Bob “No Shame” Arum
POLL OF BOXING FANS QUITE REVEALING
San Francisco, CA– Last week in Las Vegas, NV, Brandon Rios was given a Split Decision after 12 rounds over Richard Abril. There is not one person that has commented on this website in writing to me that thought Rios either won or deserved the scores put forth by veteran judges Jerry Roth (8-4 in rounds or 116-112 on points) or Glenn Trowbridge (115-113 or 7-5). The british TV team thought the scoring was “scandalous” and went on to say, “This is what’s wrong with boxing.” In case you din’t know it, Rios was the “house” fighter promoted by Top Rank and Abril was supposed to be a doormat for Rios to step over for a possible July fight with Juan Manuel Marquez.
ABRIL WON AT LEAST 10 OF 12 ROUNDS!
The British TV team had it 10-1 and 1 round even for Abril. Myself and others close to me thought it could have been a shutout as Abril took away the left hook, which is all Rios brings to the dance by either being too far away or up too close, I had it 10-2, while others had it 11-1 and one writer thought it might have been a shutout! Adelaide Byrd, the lone judge that went Abril’s way had it 117-111 or 9-3 in rounds for the Cuban export.
READY FOR THESE NUMBERS FIGHT FANS?
According to our week long poll here at RingTalk.com, Abril won according to 88.9% percent
of you boxing fans, while Rios was tabbed the winner by 8.4%, while 2.6% thought it was draw. As scandalous as this was, Keith Kizer, head of the Nevada State Athletic Commission, hasn’t suspended either Roth or Trowbridge, who seem to have a “track record” of going with the “house” guy, especially it seems when they are promoted by Top Rank.
SO, IS BOXING FIXED?
According to those of you in the blogosphere, when the question, “is Boxing Fixed?” was asked, 57.9% of you answered in the affirmative, as 27.7% said no and 14.5% were unsure as to the whether the game was rigged! As we are now almost a week removed from this scoring atrocity, there is no big media outcry. Again referring back to the British TV team, one said, “Next week Top Rank publicist Lee Samuels will be pumping out emails and press releases lauding Rios and his deserving the fight with Marquez.” Although some think promoter Bob Arum is a genius, I’m not one of them. That being said, I think the Brit’s are about two to three weeks off when it come to Samuels’ trying to push a Marquez-Rios match.
NO PROMOTER OR BOXER IS MAN ENOUGH TO ADMIT DEFEAT!
If Arum had an ounce of integrity, the Harvard educated attorney would have went on TV, issued press releases, denouncing the decision. But in boxing, no promoter or fighter will do that. To them, a win is a win is a win! What a shame, as boxing can be so beautiful and the masterful performance put forth by Abril last Saturday turned away any casual sports fan that was watching. That being said, do any of you need to wonder why the UFC & MMA left boxing in the rear view mirror six years ago in 2006?
Pedro Fernandez