LAS VEGAS – Bob Bennett, the former FBI agent known for his stern, passionate approach to regulating boxing, confirmed during the Nevada State Athletic Commission’s monthly meeting Wednesday that he plans to retire.

Bennett recommended to the five-member NSAC that his chief assistant, Jeffrey Mullen, succeed him in a prominent commission position Bennett has held since May 2014. The NSAC approved Bennett’s recommendation.

Nevada governor Steve Sisolak has the final say on whether Mullen will replace Bennett. Mullen headed the Tennessee Athletic Commission before he joined the NSAC in 2017 and was a finalist for the executive director job that went to Bennett 7½ years ago.

Mullen primarily focuses on regulating mixed martial arts in his current role, as UFC holds numerous events each year in Las Vegas.

“He’s the right guy because he knows the number one priority is the health and safety of the fighter,” Bennett told BoxingScene.com. “And Jeff has a wealth of experience in unarmed combat. Over the last four years, he has successfully regulated UFC and boxing events efficiently and effectively. And equally important, he’s committed to our in-depth process of approving fights.”

Prior to his appointment as executive director of the NSAC, Bennett was an amateur and professional judge for a combined 12 years. He was an FBI agent for 24 years before he began judging boxing.

He’ll work seven more events in Las Vegas – three boxing and four UFC – until the end of this calendar year. If Sisolak approves Mullen as his replacement, he’ll take over for Bennett on January 1.

Bennett has been known during his tenure for being loyal to his officials and defending them in the face of criticism. He also was stricter during the process of approving fights than most commissions in the United States.

“I am very proud of the approving process that we have for fights because there are way too many mismatches in boxing,” Bennett said, “and it’s very prevalent on the undercards. The fighters select this profession. This is what they wanna do, and it’s a very dangerous profession. But it’s incumbent upon us to make it as safe as possible.”

Bennett most memorably declined to approve a middleweight title bout between then-unbeaten champion Gennadiy Golovkin and Jaime Munguia, then an unknown, unproven junior middleweight, in May 2018. Golovkin needed a substitute on short notice because his original opponent, Canelo Alvarez, was suspended for six months by the NSAC for twice testing positive for clenbuterol, a banned substance.

Golovkin instead knocked out Vanes Martirosyan in the second round at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California.

“With the Golovkin-Munguia fight, there was a lot of pressure,” Bennett said. “I got calls from a lot of influential people who wanted that fight to come to fruition. And quite honestly, I had a conversation with my chairman one night at 10 o’clock. And I said, ‘This fight is not an approvable fight, and I’ll tell you why.’ It was premature for Mr. Munguia to fight Gennadiy at that time.

“I looked at Munguia’s record and I looked at some YouTube footage of him, and I just thought it was premature for him to fight Gennadiy, who’s got very heavy hands. And most, if not all of Munguia’s fights, were out of Mexico, with no real name opponents. He was a young man with a bright future, and just to acquiesce to a litany of individuals, just for this fight to be approved, it wasn’t right.”

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.