Ledoux criticized for scaring promoters away

Saturday night will mark the one-year anniversary of the first show run under the newly reformed Minnesota Boxing Commission headed up by former heavyweight Scott Ledoux.  Just like last year, it will be Tony Grygelko’s Seconds Out Promotions who is promoting the show.  Actually, after Saturday night, Grygelko will have promoted four of the six boxing cards that have required the services of the Minnesota Boxing Commission. 

Just looking at numbers alone, it seems as if promoters in Minnesota are going out of their way to avoid working with the commission.  Chuck Horton’s shows are run in Superior, Wisconsin, which borders Duluth, Minnesota.  John Hoffman of Brothers Promotions has run his last few professional shows in Fargo, North Dakota, which borders Moorhead, Minnesota.  Ron Peterson, who manages heavyweight prospect Joey Abell, promotes at casinos using tribal commissions to avoid working with Scott Ledoux.  Peterson said, “Other than having poor judgment he has psychological problems.  He would rather destroy boxing here than let anyone else steal the thunder that he thinks he has.  He is very insecure and with all the new rules he makes up there will be no more boxing in this state.  It’s a shame because we probably have the best group of young fighters we’ve ever had coming up.  Just to name off a few: Jason Litzau, Joey Abell, Zach Walters, Andy Kolle, Dave Peterson and Antonio Johnson.  I could go on and on. ” 

Peterson’s refusal to work with Ledoux is one of the main reasons Joey Abell has made Philadelphia his second home. Whether or not other promoters share Peterson’s opinion remains to be seen, but the numbers don’t lie.  The North Dakota Commission has overseen five boxing cards this year, leading the Minnesota commission by one.  Taking into consideration how much bigger Minnesota is than North Dakota, this number has to be alarming. 
Next year will undoubtedly be huge for the new commission.  Will Ledoux be able to convince promoters in Minnesota to run cards at home, or will they continue to flee to bordering cities?  This writer is willing to bet that 2008 will look a lot like 2007, and the fans of Minnesota boxing will continue to suffer.