HARD TO SMILE ABOUT MUCH IN THE YEAR 2012
Is This Just me?
San Francisco, CA– The performance of the 2012 U.S. Olympic Boxing team, the scurrilous decisions that have plagued the sport this year, Manny Pacquiao’s failure to fight Floyd Mayweather before he ended up on the wrong end of a decision, I can go on and on. It would be easy enough to end this with two sentences, but having pulled that one yesterday, it’s too soon to play that hand again. Having been a recognized orator for decades, it is rare when I don’t have something to say. But 2012, be it in boxing, or the world at large, there are few things worth smiling over.
BOXING & COUNTRY ON THE ROPES!
The economy, whether you want to blame George Bush for cutting taxes during two “unprovoked” wars, something that has been the opposite of the norm in the history of this country as every other President raised taxes during military conflicts except for “W,” who is about as smart as the kids he was with when planes hit World Trade Centers #1 & #2. While my well off friends are feeling great, my not so wealthy friends are in despair. Social programs like Social Security are in trouble, the U.S. is like #37 in the world when it comes to medical care, in other words, whether you want to admit or not, we live in a Fourth World Country when it comes to medicine.
BOXING RUNNING A DISTANT THIRD TO THE UFC & FAKE WRESTLING
That being fact, something my right wing friends cannot discount or dismiss, it’s hard to even focus on boxing if you are thinking about the big picture. Although some of you might not like this, boxing is running third to the Ultimate Fighting Championships and the faked game that is World Wrestling Entertainment. The reason why I’m as down as I am is that “Yory Boy” Campas retired last week after losing a fight in Australia last week to a guy that is anything but world class. To say that he was sodomized by the boxing establishment, most notably Top Rank, the Arizona Boxing Commission, and to a lesser extent HBO, would be a great understatement.
CAMPAS RETIRES WITH ONLY THE SHIRT ON HIS BACK!
Although Campas has needed to retire for many years, the screwing, and I could easily and justifiably invoke the “F” word if this wasn’t a PG audience, wasn’t able to because of the fact that Top Rank boxing, Tijuana promoter Fernando Beltran and others used “Yory Boy” much like you would a napkin after it hit the floor. You might want to wipe your window with it, but putting it to your mouth is something you wouldn’t do. In my tenure as a writer for others to read, I am hard pressed to find a better reason for a Federal Boxing Commission that the Campas case.
SEPERATING MYSELF FROM THE MASSES
The difference between myself and a lot of other “so-called” sports writers is that I am old enough to remember the good times, be it life in general or the business of boxing. While I respect scribes like Steve Kim, I have disdain for Dan Rafael of ESPN.com as I consider him nothing more than an overweight schlep who rewrites press releases from boxing promoters and networks. Although the cliche has been utilized may times over the years, Rafael wouldn’t know a fish hook from a left hook! Kim of MaxBoxing.com, while he will not push the envelope down someones throat as I tend to do, “K-9″ Kim is one of the better writers in the game.
NOT ONE OTHER WRITER DID THE HOMEWORK I DID!
While I wrote in detail on how USA Boxing has squandered millions of dollars, ruined a once promising amateur program, nobody else has. They write instead about how disappointing the 2012 U.S. Olympic team without explaining the reasons why the program is a miserable failure. Having known Howard Cosell, Jack Fiske, and other distinguished members of the boxing media, they were of the opinion that unbridled honesty was the key to being a great writer. It’s too bad that the hundreds of writers that will read this don’t have that intestinal fortitude.
Pedro Fernandez