FILIPINO MANNY PACQUIAO NOW KNOWS WHAT IT FEELS LIKE!
Manny Pacquiao Between Rounds
San Francisco, CA– Boxers get screwed over in major fights much almost as often as hookers do in brothels. Gabriel Campillo, Erislandy Lara, Richard Abril, and now you can add Manny Pacquiao to the mucked over crowd after the Tim Bradley fight Saturday night.
THE MORE THINGS CHANGE, THE MORE THEY STAY THE SAME!
This is just business as usual in the boxing game, so why are people so up in arms? Oh, and before I go any further, it was a closer fight than most of you think.
BUSINESS STRUCTURE OF BOXING STINKS!
Bad decisions, be the result of corruption or incompetence, or just a bad night, it goes back to the beginning days of prizefighting. There are several reasons why this is more the norm than it is the exception. But the predominant and prevailing factor are power, money, greed, and then there’s the boxing “establishment.”
REMEMBER FELIX STURM-OSCAR DE LA HOYA?
When I witnessed Felix Sturm get burned out a deserved win over Oscar De La Hoya, there was one reason nobody said much and that’s because the boxing “establishment” had an “already agreed to” super fight between De La Hoya and Bernard Hopkins on the drawing board.
MANNY GOT “ESTABLISHMENT” FAVOR VS. MARQUEZ
In my opinion, that same mindset was in effect when Manny Pacquiao got a very much so undeserved Majority Decision (one judge had it even, the other two gave it to Pacquiao) over Juan Manuel Marquez. The “establishment” was primed last November for a Pacquiao-Floyd Mayweather fight, one that could have taken place in May, but Manny couldn’t fight, not Floyd, not in May, not after he saying he would BUT Floyd was going to jail. When Floyd got the delayed June 1 date report to the slammer, Manny went mute.
JUDGES HAVE LITERALY RUINED LIVES!
There are other decisions that actually “ruined” the careers of fighters. One being Jeff Fenech, the Australian boxer was “raped” by a panel of Las Vegas judges who called his fight with Azumah Nelson a draw. Fenech, a multi-weight division champion and the greatest Aussie to ever lace them up, was never the same. Having never before been an abuser of alcohol or other mind-altering agents, Jeff started using after the outdoor Las Vegas heist. As for Manny Pacquiao, the lad wasn’t in top condition and it showed. Maybe if he had spent less time praying and more time training. To that, blame Jinkee Pacquiao.
MOST JUDGES HAVE MONEY & LITTLE CARES
The problem with most boxing judges is that the toughest fight they’ve ever had was finding a parking place. I don’t know any judges who regularly work major fights who are hurting financially. They have no concept as to how their decisions affect a person or family’s life.
HAPPENS TO JAVIER FROM MEXICO AS WELL!
While a lot of you see the controversial ending of major fights, it happens underneath the big fights as well. When you’ve got some 10-0 fighter, also known as the “house” guy, gets his butt whipped by an “opponent” that was brought in, sometimes from across the border in order to lose. More often than not, the guy with the “0” gets the call over the fighter with a mediocre or even losing record regardless of how the fight really went. This as all part of the business
NONE OF THESE PEOPLE LOSE SLEEP!
Truth be told, some” boxing judges in Las Vegas, NV, have significant “other” incomes. Glenn Trowbridge is a politico, another is successful in insurance, while those of aren’t making a living on the game and there are many officials in Nevada are just working “stiffs.” The point I’m trying to make is that I doubt very much if any judge ever loses sleep after submitting a horrendous scorecard because either they don’t realize the ramifications of their poor work, or they don’t give a darn. The judges that are very good, well if they hailed as “good” in the press lose work when we do.
REMBERING CHUCK MINKER’S PASSING 20 YEARS LAST MONTH!
Had a number of officials that I held close, beginning with the late Nevada Commission head Chuck Minker in the late 1980s-early 90s, today it seems like the generation that came before me are seemingly either dying or blowing a call. Las Vegas needs new and young judges. Not the City’s Councilman’s “Boy” either as those guys sans any real boxing acumen and are doing it to get their names in the paper, they do exist and turn out to be the worst. If you’re a professional judge, you shouldn’t be blowing a single round as you have no idea what a bad call will mean down the line, the consequences.
OFFICIALS ARE LIKE POLICEMAN IN BOXING
When I was a policeman, I never went to bed questioning whether or not I gave somebody an unwarranted citation or, God forbid, arrest somebody on a bogus charge. My conscience wouldn’t allow me to do the thus the latter never happened. If boxing judges realized the impact their scores have on lives, families, and livelihoods, maybe there wouldn’t so many undeserved decisions. I took he judge’s exam for the Assn. of Boxing Commission’s in October 2010 and passed. It wasn’t a difficult test, but it required uninterrupted concentration.
WEDNESDAY, I’LL COME WITH SOME NEW IDEAS!
Tomorrow, Wednesday morning, I’ll go with several suggestions that I got from a panel of experts on the sport and business of boxing. Oh, and for those of you that aren’t hip to the difference, I’ll point that out as well.
Pedro Fernandez
