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The Home News Tribune is reporting that the attorney general of New Jersey has removed Larry Hazzard from the office of Commissioner of the State Athletic Control Board, a position that he has held for 22 years and that has made him one of the most powerful figures in boxing and, more recently, mixed martial arts.

Kim Ricketts, a senior administrator in the Division of Law and Public Safety, delivered the news to Hazzard on behalf of state Attorney General Anne Milgram around 4 p.m. in Trenton, two boxing sources said Wednesday night.

Deputy commissioner Sylvester Cuyler is the state's acting boxing commissioner, according to a source.

The sources requested anonymity because the news was not released to the public. Attempts to reach Hazzard, who was escorted out of the building upon receiving the news, were unsuccessful.

"This is a shock," one of the sources said.

New Jersey will host UFC 78 on Saturday night, the first time in two and a half years that UFC has had an event in New Jersey.

Report: New Jersey Removes Larry Hazzard as Top Boxing/MMA Official - FanHouse - AOL Sports Blog