BACK TO SCHOOL WITH CLASS ON JUDGING
Cartegena, Colombia– On just a couple of occasions over the years, I have called into question the ability of some boxing judges. Having attended judging clinics put on by New Jersey’s “Tommy K” (Kazmarek) , this was my first with Duane Ford of Las Vegas. Ford, having some “800 or so championship rounds” under his belt, he does this annually for the World Boxing Organization, the WBO, which is holding their 23rd annual convention here in this balmy seaside city. What’s interesting to point out is that in all of those world title fights, Ford scored only three-three minute sessions of battle, even!
FAIR & CONSISTENT IS WHAT A FIGHTER DESERVES
During his morning long presentation, Ford went over the “Do’s and Don’ts” of being a boxing official. What he pointed out, and what so few of you fans seem to take into account, is that when a judge scores one round wrong, the “wronged” fighter has to win two rounds to make up for the judicial gaff. Then there was the obvious, being fair and consistent is a major key to being a great judge. But there are little things, like if you are traveling abroad that you know the rules of the juristiction. The rules in Germany are different than those here. Hell, before the Assn. of Boxing Commissions, there were no standardized rules in the United States.
INTRODUCING THE ASSN. OF BOXING COMMISSIONS
And while I’ll be the first to admit that the ABC is impotent at times, some of that falls on the US Justice Dept. who have NEVER charged someone with violating the Federal law that is the Muhammad Ali Boxing Act of 1996. Tim Luekenhoff, the ABC President, a guy whom people really seem to like, and who has been roasted here for the ABC’S lack of strength, Tim was the man on the spot giving the ten page judge’s examination after Ford concluded.
MELVINA LATHAN, YOU GO GIRL!
Ford isn’t going to call a fellow judge out, per se. On the other hand, New York state’s boxing boss Melvina Lathan, she essentially did while discussing “ethics in boxing” during a short speech that actually left me wanting to hear more from this spry African American baby boomer. She openly talked (no names) about not working a judge after catching him posing for photos in the ring prior to a major fight with some ring card girls. In one part of her presentation, Ms. Lathan invoked the, “So what?” aspect of scoring a boxing match.
NOT SAY WHAT, SO WHAT?
N.Y. Boxing Boss Melvina Lathin
“So what if one fighter is being cheered? So what if you have to sit near the TV crew who is analyzing and judging the fight for themselves? So what if a fighter is bleeding? So what if one fighter is more unorthodox than the other? Look, your job is to concentrate and score the fight accordingly, to not be affected by anything other than the actual fight itself.” A “hands on” administrator, what really gets Lathan’s goat is after a round is concluded, instead of writing down their score, the judge looks at each corner, seemingly pondering as to whom to give the round to. “When that bell rings, you need to be writing down that score.” This coming from the lady that suspended and fined Golden Boy Promotions for their not adhering to the “full disclosure” part of the Ali Act, as GBP pocketed far more cash than both pugs put together and then some!
TEST SCORE IS EXPECTED NEXT WEEK!
For the 60 or so people who took the WBO sponsored ABC examination, (myself included) the results will be in early next week. Looking back on the seminar, both Ford and Lathan repeatedly hammered home the need for absolute and total concentration. Over the years, I’ve went up to judge’s working major fights and told them they shouldn’t be talking to bystanders and the like during the fight. Scoring a fight may not be “rocket science,” but unless your concentration is akin to a hungry guard dog sitting behind a fence, truth be told, you’ll never be a superlative judge of boxing.
Pedro Fernandez