Nevada State Athletic Commission to discuss possible changes following August AG report on UNLV student’s death at a charity boxing match

LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) - In a Nevada State Athletic Commission meeting Tuesday, the regulatory commission will discuss making changes related to the recommendations from the Attorney General Office’s report on the death of UNLV student Nathan Valencia at a fraternity charity boxing match.

In a contentious meeting in August the NSAC discussed the findings from the AG’s office and according to the meeting agenda Tuesday they may take action based on that.

The AG’s office came up with recommendations for future oversight and said there could be better communications between agencies related to events like this. It said that the NSAC has jurisdiction over most unarmed combat but doesn’t have the authority to prosecute crimes.

“Crimes related to illicit or unsanctioned unarmed combat must therefore be investigated and prosecuted by local law enforcement agencies as those agencies would for any other violation of state law,” the report read.

It suggested a missed opportunity to for example discover if Valencia’s opponent was on drugs or tampered with the gloves, which the report shows was alleged in multiple witness interviews.

The attorney representing Valencia’s opponent in the ring disputed those claims in the August meeting.

“They were both doing this as a charity event to help the community, and what happened here was devastating to my client. He wants to get to the bottom of this too,” Attorney Geordan Logan said.

Commission chair Stephen Cloobeck said he still wants more answers from Las Vegas Police to “clarify issues related to the investigation.” He specifically wants more information about the equipment worn by Valencia’s opponent.

In August, a Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department spokesperson said the department is willing to assist the AG’s office if they want to move forward with any criminal prosecution.

It’s unclear what possible action NSAC may take at the meeting which begins at 9 a.m. Tuesday.

Earlier this year the commission passed what’s called Nathan’s Law, which adds more oversight surrounding fraternity and universities combat events like the one that led to Valencia’s death.

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