Something Rotten in Oregon

by Pedro Fernandez

Sen. John McCain from Arizona has appeared on my show before. I think I ticked him off when I called him McClain during an exchange. But for the most part he seemed like a genuine guy.

And I guess if ever there was an oxymoron, it would have to be being both genuine, and a politician. With the exception of his Boxing Act of 1996 and Zippergate, aka the Monica Lewinsky scandal, I've never seen or heard much about Mr. McCain.

I listen to CSPAN 1 and 2 while I work and I never hear the words. "The honorable John McCain of Arizona."

Essentially, the reform of boxing is his only national soap box. You know it's said all politicians have strange bedfellows. One person in McCain's inner circle is a man seemingly without a past. I'm talking about William Bruce Anderson, the head of the Oregon Boxing Commission.

Mr. Anderson pulls down a reported $90 K a year supervising and sanctioning professional boxing in the rainy state. The only thing is there has been but one boxing show in the last seven years!

And the Oregon Commission that Anderson is the Executive Director of, was one that he created along with a wacky Oregon journalist named Katherine Dunn. Before writing the legislation of a state bureau that replaced the Metropolitan Commission (aka the Portland Commission), Anderson was a registered lobbyist.

J. EDGAR HOOVER ALIVE AND WELL IN OREGON?

With an incredible zeal for power and wanting the ability to pack a gun legally, Anderson in 1993 made the Oregon Boxing Commission part of the State Police.

Oregonians like Portland gym owner Fred Ryan and a number of boxing people detest Anderson with more than just a passion. They blame him for there being no boxing in Oregon.

A former fighter in Ty Mitchell called the Ring Talk studios during my Saturday show which is heard in Portland, on KBNP 1410 AM. Mitchell stated that he is working on behalf of the Filetz Indian Tribe to start their own boxing commission for a casino they have in Lincoln City, which is about 100 miles from Portland.

"We wanted to just go with the Oregon Commission but there's Bruce Anderson. Pedro, by himself he created a commission that has run boxing out of the state. He has killed boxing here." It's not being reported that the capable Don Muse who once headed the California Commission and was on the Washington state staff, is helping the tribe form their own boxing board.

I was told that Anderson oversaw amateur boxing in Oregon. But Ryan tells me that. "He has never once attended the Oregon Golden Gloves." But Anderson did attempt to tax the amateur program in 1993, when he sent a letter demanding such to Jerry Dusenberry, the head of USA Boxing which overseas the non paid pugilists in this country. He wanted monies taken and put in the state treasury from every amateur card in the state.

Dusenberry told Anderson in essence, where to go and that was the end of it. For those who wonder about the $90 K that is Anderson's salary. It is paid by the state's 6 1/2 percent tax on all Pay Per View athletic events shown in the state. A law that he wrote and lobbied for himself.

Some people in Oregon have done an exhaustive search to see who and where the Brooklyn sounding Anderson is from. A private detective checked on Anderson's Social Security number 447-24-**** and found that it was issued in Oklahoma in the mid 1980's. The date of birth listed on his Oregon Drivers License number 1*75**5 is 12-31-28.

When I asked Anderson to answer a few questions on Ring Talk, he stated that he at first wanted to know what the questions were going to be. Hmmm. When I told him that I didn't play that way, he jumped on me like I was a smoldering fire in a waste paper basket.

Besides his incredible over reaction, his evasiveness, and his paranoia. "I'm not going to defend myself against all them." I mentioned that he's politically connected with McCain. But he's also got friends as an NCIC Federal Criminal record check was run on me a fortnight ago, right after I had made my first phone call inquiring about Mr. Anderson. Coincidence? No way!

And before I knew it, I got three phone calls from bureaucrats and people who I once considered friends. Like parrots on cue, they told me that there was no story and that I should "leave Bruce Anderson and Oregon boxing well enough alone."

Well, I would. But there isn't ANY boxing in Oregon. There's just a bureaucracy with an Executive Director and a $90,000 salary. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that something is rotten in Denmark, er Oregon, does it?

Pedro Fernandez

Additional Notes: A phone call was put into a Dr. Rios, an MD who is a member of the Oregon Commission. After leaving both an office and home phone number with his receptionist, I never even got the courtesy of a return call.

In a lot of places, being on the Boxing Commission means your a political appointee. A guy somebody owed a favor to. And In many cases this process has produced people who wanted nothing more than to add their little Commission gig to their personal agenda/resume.

Some of them have no boxing acumen what so ever. It's inherent that these lackeys don't rock the boat. They are not suppose to shake the status quo.

MORE ED-GAR-INA!

Right now the status quo in Oregon means no boxing. This whole scenario reminds of the aforementioned J. Edgar Hoover, the first head of the F.B.I. He wrote the rules by which the FBI operated. Remember for years, the nation's top cop and ugliest cross dresser denied there was any Mafia in this country.

Anderson denies that there's any problems in Oregon. As was the case with Hoover and the Mob, it might take the death of "Old Man" before the state powers that be admit that having had only one pro show in seven years is a solid indication that something was amiss.

My next step in this matter is to attempt to set up a live on radio interview with Governor John Kitzhaber and ask him the questions some of his constituents are demanding answers to. His office telephone number is 503-378-3111, in case you were one of the Oregonians who sought my help in this matter.

RING TALK "MAKES A DIFFERENCE"

An issue I addressed recently at fighters.com, on the radio, and in FLASH Magazine was that I aware of three states where Athletic Commission Doctors worked fights in which one of the participants involved was ALSO their (paid) patient.

In one case, a Nevada Commission MD, Dr. Robert Voy shot Junior Jones' hand up with a numbing agent before Jones faced (and beat) Marco Antonio Barrera on HBO. Voy then worked the fight as the ringside physician for the Commission.

On Friday night while attending the BAM card at the Orleans Hotel, Dr. James Nave, the head of the Nevada State Athletic Commission, of which he is the head will stated Nevada will make it a rule that no Commission MD can work any fight involving a patient, therefore eliminating the quite obvious conflict of interest.

Way to go Nevada! Hey, Oregon are you listening.

Note: Pedro's web site: www.fighters.com E Mail: flash@inow.com Catch "Ring Talk" my syndicated talk show on boxing that airs Saturday and Sunday on the TALK AMERICA Radio Network(s) at 11:06 PM ET. The show is also carried LIVE on the Internet at www.talkamerica.com While the Saturday show is two hours and airs on TALK AMERICA 1, Ring Talk Sunday is an hour in duration and is heard on the TALK AMERICA 2 aka "The Deuce." BOTH TALK 1 and TALK 2 have separate live Internet audio channels at www.talkamerica.com

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