SARASOTA - The promoter of a Toughman competition that led to a Bradenton woman's death in June will not face criminal charges.
Sarasota police closed their investigation Monday of the June 16 fight and decided not to charge amateur boxing promoter Art Dore with a crime. They concluded the death of Stacy Young, a 30-year-old Bradenton mother of two, was accidental because there was no intent for her to be injured or killed.
The investigation also shed new light on the circumstances surrounding the fatal fight.
Young's opponent was unbeaten in seven fights, and the ring doctor was a physician's assistant, records released Monday show. The referee also told police he encouraged Young to give up before the final round.
Young, who was 5-foot-7, 240 pounds, had never been in a boxing ring before entering the competition at Robarts Arena at the last minute. She tried to defend herself for most of the three-round bout, but she turned her back on her opponent and staggered toward her corner with about 10 seconds left in the final round.
Sarah Kobie, who is 5-foot-11 and 185 pounds, then landed several blows to the back of Young's head. Young collapsed in the ring and was taken by helicopter to Bayfront Medical Center in St. Petersburg. She was pronounced dead two days later. An autopsy revealed the cause of death was blunt trauma to her head.
At least four people have died in Toughman competitions nationwide in the last year, and at least 12 have died since the competitions began in 1979. Toughman competition is banned in five states.
According to the police investigation, Kobie signed a contestant affidavit that she did not have more than five sanctioned amateur victories in the past five years. But Kobie told investigators that entering her fight with Young, she had seven victories in seven fights since June 2002.
Kobie, 20, was unavailable for comment Monday. But Dore told investigators he considers the two-day Toughman competitions to be one event; winning a bout on a Friday and another on Saturday counts as one victory.
"And there's no law that says how many amateur fights anyway," Dore said Monday from his Bay City, Mich., office. "One of our rules says you can't have won over five fights. But I don't believe that. She (Kobie) was under the limit of what our rules are."
Kobie also told investigators that she knocked out her opponent in 34 seconds the night before she fought Young. She said Young fought hard though three rounds.
Young also signed an affidavit before the fight saying that she was physically fit and that she had trained for a minimum of 30 days. But her family said she had no training as a fighter.
Referee Ray Blackburn told police he advised Young at the end of the second round that she could quit.
"He (Blackburn) also instructed her . . . that there was no disgrace and that she had gone farther than other fighters," the report said.
But Blackburn said a man he believed was Young's husband shouted to him, "She's not going to quit; she's going to win this fight."
Neither Blackburn nor Young's husband, Chuck, were available for comment. Jodie Meyers, Stacy Young's sister, said Chuck Young told her he was not at ringside at the time.
"So the referee has no credibility," Meyers said. "And what about all the people in the stands who were yelling for the referee to stop the fight?"
For her victory, Kobie won a trophy and a nylon jacket worth about $40. That is just under the $50 prize limit that would have made the bout a professional fight and subjected it to rules that are far more strict.
"What frustrates me," Meyers said, "is that there was nothing prosecutable because of the prize amount. A few dollars."
Toughman competitions don't have the strict requirements for referees that state boxing organizations use. Referees are often unlicensed, and ring doctors are often inexperienced. At two events where fatal injuries occurred, the ringside doctors were chiropractors.
At Stacy Young's fight, the ring doctor was James Donato, a physician's assistant who works at Sarasota Memorial Hospital.
"There's no law that says you have to use anything," Dore said.
Blackburn, the referee, told investigators he has no current license. He said he worked around amateur wrestling and boxing for more than 26 years.
"He had been refereeing a long time and was licensed in Florida and in several states," Dore said. "It was just an unfortunate accident."
"I really wasn't concerned about (the investigation) at all," Dore added. "And we intend to carry on. We've made a few changes, as we always do, to try to make it as entertaining and safe as possible.
"I've done a thousand of these shows, and it's tragic, but these things just happen."
The only organization that regulates Toughman bouts is one Dore created and controls. A bill in the Florida Legislature would close loopholes in the boxing code that permit Toughman-style fights.
Another Toughman contest is scheduled Sept. 26-27 at the TECO Arena in Fort Myers.
