Case closed: Florida State Boxing Commission clears Elite XC of any wrongdoing

The Florida State Boxing Commission -- in a joint effort with The Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR) -- concluded after an investigation that there was no foul play involved with the scandalous Elite XC: "Heat" main event, which took place at the BankAtlantic Center in Sunrise, Fla., on October 4.
The investigation was in its preliminary stages, centering around Seth Petruzelli's comments about being paid extra money to keep his fight with Kimbo Slice standing. The problem with that, clearly, is that a stand-up fight favored Kimbo's comfort level and gave the promotional poster boy a better chance at winning against the late replacement.
However, based on the findings the DBPR didn't see any merit in continuing on with a full investigation and the case was closed.
Plenty of people still believe that Elite XC was operating with shady intentions that night, including one of its own -- T. Jay Thompson, CEO of Icon Sport and Pro Elite executive consultant.
Here's a snip from a recent interview with MMAWeekly.com:
"I have no proof, [but] I’d be amazed if [Seth Petruzelli] wasn’t paid to stand up I don’t have a smoking gun, (but) I’ve been around long enough; I’ve talked to enough people that were there, I won’t name names of executives in the company that I know. Seth was paid to stand up. I’m confident of that. If the commission wants to talk to me, I’ll tell them what I know."
However, according to Sherdog.com, the commission never interviewed Thompson during their investigation.
It doesn't end there ... not even close.
Keith Kizer -- the executive director of the Nevada State Athletic Commission -- claims he was hearing rumors of Elite XC trying to fix the match as well.
Here's what he had to say:
"Someone affiliated with ProElite told me that the fighter (Kimbo) or his camp said that he had not been training to fight a Muay Thai specialist and thus he had not trained to defend Muay Thai-style kicks, so that he would agree to fight the proposed opponent if the opponent agreed not to use any such kicks, and that information was told to that opponent."
If the speculation is accurate, it sounds like Elite XC -- or someone involved with Elite XC -- was clearly worried about the possibility of Kimbo losing and how that result could effect the long-term viability of the struggling company.
Those concerns proved to be accurate, but it's highly unlikely that Pro Elite could have dreamed up how this wild and sordid tail eventually unfolded -- not even in their wildest of imaginations. Even though the official ruling is that Elite XC did nothing wrong, the whiff of possible "fight-fixing" alone and the stigma it creates were the final nails in the coffin.
Too little, too late.
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16 comments
Comments
Why would they report anything – Elite payed them good money not to. Too bad elite didn’t use that money towards the Nov 8 card.
by NameNotRequired on Oct 24, 2008 4:57 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
They just didn’t see the point of going through a full investigation on a company that already went under. What would be the point of that? It isn’t like they could do much more to punish them.
by naturalshadow on Oct 24, 2008 11:33 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
keith kizer needs to keep his mouth shut, he’s in the fertitta’s pocket and has been for a while
by deuce 4 on Oct 24, 2008 11:50 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
wow, I’ll fight if he doesn’t kick me because thats not what I was training for?
I thought this was mma? Kimbo is a joke, elite WAS a joke, so we need not talk too much about them since we got the best P4P fighter in the world fighting sat.
by kevin (most moderated guy on mmamania) on Oct 24, 2008 2:40 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Yeah, the headlines keep reading that ELITEXC is cleared of having fixed the fight. No one was concerned with whether the fight was fixed because there’s no way they fixed it so Kimbo would get knocked out in 10 seconds. The question that I don’t know how they can prove, is whether or not they hinted that Seth “should” stand and trade with Kimbo.
by RedDog on Oct 24, 2008 6:35 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
fedor is fighting saturday kevin? i didnt know that…
by brendan on Oct 24, 2008 11:28 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
lol, fedor is the best HW bredan, no doubt!
by kevin (most moderated guy on mmamania) on Oct 25, 2008 12:17 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Frankly, I didn’t see the comm. spending any more time or money investigating figth fixing by company that is out of business. Thus, this news is not all that shocking.
by Jeff on Oct 24, 2008 2:42 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Their investigation:
Commission: Jeremy Lappen, please.
Lappen doing a Secretary’s voice: One moment, please…
Lappen: Jeremy Lappen here, how can I help you?
Commission: Hi, we were wondering if you guys fixed fights?
Lappen: No sir, not us.
Commission: OK, thanks for your time.
EliteXC has been cleared for all wrong doing following a lengthy investigation
by DirtyML on Oct 24, 2008 2:58 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
They’re still guilty in the MMA public forums eyes.. they’re political incorrect.
by PhilQNY on Oct 24, 2008 3:44 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
You guys are a joke if you think anything else would come from it other than this.
by Joseph on Oct 24, 2008 3:28 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
way to clear the dead guy of any wrong doing! It’s like finding out who really killed King Tut, who cares?
by sycboi on Oct 24, 2008 3:52 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
too late. lets wait and see how many “former” elite xc fighters come out of the woodwork and admit with other wrongdoings.
by b.w. on Oct 24, 2008 5:35 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

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