El Paso up for a fight
OFFICIALS DEMANDED more details Wednesday about the security threat that prompted the University of Texas System to block a boxing match in El Paso.
OFFICIALS DEMANDED more details Wednesday about the security threat that prompted the University of Texas System to block a boxing match in El Paso.
City leaders were stunned to learn a June 16 fight between WBC world middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., of Mexico, and Andy Lee, of Ireland, could not go on as planned at the 51,500-seat Sun Bowl stadium, which also hosts the UTEP Miners football team and the annual Sun Bowl game.
The UT system said Chancellor Francisco Cigarroa made the decision on Tuesday based on a "higher than normal" risk assessment but released no details.
The move prompted a wave of anger from officials who say they constantly fight assumptions their city has fallen victim to spillover violence from Mexico. Despite ranking among the safest cities in the nation in terms of violent crime, El Paso officials have long complained their town gets falsely portrayed as a war zone because of drug violence rampaging just across the border.
El Paso City Manager Joyce Wilson and El Paso Police Chief Greg Allen insisted Cigarroa give them the risk assessment used to make the decision, and any others conducted for major events that have been held on system property for the last 5 years.
Sport Stops *
Former Penn State coach Joe Paterno will be posthumously honored with the 2012 Dick Enberg Award, presented by the College Sports Information Directors of America. Paterno's son, Jay Paterno, will accept the honor on behalf of his late father.
* Rafael Nadal overcame a sore knee to open his bid for a seventh Barcelona Open title with a 6-1, 6-2 win over Guillermo Garcia Lopez in the second round. Nadal had a first-round bye.