Thanks: 
Likes: 
Dislikes: 
boxing writer Ron Borges call for DQ
The ultimate -- embarrassment
Bout is merely latest black eye
By Ron Borges, Globe Staff | April 10, 2006
LAS VEGAS -- The Nevada State Athletic Commission is losing longtime
executive director Marc Ratner to the Ultimate Fighting Championship
organization May 15. Thursday, it will decide if boxing is going to
give in to it as well.
International Boxing Federation welterweight champion Zab Judah was
trailing badly and taking a shellacking from Floyd Mayweather Jr. late
in the 10th round of Saturday night's world title fight at the Thomas
and Mack Center when the soon-to-be-deposed champion rifled a low blow.
As Mayweather doubled over in pain, Judah followed with an illegal
punch to the back of the head as referee Richard Steele jumped between
them, which is when a real problem broke out.
As the boxers quietly walked to neutral corners and Steele called for
a five-minute timeout to allow Mayweather to compose himself, the
undefeated challenger's uncle and trainer, Roger, suddenly bolted into
the ring after Steele. Hot on his heels came a second Mayweather
cornerman, who soon headed in Judah's direction. As he did, Judah's
father-trainer, Yoel, charged as well, and a near-riot ensued. Las
Vegas police and arena security reacted quickly to quell what seemed an
ugly and potentially dangerous end to what had been a brilliant night
of boxing by Mayweather.
Steele later said he did not consider the low blow intentional and
never saw the rabbit punch. He did say he saw Mayweather's father
charge into the ring, which violated NSAC rules and the norms of the
sport, but he did not immediately disqualify the fighter, as he had the
power to do once his uncle stepped on the ring apron. Why only he
knows, but the smart money is he knew a riot would break out if he did
act forthrightly.
Eventually, cooler heads prevailed, the fighters touched gloves after
the ring was cleared, and then they embraced before the final round of
a fight Mayweather won by a wide margin. Only problem was, nearly
everyone in boxing believed Mayweather should have been disqualified.
Ratner and deputy state attorney Keith Kizer, who is set to replace
him, tried to tap dance around what happened after the elder Mayweather
was banished from the corner and the purses of the fighters were
withheld pending the conclusion of Thursday's hearing. Ratner said the
full commission would review tapes and likely fine and suspend
Mayweather's uncle, but he and Kizer also began almost immediately
laying the groundwork for doing what boxing so often does -- making a
fool of itself and a mockery of its rules -- by arguing that because
Steele had called time, the entrance of Mayweather's uncle and the
second cornerman with five seconds left in the round was perhaps not
grounds for a DQ.
According to Ratner, NSAC rules state the referee ''may" disqualify a
fighter if his cornermen enter the ring during a round but claimed it
was at the referee's discretion. It is universally accepted that a
cornerman cannot do any such thing, however, and if he does even step
onto the ring apron during a round the fight is over. That's because it
is distracting, could cause injury, and, as it did Saturday night, may
give his fighter an unfair advantage and thus is interpreted as a sign
of surrender.
After the low blow, Mayweather was supposed to get a five-minute
break. Because of the melee caused by his uncle, he got more than twice
that amount of time, a fact that may have helped the beaten-up Judah
more than Mayweather, but that is not the point. Judah's bombastic
promoter, Don King, immediately insisted he would appeal to both the
NSAC and the IBF, claiming Mayweather's uncle, a former world champion
himself, ''done disqualified the fight. The world witnessed it.
irrespective of who the winner should or should not be, when Roger
Mayweather went into the ring, he disqualified his fighter. He
challenged the referee, and someone from Mayweather's camp was choking
my fighter. The integrity of the Nevada Athletic Commission is at
stake. Whatever they do I'll live with, but it's a sad commentary."
As King droned on, Mayweather's promoter, Bob Arum, took the
microphone to reiterate that the decision to disqualify Mayweather was
up to the discretion of Steele. But King chimed in, ''I understand
discretionary powers, but follow the rules. They can say whatever they
want, but if they don't disqualify Mayweather, they'll be the
laughingstock of the world. This is why our sport is going downhill.
They can do whatever they want, but if they try and whitewash this,
they'll only hurt themselves."
Kizer kept saying, ''The referee may, in his sole discretion,
disqualify a fighter if a person enters the ring during a round" and
then postulated that because Steele called timeout, there was a
question whether the cornermen were improperly in the ring. Since a
melee insued, one would think even a lawyer might find that improper,
because this is still supposed to be a prizefight, not a street fight.
Ratner did say of the elder Mayweather, ''Evidently, he lost his
mind," but Kizer was soon doing what they always do in Nevada: talking
about the money. He said Mayweather's trainer could be heavily fined or
suspended for a lengthy period, which he claimed would be a
''deterrent."
Ratner even raised the specter of the need to disqualify both fighters
because of the entry of Judah's father into the ring, saying, ''It
wouldn't be fair to disqualify one over the other." That would be true
if both entered at the same time, but a review of the video showed they
didn't. Two of Mayweather's cornermen were in the ring before anyone
from Judah's corner moved.
When Judah's father entered the fray, both of Mayweather's cornermen
went for him. That is when Judah is seen circling them and landing a
punch on each man's head, the second of which dropped Roger Mayweather.
That's the most damage any Judah did to any Mayweather all night, but
to compare the two is ludicrous. Would Yoel Judah have come into the
ring if Mayweather's cornermen were not already there?
''That's why we'll look frame-by-frame," Ratner said. ''I saw a low
blow. I saw Roger go into the ring, and I saw another cornerman. But
no, I don't think we'd overturn the decision. There was fault on both
sides."
Not according to Steele, who said he did not believe the low blow was
intentional. Others questioned that, but clearly that is within his
discretion. Nevada now says whether or not to DQ a fighter is, too,
even if his cornerman rushes into the ring, charges the referee and the
opponent, creates a near-riot, and nets his man twice as much rest as
legal. If that's not enough to DQ a fighter, what must a cornerman do?
Brandish a gun?
Thursday, the commission has not only the opportunity but the duty to
bring the nonsense to an end. If Mayweather was disqualified for the
actions of his cornermen, what would it mean to him? Nothing, really.
No one, including Judah, has any doubt who dominated the fight. He
would still be paid, and even if Judah retained the title, the IBF
could, and should, mandate an immediate rematch that would net both a
big payday (but with no reason to assume Mayweather wouldn't win
again).
''DQ the fighter and let him whip his ass again," King said of
Mayweather. ''The boy is a great fighter."
That is the saddest part of this. Mayweather's greatness was obscured
by his uncle's lunacy. Regardless of that, the NSAC should make clear
in the most emphatic way that while Ratner may be moving on to
officiate the madness that is UFC's few-holds-barred mayhem, the boxing
commission he used to run is not.
 |
|
Reply With Quote
Originally Posted by wacko3205
Bookmarks