Attorney general has yet to act on outcome of Bradley-Pacquiao

Usually the chairman's report at the monthly meeting of the Nevada Athletic Commission takes about 30 seconds. But in the wake of the controversial ending of the Manny Pacquiao-Timothy Bradley WBO welterweight title fight June 9 at the MGM Grand Garden, where Bradley won a 12-round split decision, chairman Skip Avansino felt compelled to explain the policy for selecting officials.

Avansino spent almost 15 minutes Thursday spelling out the procedure that has been in place since 2004 for selecting referees and judges. He noted that executive director Keith Kizer submits a pool of six names to the commission, and from that pool, the judges are selected.

But prior to selection, both fighters' camps are asked if they have any objections. If there are none, Kizer gives his recommendations to the commission, and they usually are approved unanimously.

"My intent was to lay it out for everyone to understand," Avansino said.

Avansino said as of Friday afternoon Nevada Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto had not contacted him regarding the outcome of the fight, after judges Duane Ford and CJ Ross both scored it 115-113 in Bradley's favor. Jerry Roth had Pacquiao winning 115-113. Top Rank, which promoted the fight, had sent a letter Monday to the attorney general seeking an investigation.

However, Kizer said the attorney general's office had requested documents and tapes connected to the fight. The commission sent the information, including the judges' scorecards and the minutes from the May 21 meeting when they were selected.

Avansino said the firestorm from the decision has not caused him to panic and ask that anyone be suspended or terminated nor change the result of the fight.

"I would not elevate our level of vigilance to concern," he said. "We will continue to encourage our judges to attend seminars and clinics, and we will continue to educate and cultivate good judges."

Avansino said the NAC has no problem using judges from outside Nevada and would defer to Kizer on those decisions.

"The executive director is best suited to determine the capability of all officials he brings before us for recommendation," Avansino said.

■ PACQUIAO-BRADLEY NUMBERS - According to figures provided by the NAC, the Pacquiao-Bradley fight sold 13,229 tickets generating a gate of $8,963,180. There were 2,070 unsold tickets and 925 complimentary tickets issued.

Also, 4,980 tickets were sold to the closed-circuit telecast at four MGM Resorts properties generating a $249,000 gate. Top Rank still was waiting for numbers from the HBO pay-per-view telecast.

All fighters on the card passed drug tests.

■ SMART PROMOTING? - Golden Boy Promotions stirred controversy last week when it announced Victor Ortiz would be Saul "Canelo" Alvarez's new opponent on Sept. 15 at the MGM Grand Garden. That didn't sit well with Josesito Lopez, who will face Ortiz on Saturday at Staples Center in Los Angeles.

Ortiz must beat Lopez to keep his September date with Alvarez (40-0-1, 29 knockouts), the WBC junior middleweight champion.

"They're jumping the gun," Lopez said. "It's very disrespectful, and it's going to give me more motivation."

Ortiz (29-3-2, 22 KOs) said he wasn't looking past Lopez (29-4, 17 KOs).

"I'm not thinking about Canelo," Ortiz said. "I'm too hungry to let this opportunity slip by."

■ KHAN-GARCIA OFFICIALS - The NAC selected Las Vegas referee Kenny Bayless to work the July 14 WBC junior welterweight title fight at Mandalay Bay between champion Danny Garcia (23-0, 14 KOs) and Amir Khan (26-2, 18 KOs). The judges will be Adalaide Byrd of Las Vegas, Burt Clements of Reno and Tom Miller of Mineral Ridge, Ohio.

Contact reporter Steve Carp at scarp@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2913. Follow him on Twitter: @stevecarprj.