Loan considered to keep California Athletic Commission operating

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State officials said Wednesday they are considering a loan to help get the California Athletic Commission back on its feet financially, and said they don’t expect its problems to affect upcoming boxing and mixed martial arts bouts.

The commission is reeling after its executive officer, George Dodd, submitted his resignation Monday, effective July 31, and officials warned the agency is insolvent.

‘We are optimistic that a solution can be reached and expect that scheduled events will proceed as planned,’ Denise Brown, director of the state Department of Consumer Affairs, said in a statement.

The commission operates within the department, and Brown is considering the possibility of providing a loan from other department funds to the commission to allow it to continue to fulfill its function of regulating boxing and martial arts events, Russ Heimerich, a department spokesman, said Wednesday.

John Frierson, chairman of the athletic commission, also said the public should not count the agency out.

‘We are committed to ensuring that the sports of boxing and mixed martial arts continue to thrive and grow in California,’ Frierson said in a statement, adding that the panel will now begin a search for a new executive director.

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— Patrick McGreevy in Sacramento