Mayor John Cook Hits Back At UT Chancellor After Boxing Match Pulled From Sun Bowl

El Paso Mayor John Cook is fighting mad with the University of Texas System Chancellor after the decision was made to pull the June 16 boxing match between Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. and Andy Lee from the Sun Bowl.

“That’s a bunch of BS,” Cook said. “What, are they going to cancel the Sun Bowl on New Year’s Eve now?”

Cook said Chancellor Francisco G. Cigarroa told him it was their risk assessment team that concluded the event was too risky for the Sun Bowl. Cook said City Council will be voting on a resolution Tuesday “condemning the chancellor.”

“Let’s see if he likes me after we word that resolution,” Cook said.

Cook also said that he thought the chancellor would be educated and not ignorant in these matters.

ABC-7 called Cigarroa’s office for a comment on the cancelation and his role in it. His employee said they would get back to ABC-7.

Late Tuesday the University of Texas System issued the following statement regarding the determination that the Sun Bowl on the UT El Paso Campus is not the appropriate venue for the Chavez, Jr., and Lee professional boxing match:

“A specific event risk assessment was performed and the conclusion was that the risk was higher than normal. Based on this assessment, the decision was made that the university and Sun Bowl would not be an appropriate venue for this specific event.

The decision was not made by the UT System Board of Regents. It was made by University of Texas System Administration officials.

Furthermore, this decision should not be generalized to other events at UTEP or other UT institution facilities. If there was an elevated risk determination associated with any event hosted by the other 14 UT institutions, the same decision would have been made.”