Neutral Corner. The. From the Desk of Dr. Charles Butler... OCTOBER Volume 1 Issue 4

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1 The Neutral Corner OCTOBER 2012 Volume 1 Issue 4 Inside this issue: Checks to LBCs PAL streaming Keeping up with Olympians Coaches clinics Junior World Team Open From the Desk of Dr. Charles Butler... On September 21, 2012 the Disciplinary Committee of AIBA sent a notice to Mr. Hal Adonis asking him to account for the public statements which he made that appear to violate the principles of Olympism, the articles of AIBA, the rules and code of conduct of USA Boxing. The legal brief alleges that these comments were defamatory to the reputation of AIBA, the sport of boxing, women's boxing in particular, certain minority groups within the organization, and inappropriately associated child-abuse with the sport of boxing. Unfortunately, USA Boxing was simultaneously charged to respond to these same charged violations. Mr. Adonis was granted an extension until October 12 to AIBA. USA Boxing submitted its response on September 28 to the International Federation, as originally requested. After Mr. Adonis made the alleged statements, the Board of USA Boxing voted to remove Mr. Adonis as President and Chairman of the Board. Colorado law requires that removal from the Board of USA Boxing requires a majority vote of the voting electors who placed Mr. Adonis on the board. Accordingly, the Board of Directors requested a vote of the 72 electors to remove Mr. Adonis from the board. Fifty-one (51) of the 72 voting members responded. The majority of the 51 voting members cast their ballots to retain Mr. Adonis as a board member. For this reason, USA Boxing is charged as equally guilty in these violations of the Olympic principles, AIBA Articles, the Rules of USA Boxing and code of ethics of USA Boxing. These charges create an extremely dangerous situation which could lead to the suspension and/or the complete dissolution of USA Boxing for supporting discriminatory remarks which many have taken as harmful to the reputation of boxing, and many minority and women s groups within our organization. On September 27, 2012 USA Boxing received a letter from the USOC threatening decertification of USA Boxing if immediate agreement to a change of governance were not met. This letter included a timeline within which USA Boxing must meet the required change of governance or face dissolution. The letter from the USOC was several pages long and contained a laundry list of the past failings and mistakes of USA Boxing. In addition to the abbreviated list of our failings, this letter contained the names of two members of our organization, Mr. Hal Adonis and Mr. Gary Pliner, who were each specifically cited as partial cause for this decertification notice. The demands of the USOC to avoid immediate decertification included immediate acceptance of a mutually agreed-upon Advisory Committee which would oversee the actions of USA Boxing, acceptance of a "Transitional Board" as of December 31, 2012, and the "new governance" which would be acceptable to the USOC and AIBA, and which would be put forward for mutual agreement by June 1, The service of the Transitional Board will terminate and the new governance takeover January 1, Last Thursday night, your board, after a very difficult meeting, voted to accept the terms of the USOC to avoid immediate dissolution of USA Boxing. There will be no elections because our entire Board will cease to exist as of January 1, 2013 when the transitional board agreed-upon by the USOC, AIBA, and USA Boxing will take control of the organization. This is a difficult path to take but please understand that the dissolution of USA Boxing would mean the closure of all of our gymnasiums, the end all local boxing shows and the loss of recognition of Boxing as an Olympic sport in the United States.

2 Page 2 The Neutral Corner October 2012 From the Desk of Dr. Charles Butler (cont. from pg. 1) This Board of Directors made a difficult decision but I believe the correct one to preserve Boxing, our local clubs, and our ability to compete at all levels. We all share the blame for this situation because of our previous management failures. I and your current Board of Directors are committed to preserving our sport and working to influence the institution of a new governance which will most benefit our members. We recognize that our role in this may be limited because of our current legal position and the authority of the USOC and AIBA, which we will try to influence but cannot dictate. The Board of Directors made a heroic decision. It was not easy for them. It will not be easy for you. They did the right thing. I ask you to give the Board you elected your full support. $1,000 LBC Checks Mailed It is a pleasure to announce that Dr. Charles Butler s motion to provide a $1,000 grant to each of the LBCs has passed. The Board of Directors passed this motion (8 yes / 3 no / 1 abstain) with the understanding that each LBC must explain in detail how the grant was used for athlete development and/or assistance. The purpose of the grant is to provide opportunities for the grassroots to grow and implement marketable and educational programs for the members of the LBCs. The Board is supportive of this grant and wants to emphasize that the direction of these monies should be directed towards benefiting the athletes. If you have any questions regarding this grant, please feel free to contact Lynette Smith, USA Boxing Membership Director at or at lsmith@usaboxing.org. Voting detail: Yes No Abstain Dr. Charles Butler Hal Adonis Kymmberli Stowe Jeaneene Hildebrandt Gary Pliner Gary Richards Reggie Winston Spence Carpenter Jim Beasley Angel Bovee Mikaela Mayer Ben Peterson USOC AAC ELECTIONS WILL STILL TAKE PLACE! DEADLINE FOR CANDIDATE SUBMISSION IS OCTOBER 15, More details on our website or contact Betsy McCallister at USA Boxing at or Aaron Alafa, the current USOC AAC rep, at

3 Page 3 The Neutral Corner October 2012 Keeping Up with the Olympians USA Boxing s two medalists from the 2012 Olympic Games, middleweight gold medalist Claressa Shields (Flint, Mich.) and flyweight bronze medalist Marlen Esparza (Houston, Texas) have been busy since returning home from London in August. The two history makers have made numerous appearances with their new hardware, including Shields introducing Vice President Joe Biden at a democratic event and Esparza speaking to students at Yale University. Esparza announced her intentions to make a run at the 2016 Olympic Games on E!, and Shields appeared last week on The Colbert Report and 106 & Park. They have been making the rounds at local sports events as well and enjoyed the chance to throw out the first pitch at their hometown baseball games on the same date. Prior to showing off their arms on the diamond, both Esparza and Shields enjoyed once in a lifetime experiences. Shields was honored with the opportunity to present the great Muhammad Ali with the liberty medal in Philadelphia, Pa., on September 13. Just a few hours away, her Olympic teammates, Esparza, female lightweight Queen Underwood (Seattle, Wash.), male lightweight Jose Ramirez (Avenal, Calif.), light welterweight Jamel Herring (Coram, N.Y.), middleweight Terrell Gausha (Cleveland, Ohio), light heavyweight Marcus Browne (Staten Island, N.Y.), and super heavyweight Dominic Breazeale (Alhambra, Calif.) joined their fellow U.S. Olympians from other sports for the official White House visit. Each of the athletes got the chance to meet President Obama, Vice President Biden and First Lady Michelle Obama on the White House lawn. Olympic Team Manager Delilah Ponce Rico joined the Olympians in Washington DC to assist with their visit. Streaming Live! 2012 National PAL! Watch every bout from the 2012 National PAL LIVE online at USABoxing.org. All of the action will be captured in high quality so do not miss out on the opportunity to watch top athletes like Olympic Gold Medalist Claressa Shields, 2012 World Champion Tiara Brown, 2012 World Championships Silver Medalist Franchon Crews, 2012 World Championships Bronze Medalists Christina Cruz and Mikaela Mayer as well as top youth boxers making their debut at the senior elite level. The event is $19.99 for all of the live action, and the bouts are available to watch for up to a year in the online archive with your purchase of the full event. Order before October 8 th and receive an extra license to watch the bouts absolutely free. That way you can watch the bouts, and grandma will be able to watch on her computer absolutely free. Log on to click on watch live and order today!

4 Page 4 The Neutral Corner October 2012 Roque Otano Conducts Coaching Clinics in Dallas and San Antonio Newly named International Teaching Coach Pedro Roque Otano held the first of what will be a series of high level coaching clinics, September at the Irving PAL Gym outside of Dallas. USA Boxing Executive Director Anthony Bartkowski, Former AIBA R/J Commission Member and International Referee and Judges Instructor Ray Silvas joined Coach Roque Otano for the event in Texas and 2012 Olympian Errol Spence made an appearance to support the clinic on Saturday as well. Forty coaches from three different states attended the two-day clinic to learn from the legendary Cuban boxing trainer and all of the participants learned a great deal over the two-day seminar. Roque Otano covered a wide range of topics at the clinic, including but not limited to: competition rules, the basics of preparing a boxer, the technique and tactics of the sport to the physics of an athlete, pre-training stretching and preparation exercises, and punch type and combinations. Sunday s session featured implementation of Saturday s seminar and local kids from the area aided with demonstrations of Roque Otano s lessons. All of the participants in the coaching clinic passed their tests following the two days of lessons in Irving. Texas was chosen for the clinics as two members of the 2012 Olympic Team, Spence and flyweight bronze medalist Marlen Esparza came from the Lone Star State. A second clinic will take place in San Antonio, October 6-7, and any interested coaches are welcome to attend. The AIBA trainer of the decade, Roque Otano is a former coach of the Cuban National Team and has worked with and developed such greats as Olympic gold medalists Mario Kindelan, Guillermo Rigondeaux and Yuriorkis Gamboa. He has brought his talent and experience to USA Boxing in an effort to rebuild the once great American boxing program back to an international powerhouse. I want to thank all of you for the clinic you had in Dallas and I hope this will be the start of a new era for USA Boxing. Gene Vivero Coach Roque Shares his Thoughts About the Clinic I truly enjoyed the coaches clinic in Irving, Texas, September and appreciate the welcoming reception I received from everyone that attended. I appreciate the opportunity to exchange experiences and share my knowledge in training, education, and ways to improve success within the international competitive system. I believe that the United States of America can rise again to great heights and earn spots on the medal stand at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio, and the opportunity to help our athletes do so makes me very happy. The best part of the coaches clinic was the exchange of knowledge with the coaches present, and I believe everyone left satisfied and ready to use what we all learned to enhance the development of young boxers of all ages in both the male and female divisions. Once more, I am thankful to the boxing federation of this marvelous country for giving me the opportunity to continue exchanging knowledge with so many coaches that have for many years contributed to the formation of thousands of American boxers. That is why I am looking forward to the next clinic in San Antonio, with hopes of more than 100 coaches attending October 6-7 to continue this exchange of theory and practical experience in the practice of modern boxing, which will increase the knowledge of all of us in attendance. I want to personally thank you and your colleagues for your time and energy this weekend...the knowledge I ve gained from this experience is priceless! I want you to know that we are behind you and support you with the endeavor to put our athletes back on a prominent level with the rest of the world! Terrance D. Reed Sr.

5 Page 5 The Neutral Corner October 2012 JUNIOR WORLD TEAM OPEN WHO: WHAT: All athletes must be born in the years of 1997 or 1998 and be between the ages of 15 and 16 in the year Open Junior boxing tournament to select the 2013 USA Boxing International Travel Team. Champions of the Junior World Team Open may have the opportunity to train and represent USA Boxing and Team USA at international competitions including the 2013 AIBA Junior World Championships (Jr. Men). WHEN: January 7-11, 2013 WHERE: WEIGHT CLASSES: Grand Sierra Resort & Casino (Reno, Nevada) Male and female athletes can compete in one of the following 13 weight classes: 46kg/101lbs 48kg/106lbs 50kg/110lbs 52kg/114lbs 54kg/119lbs 57kg/125lbs 60kg/132lbs 63kg/138lbs 66kg/145lbs 70kg/154lbs 75kg/165lbs 80kg/176lbs 80+kg/176+lbs QUESTIONS: Registration forms and additional information will be posted online at later this month. Additional questions Nicki Smeland at nsmeland@usaboxing.org GO TEAM USA!