NOT COMPELLED TO WRITE NEGATIVE, BUT WHAT ELSE IS THERE IN BOXING?
Los Angeles, CA– Readers who frequent RingTalk.com already know of late I have rarely penned an article. Feeling that the sport has become all too negative when it comes to it’s journalism, I felt I was becoming part of the problem by putting forth negative articles. It has gotten to a point where I feel it is my duty to write the truth, and even though scribes normally don’t enjoy writing negative pieces, I think it would be worse to just look away and say nothing at all.
THREE HORRENDOUS ROBBERIES RUBBED ME THE WRONG WAY
Without going into too much detail here, Tavoris Cloud’s decision win over Gabriel Campillo earlier this year in an IBF light heavyweight (175 lb.) title bout, Richard Abril’s loss in a WBA lightweight (135) title fight to Brandon Rios this past Saturday, a bout he probably won 10 rounds to 2, and Erislandy Lara ending up on the short end of the stick vs. Paul Williams last year, are three of the worst decisions in recent memory and possibly boxing history. The fight Saturday was so one-sided that after nine frames I called Pedro Fernandez of RingTalk.com and said jokingly, “If they somehow give the fight to Rios, this would be the worst rip-off in boxing history!”
ALMOST CHOKED FROM THE BILE
Richard Abril
To my surprise, but not really as scandal in boxing has become the norm, Rios was given the nod, with judge Jerry Roth having scored the bout 8-4 in rounds for Rios, or 116-112, while Glenn Trowbridge had it 7-5 or 115-113. Nobody in the game will fret, boxing will go about it’s business and no one will be pressured in the slightest to do anything about it because no one is above the Nevada State Athletic Commission. What did the three fighters (Campillo, Lara and Abril) have in common besides being foreigners? They were facing the “house fighter,” and what regularly has become a case where they needed a knockout to get a draw.
WHEN WHITE FIGHTERS ARE CHEATED, CONGRESS ACTS!
As much as I hate to play the race card, I can recall only two cases in which the Federal Government or an authoritative body in boxing has really tried to right the wrong and properly punish individuals. In the two instances where the powers that be gave a “shit” about obvious wrongdoing in boxing, both victims were white. When Antonio Margarito, all but attempted to “murder” Shane Mosley, who may I note is African American, by loading his gloves with “Plaster of Paris” hand wraps before their bout in 2009, he was suspended for a year and afterwards got the biggest payday of his life against Manny Pacquiao in Texas, where the Athletic Commission has such a reputation for incompetence or corruption, the US Justice Dept. should take it over. While the three judges in the Lara-Williams fight were suspended, the damage had already been done. Lara has yet to fight since and his next scheduled bout takes place on Showtime against former WBA title challenger Ronald Hearns(Tommy Hearns’ son), not the type of reward you’d expect for winning a big fight on HBO.
DAVE TIBERI & BILLY COLLINS ARE THE ONLY FIGHTERS AUTHORITIES ACTED FOR!
First let me say that I thought it was great the government got involved in the split decision loss Dave Tiberi suffered against James Toney in his bid for the IBF middleweight crown in 1992. Due to the fact that the two judges that rendered the bout for Toney were not licensed in the sate of New Jersey, a bout where Toney who struggled to make the 160 lb. limit and was basically outworked by Tiberi, Senator’s Dave Roth and John McCain called for an investigation into the sport. McCain went on to author the impotent and toothless “Muhammad Ali Boxing Act,” which was supposed to insure fighters are treated like athletes in other sports. Still, that didn’t prevent “Yory Boy” Campas from being financially ruined by Bob Arum’s Top Rank, which has now evolved into a Federal Court case because Campas’ trainer Joe Diaz and one writer refused to give up!
COLLINS SAGA DOCUMENTED BY HBO
Billy Collins, whose life and death was chronicled in the HBO documentary, Assault In The Ring, was permanently injured in a bout in 1983 when journeyman fighter Luis Resto gave him a beating for ten rounds. Originally it was a win for Resto before an investigation revealed that Resto’s gloves had an ounce of padding removed from each glove. As a result of this obvious criminal act, both Resto and his trainer Panama Lewis were banned from boxing for life, while Lewis was sentenced to six years in prison and Resto three years. If the livelihoods of American fighters had been affected in these recent bouts, I believe there would be more outrage.
A POWERFUL PROMOTER CAN INFLUENCE SANCTIONING BODIES & COMMISSIONS!
Getting screwed may have as much to do with a fighter’s connections as it does race and or the nationality of the fighters who have been raped by either incompetent or corrupt officials in the three aforementioned fights. Since IBF bantamweight (118) champ at the time Joseph Agbeko (from the Bronx, NY by way of Ghana), was robbed by referee Russell Mora of possibly three points by calling a clear low blow foul by Abner Mares a knockdown, an err in judgement that quite possibly caused him to lose the decision in a close fight, the IBF ordered an immediate rematch.
DON IS KING & SAMSON IS WELL….NOT “SAMSON!”
The difference in this case from some of the aforementioned trio of atrocities is that Agbeko’s promoter was Don King, whom the IBF has a criminal past with, thus their cozy relationship. In contrast Campillo, a native of Spain, his promoter Samson Lewkowicz filed an official protest with the IBF for an immediate rematch and was denied. Difference here is Lewkowicz has neither the power or influence in boxing that King has, especially with the IBF.
Kevin Perry