works into my schedule…
Muhammad to Lueckenoff, March
31, 2006:
I have decided to do the
officials seminars on Friday June 2. When would
we need to bring Armando and Duane in? …Let
me know when they need to be in and whether
or not they will make their own travel and we
reimburse them. Or, whether they want us to
make their travel and advise them.
Lueckenhoff to Muhammad,
cc Ford, Garcia, April 3, 2006:
Please let Marion (sic) know
about your travel arrangements . Marion, will
you tentatively hold me a room for the dates
of their travel. Once I figure out my schedule,
I will call the hotel and put it on my credit
card.
Lueckenhoff to Muhammad,
cc Ford, Garcia, April 12, 2006:
Marian. I think we have now
all decided that we will arrive on May 31st
and depart on Saturday June 3rd. Duane and I
will make our own airline arrangements. Could
you book Armando’s? If this is not possible,
I will do it through the ABC credit card then
you can just reimburse the ABC, let me know
your pleasure. If possible, Armando would like
the following flights…
Lueckenhoff to Muhammad,
April 12, 2006:
Marian, I have Armando booked
on a flight. The total is $595. You can mail
a check to the ABC [name and address withheld].
What is a fax I can send you the invoice from
the American Airline website. I am pleased because
that early flight I gave you was for over $800.
I got this one a little cheaper. I hate spending
money!!!
Ford to Lueckenhoff, June
5, 2006:
Tim: You will find attached
my airfare to San Juan. I had previously sent
this to the IBF office and have not been reimbursed.
You will also find the seminar
fee invoice for the IBF also…
Lueckenhoff to Muhammad ,
June 5, 2006:
…Duane has listed the
expenses that are due. You can just pay him
$500 for the seminars along with this airfare…
Muhammad to Lueckenhoff,
June 6, 2006:
… I was looking at
Duane’s invoice for the seminar and am
wondering if he is to be sent the money for
Armando also? Or does he get $500 and we still
have to pay Armando? If you check the invoice
out it is for “Seminars Judges and Referees.”
Advise!
Lueckenhoff to Muhammad,
June 6, 2006:
Duane will pay Armando out
of his proceeds, that’s the way they work
it, don’t know why.
Ford’s invoice, of
which we have obtained a copy, along with his
airline reservation reads:
Expenses for Duane B. Ford
Airline (American Air) $607.44
Seminars Judges and Referee ($250 each) $500.00
Total Due $1107.44
It’s interesting how
the three men needed to be in San Juan on May
31 for a June 2 seminar. But it’s not
too hard to figure out why the invoice was paid
to Ford.
Tomorrow… Part
Two of our expose on Armando Garcia, “It’s
a Mess Out There!”
