LAS VEGAS -- Promoter Bob Arum lashed out at the Nevada Athletic Commission after a federal grand jury acquitted International Boxing Federation founder Robert W. Lee Sr. of bribery charges.

"I want to thank everyone for bringing me before the commission prior to the case being over as we had requested," a sarcastic Arum told the Las Vegas Review-Journal on Thursday.

Commission executive director Marc Ratner had filed a complaint against Arum, president of Las Vegas-based Top Rank, because the promoter had testified in Lee's trial in New Jersey that he paid $100,000 more than the normal sanction fee to the IBF for approval of the George Foreman-Axel Schulz fight in 1995.

The commission accepted a negotiated settlement in the case Wednesday, and Arum paid a $125,000 fine and agreed to several stipulations, including opening his books to the commission and the Nevada Attorney General's office for six months.

"I still can't figure out why I am the only promoter who has gone before the commission," he said by telephone from Southern California, where he was vacationing. "I think that is despicable, picking out the only promoter who is based in Nevada and throwing him into this without having taken action against anybody. I say that if this commission doesn't call (promoter) Don King in, with the oodles of testimony about the payments he made, and ask him at least if he made those payments, that something fishy is going on in the state of Nevada.

"I really mean that. Again, I don't regret the fine and having to go before the commission. I don't regret volunteering everything to the FBI. I do really regret the way this has unfolded in the state of Nevada."

Prosecutors in the Lee trial designated King as an unindicted co-conspirator, but he did not testify in the trial.

Ratner has said that other promoters would be called in to appear before the commission. Ratner said the reason Arum was called in first was that the commission had the transcripts of his testimony in the Lee trial first.

"I am really angry," Arum said. "I am chagrined. I don't know what really is going on. I really deep down believe Mr. King is pulling the strings. Why did the (commission) have to rush into this when our lawyers asked them to wait until the (federal IBF) trial was over?"

Dr. Flip Homansky of the commission said it didn't matter that Arum appeared before the federal trial was over.

"Our actions didn't depend on the results of the trial in New Jersey," he said. "The commission (executive director) filed a complaint after Mr. Arum's testimony in a court of law in which he stated he paid money to get a fighter a championship fight. We would have still acted on the complaint no matter what happened in New Jersey.

"The problem here is that Mr. Arum admits to a wrong-doing in which a jury found that no one was guilty (of bribery). That part of it doesn't make sense."

Commissioner Luther Mack said he was shocked Lee was found innocent on the bribery charges.

"This is amazing," Mack said. "I can't believe that. It tells me the states have to do more investigation on these organizations. I think Nevada will be stronger than the federal government. They caught him taking the money on tape. I read the transcripts. Maybe there is something I am not aware of. To me, he appeared to be guilty at that point. I just can't understand it."