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Rivera Promotions reluctantly announced it has indefinitely postponed its planned September 21 boxing event due to unexpected conflicts with the Massachusetts Boxing Commission, which sanctions boxing events in the state.
Jos Antonio Rivera, the company’s president, said yesterday that precedent-setting requests made by the Boxing Commission made it impossible to continue the show as planned.
The event, slated to be held at the National Guard Armory in Worcester, was the first show Rivera Promotions had planned since forming earlier this year with the intent of showcasing local boxing talent and providing entertainment for fans.
“It’s unfortunate the Massachusetts Boxing Commission was unwilling to work with us, because the fight promised to show the greater Worcester area the best of what boxing offers,” Rivera said. “We had planned a professional, entertaining show that would give fans what they deserved.”
Specifically, the Massachusetts Boxing Commission requested background checks and resumes for any fighter making their professional debut. Also, the commission refused to approve of Todd Poulton making his debut at 43 years of age.
Poulton, who has a background in amateur boxing, was fulfilling his dream of fighting in a professional bout after suffering from obsessive compulsive disorder through most of his adult life. He planned to use the fight to raise funds for charity and bring awareness to the disease.
The Boxing Commission also scrutinized the matchmaking process more than the principle members of Rivera Promotions, who have a combined decades of experience in professional boxing, had ever seen, even questioning the opponents of fighters making their professional debuts.
“I’m very disappointed with the way the Boxing Commission is handling this,” said Sean “The Irish Express” Fitzgerald, a former professional boxer, a current trainer and principle with Rivera Promotions.
“They’re making it almost impossible to hold a boxing event in Massachusetts under these rules. I just hope they’re this strict with everyone,” he said.
Rivera, who is still an active fighter and has a scheduled Oct. 6 fight at Madison Square Garden, said he will return to the drawing board with the promotional team to decide the next step, although he acknowledged the future of this card is in limbo because of the commitments with his own fight.
He expressed frustration with what he sees as inconsistent policies the Boxing Commission is following, compared to past events in the state.
“We just can’t be held in different standards,” he said, noting the Boxing Commission robbed several fighters of the dream of making their professional debuts.
“We just can’t be held under different standards,” he said.
Rivera Promotions wishes to thank the fans, organizers and media outlets who supported their effort to put on the September 21 card.
