Melvina Lathan, High Class Lady of Boxing
By Robert Brizel, Head Real Combat Media Boxing Correspondent
New York, NY ( July 27th, 2016)– From 2008 to 2015, Melvina Lathan was the New York State Athletic Commissioner. The natural flow of boxing events, and an emphasis on boxing safety, was always her trademark during the hundreds of boxing cards she supervised, more than any commission in state history.
This past Monday, New York State Attorney General Catherine Leahy Scott released a 48 page report which found the New York State Athletic Commission has a great deal of problems. With NYSAC Executive Director David Berlin already fired, NYSAC Commissioner Tom Hoover resigned, as key problems were highlighted in the report remain unresolved to a great extent: Lack of adequate emergency medical protocols and procedures. To accuse Melvina Lathan of that during her tenure in the report is completely false. I was there, and can attest to the seriousness of her prefight checklist. Nor do I believe Christmas cookies or similar sent to the NYSAC office by promoters constituted improper gifts. That’s plain nonsense. Melvina Lathan was a commissioner of integrity.
In my view, the fall of the NYSAC coincided with hiring of an executive director. The director was hired to make positive changes, which David Berlin did with marked enthusiasm. In the process Lathan was phased out in significance. From this point, the commission went downhill. With Mixed Martial Arts at the professional level in New York State to go with boxing now, NYSAC rules and responsibilities will become more complex.
The flaw of the NYSAC, in this reporter’s view, is it needs strong leadership to guide it through strong safety protocols, which are required for it to emerge from the state report to a better system of safety procedures. It wasn’t just the rules, it was the way the NYSAC commissioner operated in the past which enabled Melvina Lathan to run boxing shows more smoothly and effectively than they are being run today.
Also, corners need to accept more responsibility for the safety of their fighters. It isn’t just the commission. The corners have to be more active in the goings on to protect the safety and well-being of their fighters. It’s that simple. If a sound safety checklist and prefight meeting is held with commission officials and are safety points are covered before a fight card begins, then that fight card will go smoothly, injury or not. A great leader makes sure all rules and procedures are followed to the letter. Lathan did that at the highest levels.
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