Both Virginia and Oklahoma Commission cast doubt on Shine Fights

by Will Cooling – September 7, 2010 | ©Insidefights.com

Shine Fights problems continue to mount as doubts were raised about their explanation for the recent move of their September 10th Lightweight Grand Prix from Virgina to Oklahoma. Shine Fights claimed that this was due to the commission being unhappy with their decision to let a fans’ vote determine the matchups but Virginia’s Professional Boxing and Wrestling Program disputes this. Its Director of Communications Mary Broz-Vaugh said that “It was not a denial of a license, but rather, their application never became complete” due to Shine Fights having failed to meet several requirements, of which the most important was their failure to post a ‘surety bond’ to cover the money due to the commission and the fighters. The failure to post such a bond was also behind the collapse of the promotion’s first event in North Carolina.

But the event’s new home of Okahoma is also proving problematic with Shine Fights not having a promoter’s licence in the state and the commission having turned down a request to sanction the event on September 1st. The Oklahoma State Athletic Commission has made clear that is because of its unhappiness at the possibility of the tournament finalists fighting for forty-one minutes in a single night. Shine Fights is hoping to get round this refusal on a technicality, as the event’s new location is on Indian tribal land, something that they claim puts it beyond the jurisdiction of any commission. This is has not stop OSAC director Joe Miller from threatening legal action to stop the event, including suspending all fighters for 60days for participating in an unsanctioned event. Miller warns Shine Fights that “The commission has been 100 percent successful in getting unauthorized events shut down”.