MAYWEATHER MAY NOT BE IBF'S CHAMPION (come thursday)

[SalTheButcher]

BY MIKE HOUSER

Appeal Sports Writer



Just when it appeared some order would be restored following Saturday's melee during the Floyd Mayweather-Zab Judah IBF welterweight title fight at the Thomas & Mack Center, in Las Vegas, another monkey wrench has been thrown into the mix.

IBF championships chairman Lindsey Tucker said Monday that Mayweather, who took a 12-round unanimous decision over Judah, may not remain its champion pending the outcome of a hearing Thursday in Las Vegas.

Nevada State Athletic Commission executive director Marc Ratner said Monday that the commission would hold a 10 a.m. hearing Thursday at the State Building in Las Vegas in order to review tapes of the fight, during which Yoel Judah (Zab's father and trainer), Roger Mayweather (Floyd's uncle and trainer), and several other members of both camps entered the ring following a low blow delivered by Judah with under 10 seconds remaining in the 10th round.

Tape of the fight, shown on HBO Pay-Per-View, shows former junior lightweight and junior welterweight titlist Roger Mayweather entering the ring seconds after referee Richard Steele pulled Judah (the IBF titlist) away from a doubled-over Floyd Mayweather following the low blow and a follow-up illegal punch to the back of the head.

Steele let go of Judah to step in the way of Roger, whom he held back from apparently going after Judah. Yoel--a former world champion kickboxer--entered the ring and delivered a right hand to Roger's jaw before he was restrained by Steele.

Several members of both camps, security guards, police and commission members also began to enter the ring.

After Yoel struck Roger, Zab circled around Steele and struck Roger behind the head. Roger then spun around and grabbed Zab around the waist while a Mayweather cornerman (who was outside the ropes) grabbed Zab around the throat from behind.

After the ring was cleared, Roger was escorted from the arena and the fight resumed, with Mayweather (now 36-0 with 24 knockouts) winning the fight and apparently taking the IBF strap from Judah.

But for now, nothing is as it appears.

"We're in the process of getting all of the tapes (of the fight) shown from all different angles," Ratner said. "We're going to watch those tapes as soon as we get them and see who was in the ring and who did what. Roger will appear before us for a disciplinary hearing. Things will be adjudicated at that time."

Don King--Judah's promoter--said Saturday he was going to file an appeal asserting that Judah should remain the beltholder because the 29-year-old Mayweather should have been disqualified when Roger stepped on the ring apron.

Tucker said IBF president Marian Muhammad will attend the hearing Thursday and then choose from several options.

Said Tucker: "We can recognize Mayweather as champion. We can vacate the belt. Zab may keep the title. Or we can order a rematch."

But in an ever thickening plot, Bruce Trampler--matchmaker for Top Rank, Mayweather's promoter--said the IBF may have an agenda of its own.

Trampler said that he had read on a boxing Web site that if Mayweather won and didn't defend his IBF belt against the organization's No. 1 contender--Mark Suarez--in a mandatory defense in his next fight, he'd be stripped of the belt.

"The writing was on the wall," said Trampler, who added he hadn't heard that Muhammad was going to attend the hearing. "It doesn't really matter. (Top Rank president) Bob Arum said Floyd will fight WBO (welterweight titlist) Antonio Margarito next. That would make (the IBF's decision) moot."

Trampler also said there would be no rematch between Mayweather and Judah.

"Floyd was beating the s---out of him," Trampler said. "There's no reason to hold a rematch because of the controversy."

Don King's publicist--Alan Hopper--could not be reached for comment, but Tucker said his understanding of the rules were the same as King's.

"Our policy has been that once somebody comes into the ring, that's an automatic disqualification," Tucker said. "Nevada is an exception. It's the only state I can think of where it's up to the referee (whether he disqualifies the fighter)."

Ratner clarified the rule.

"It's not an automatic disqualification," Ratner said. "In the rulebook it says it's up to the third person in the ring--the referee--whether there's a disqualification."

Ratner said Steele called a timeout and was going to give Mayweather up to five minutes to recover from the low blow, but he was besieged before he could do so. Ratner also said Steele claimed he was out of position and didn't see the illegal rabbit punch.

Both fighters' purses are being withheld until after the hearing. Mayweather, a former junior lightweight, lightweight and junior welterweight champion, was due to earn a reported $5 million for the fight.

It's not the first time the 28-year-old Judah, 34-4 (25) and one-contest, has been involved in controversy. After referee Jay Nady stopped Judah's Nov. 3, 2001, fight with Kostya Tszyu, the 5-foot-7 Judah attacked Nady, pushing his glove into the 6-4 referee's throat.

Nady had stopped the junior welterweight unification title fight after Tszyu had decked Judah, who rose, staggered around and fell down again. Judah also threw a stool in Nady's direction and was subsequently fined $75,000 and suspended for six months by the NSAC.

"The police did a marvelous job," Ratner said of the instant intervention by authorities. "So did (ring announcer) Michael Buffer. He kept everybody calm. He told everyone to stay in their seats and that everything was under control."

It was coincidental that World Wrestling Entertainment president Vince McMahon was ringside during the melee.

"I didn't speak with him after the fight," Ratner said, "but he probably enjoyed what he'd call a 'run-in.'"

[SalTheButcher]

let me just say, this MIKE HOUSER is wrong, zab did NOT hit roger he hit the other bald guy in PBFs camp

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

MCMAHON WAS AT RINGSIDE!!!

NO WONDER AS LONG AS THE REF DIDNT SEE SOMEONE ELSE ATTACKING ZAB WAS ALLOWED

[Wacko3205]

So let me ask you this Sal...you think that Judah won...which he didn't...and you also think that Mayweather should be DQ'd for something that he didn't do...but yet...you don't really latch on to the fact of that...nor do you latch on to the fact that Judah assaulted a ref & got fined & that was his punishment was just...after he got beaten...a little bit of an odd way of looking at what's fair should be fair.

[meowza]

"Our policy has been that once somebody comes into the ring, that's an automatic disqualification," Tucker said. "Nevada is an exception. It's the only state I can think of where it's up to the referee (whether he disqualifies the fighter)."

Says it all right there.
In Nevada it's Steele's call. And his decision was to let the fight continue.
Roger should and will get fined and punished.
But Steele made the RIGHT call.

[SalTheButcher]

"Our policy has been that once somebody comes into the ring, that's an automatic disqualification," Tucker said. "Nevada is an exception. It's the only state I can think of where it's up to the referee (whether he disqualifies the fighter)."

Says it all right there.
In Nevada it's Steele's call. And his decision was to let the fight continue.
Roger should and will get fined and punished.
But Steele made the RIGHT call.

yes, but the rule DOES NOT SAY

IF A FIGHTER IS ATTACKED BY A NON-COMBATANT IT IS A JUDGEMENT CALL,

if steele saw roger choke zab he would have had no choice

[Wacko3205]

"Our policy has been that once somebody comes into the ring, that's an automatic disqualification," Tucker said. "Nevada is an exception. It's the only state I can think of where it's up to the referee (whether he disqualifies the fighter)."

Says it all right there.
In Nevada it's Steele's call. And his decision was to let the fight continue.
Roger should and will get fined and punished.
But Steele made the RIGHT call.

For the fan's sake...he certainly did...& for Judah's sake...he made the right call in hitting Floyd in the balls & in the back of the head...he was about to take an even more serious of a hiding than he was getting.

[SalTheButcher]

So let me ask you this Sal...you think that Judah won...which he didn't...and you also think that Mayweather should be DQ'd for something that he didn't do...but yet...you don't really latch on to the fact of that...nor do you latch on to the fact that Judah assaulted a ref & got fined & that was his punishment was just...after he got beaten...a little bit of an odd way of looking at what's fair should be fair.

well, i dont think judah should have to have an L from a fight in which he was assaulted by a non-combatant, and you know i blame that whole mess on poor judgment by nady


if they wanna fine zab again, fine, but if zab himself gets fined A DOLLAR, roger better be banned FOR LIFE

[SalTheButcher]

"Our policy has been that once somebody comes into the ring, that's an automatic disqualification," Tucker said. "Nevada is an exception. It's the only state I can think of where it's up to the referee (whether he disqualifies the fighter)."

Says it all right there.
In Nevada it's Steele's call. And his decision was to let the fight continue.
Roger should and will get fined and punished.
But Steele made the RIGHT call.

For the fan's sake...he certainly did...& for Judah's sake...he made the right call in hitting Floyd in the balls & in the back of the head...he was about to take an even more serious of a hiding than he was getting.

judah WAS hit while throwing the punch that ended up going low, and I KNOW that YOU KNOW that getting hit CAN change the trajectory of a punch in such a manor

im not saying it wasnt intentional, just that we dont know for sure, also, if you wanna get technical...

how many times did PBF grab the back of judahs heda and hold him while throwing a punch? im pretty sure more then 5

also in the process of the fight i KNOW PBF landed several punches to the back of zabs head, he didnt stop himself mid punch cuz it was gonna land in the back of the head, just as judah didnt

[meowza]

"Our policy has been that once somebody comes into the ring, that's an automatic disqualification," Tucker said. "Nevada is an exception. It's the only state I can think of where it's up to the referee (whether he disqualifies the fighter)."

Says it all right there.
In Nevada it's Steele's call. And his decision was to let the fight continue.
Roger should and will get fined and punished.
But Steele made the RIGHT call.

yes, but the rule DOES NOT SAY

IF A FIGHTER IS ATTACJED BY A NON-COMBATANT IT IS A JUDGEMENT CALL,

if steele saw roger choke zab he would have had no choice

Again with the choking!
I don't see the choking on my view.
But I only have the television broadcast.
I do see two guys holding each other though.
Has Zab made mention that he was choked?
So far all I heard from Zab was that he lost to a great defensive fighter.

[SalTheButcher]

if you watch the PPV broadcast, watch larry merchants judah unterview, he says "he was chokin me in the corner" and the supposedley non-biased lampley makes it out to be a statement that PBF was choking him during the fight

[meowza]

Then right after that he says, "...but I make no excuses."
That was NOT the reason he lost.
That did not affect the outcome of the fight. Aside from maybe giving Zab a long break to compose himself when Floyd was turning it on hardcore.

[SalTheButcher]

im just tellin you thats where he first said roger choked him

[meowza]

Yep. Gotcha.
Completely forgot that portion of the interview for a moment.

[Unknowndonor]

It doesn't matter about the IBF belt. Zab wasn't the champ anyway. He can keep it again. Still doesn't change the view of the world about who is the winner.

[Wacko3205]

It doesn't matter about the IBF belt. Zab wasn't the champ anyway. He can keep it again. Still doesn't change the view of the world about who is the winner.

good point...but if the IBF rules in Floyd's favor then Sal can finally argue that Mayweather is the New IBF UnChampion of the World & have legit cause to argue.