State boxing commission
puts Martin on notice

The boxing committee president has a month
to produce an acceptable financial report

Local boxing committee president Ralph Martin was given until Aug. 8 by the Hawaii State Boxing Commission to submit an acceptable report or lose his right to hold amateur boxing events.

Yesterday, the commission addressed three separate letters at its monthly meeting. Two were from Martin and one from Golden Gloves franchise holder Carl Phillips, but it was Martin's missing financial report that received the most attention.

At an earlier meeting, Martin had been ordered to submit a detailed financial report by June 17, but his effort was deemed inadequate. That missed deadline put last weekend's BayFest card in jeopardy, but the show went on after a member of the commission approved it.

Yesterday, the commission gave Martin another deadline, one he can't afford to miss.

"For months we have been getting the run-around," commission member Bobby Lee said. "(Martin) should not be permitted to run a show at any time in any place unless he complies in 30 days."

Yesterday, Martin was given the exact form the commission expects and he says he will have no problem filling in the blanks.

"We are going to meet the requirements by the deadline, hopefully sooner," Martin said.

Lee was the target of one of the letters the commission addressed yesterday, a document Martin sent to the commission accusing the commission, and Lee in particular, of "not trying to the best of their ability to help boxing in the state of Hawaii."

It decided to keep Martin's letter on file "under advisement" along with another letter from Martin accusing four local trainers of not making fighters available for shows.

Martin questions why the commission has chosen now to get involved in amateur boxing after not regulating it until this year.

The commission shut down amateur boxing in Hawaii for the first time in its 76-year history last month because Martin did not have his promoter's license, but opened it up a week later after he complied.

Commission chairman Willes Lee, who was out of town and missed yesterday's meeting, says he had no choice but to get involved in the amateur game. Willes Lee took over the post last year and found that by law the state should have been regulating amateurs all along.

"Within two months (of taking the job), I made very clear my intentions to follow the statutes long before (Bobby) Lee and (Herbert) Minn came to the commission," Willes Lee said. "I will continue to guide the commission to follow the law, which mandates commission regulation of boxing in Hawaii, not just professional boxing."

The one document the commission did take action on was a letter from Phillips and Waianae coach Fred Perreira asking to have Martin and his officers removed from their positions for "continuously disregarding the rules and regulations" of the state and national governing bodies.

The commission decided to forward the letter to the regulated industries complaints office for investigation, saying that it doesn't have the jurisdiction to remove officers of a private entity.