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12/04/2004 Archived Entry: "OREGON COMMISSION HAS NEW DIRECTOR"
OREGON COMMISSION HAS NEW DIRECTOR
By Katherine Dunn
As of Dec. 1, 2004, the new Executive Director of the Oregon State Boxing & Wrestling Commission is Brad Darcy. He says he hopes to encourage professional boxing to come to Oregon more frequently, and in the meantime the mixed martial arts competitions are growing in the state. "I love these sports and I want them to happen here," says Darcy. "But regulation is a delicate balance. We have to maintain the integrity of the process in protecting the participants and the public. I tend to be proactive and the key is good communication and mutual respect." Darcy says he intends to make sure the regulatory agency is approachable, with the processes open and user friendly.
Darcy comes to the Boxing and Wrestling Commission after working in various capacities for the Siletz Tribe and the Siletz Tribal Chinook Winds Casino in Lincoln City, Oregon. In six years of work for the Siletz Tribal Gaming Commission, Darcy served two years as Compliance Officer and four years as Chair of the Commission. For the last year and a half Darcy has been Special Events Manager for the casino, working with professional boxing shows as well as the regular amateur boxing events hosted by Chinook Winds.
The organizers of the Chinook Winds amateur events are Coach Bill Meartz of the West Portland Boxing Club and his wife Rosie. The Meartz’s have high praise for Darcy, who says his main job with the experienced pair was "staying out of Rosie’s way" so she could do her work.
The Siletz Tribe has chosen to create its own Tribal Athletic Commission rather than contract with the state agency to regulate boxing in its jurisdiction. Brad Darcy, a Siletz Tribal member, provided administrative help as the Tribal Commission was forming and his father, Mike Darcy, served on that Commission before moving over to the Tribal Gaming Commission. Over the past several years the Chinook Winds has hosted successful professional boxing cards that include the famous 1999 HBO show which featured Fernado Vargas vs Winky Wright and Diego Corrales vs John Brown.
Now 38 years old, Brad Darcy grew up on Oregon’s South Coast, graduating from Marshfield High School in Coos Bay. He regrets that no amateur program was available in the area when he was a kid. "I grew up in a boxing family. My Dad boxed Golden Gloves, and my grand dad boxed as an amateur and in other venues. We all love boxing and had gloves around the house, but I never had the chance to box competitively."
Darcy attended Oregon State University, graduating with a degree in political science. He worked at the Capitol in Salem, first as an intern and then as a legislative assistant before moving to the casino in Lincoln City.
Darcy, his wife, and their young children moved back to the Salem area a year and a half ago and he has been commuting to Lincoln City since then. The Executive Directorship of the Boxing and Wrestling Commission was too good an opportunity to pass up, says Darcy. "I have a lot of regulatory experience and I’ve always loved boxing so this is a job that combines my strengths with what I love."
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