The Square Ring
by Howie Reed

(MAY 21) Sometimes you shouldn’t get what you wish for. On the other hand sometimes this rematch deal works very well. Antonio Tarver (21-1, 17 KOs) scored a one-punch knockout of Roy Jones Jr. Sunday morning in Las Vegas at 1:41 of round 2. In their first fight, which Tarver thought he won, Jones claimed that he wasn’t in shape after losing a lot of weight after he beat Heavyweight Chump John Ruiz. As referee Jay Nady finished instructions and asked “Are there any questions?” Tarver answered, “You gonna have any excuses tonight, Roy?” He had none. For fans who Jones has treated like dirt over the years this has got to be a “Gotcha”.

Seems that I got into the “attitude adjustment period”
of my week a tad bit early last week. It’s either that
or Gremlins got into the computer and messed up my
column. If it was the “attitude adjustment period” it
was so early that there are actually some errors in
the usual error free The Square Ring. Hard to believe
that “amber fluid taken in moderation” could do all
that damage. The following appeared last week. “If
Harrison’s win was ugly the draw between Manny
Pacquiao 38-2-2) and Juan Manuel Marquez 42-3 for
Marquez IBF/WBA 126lb title was befuddling. Two judges had the fight 115-113. One for Pacquiao the other for Marquez. Judge Bert Clements of New Jersey, who doesn’t understand scoring, has it 113-113.” Here’s the deal. One judge (John Stewart) had it 115-113 for Pacquiao, one judge (Frog Canadian Guy Jutras) had it 115-110 for Marquez and Bert Clements had it 113-113. 

Naw there’s more. Bert Clements is NOT from New Jersey but from Reno Nevada which compounds his ridiculous 10-7 scoring of the three knockdown first round even worse. He’s been to a zillion seminars held by the State of Nevada on scoring. Bad time to take naps Bert. Via e-mail from Cousin Bruce came one other ‘error’. “Howie, it was three lefts, not rights, from
Pacquiao to Marquez. Keep off the Phuket lager”. Right and left, excluding politics, has always been a
problem. The Square Ring did have it right in scoring
the fight 115-113 for Pacquiao. Yea I know “even a
blind hog finds an acorn.”

Now before you say, “Well can’t Pacquiao lodge a claim of foul?”, the answer is “Yes”. But here’s the deal.  When Judge Bert Clements incorrectly scored the first round 10-7 it was a ‘judgment call’. The Nevada State Athletic Commission has no authority to overturn or change the judgment call of an official. The Pacquiao camp did protest through an attorney to the
Commission. The State Attorney General in a letter
rejected the protest. “While I understand your
client’s disappointment with the outcome of the bout,
there is no action that the Nevada Athletic Commission
(the “Commission”) can or will take. A review of
Nevada law will inform you that there is no protest
procedure to challenge or overturn a decision rendered
in a boxing match...” Kinda of a “no money...no honey
deals.”

From Brother Hughes: “The scoring you described has me completely confused. I have no idea how you came up with 10-6. Is it the fact that the guy lost the round
therefore it’s 10-9 And then subtract one point more
for each knockdown? If it’s minus one for each
knockdown only that is in fact 10-7. Que pasa?”
Almost. Win the round for 10-9. You get a point for
winning a round then a bonus point for each knockdown.

Three knockdowns and that’s three points deducted from the loser’s total of 9. 9 minus three is 6. Que pasa?  “What the F...” Brother Hughes is a baseball executive with a major league team in the USA. If you think that boxing scoring is confusing try explaining baseball.

How long has it been since you saw or read a “man
bites dog story”? OK. Let me rephrase that, “how long
has it been since you saw or read a man bites dog
story, that didn’t involve a fine dining experience at
a Chinese restaurant ?” Long time? Fight fans in the
Land of Smiles get their fixes from overseas TV
fights. Recently CMX Sports, via internet, telecast
live from the Stardust in Las Vegas Master Toddy’s
Muay Thai Day sponsored by Singha Beer. They charge a nominal price, about 75 Baht, for the entire card.  They’re now going to try weekly boxing on the internet at about the same price. A fight fan in Thailand can get on the web at 10 AM on Saturday, type in
www.cmxsports.com and watch live boxing from the USA.

I think time difference is a lot harder than left and
right. For the “Habla Espanols” the commentary will be
handled by former NFL Kicker Benny “I Keek a
Touchdown... I Keek a Touchdown” Ricardo and the
English by Col. Bob Sheridan who just happens to be
Vic “OR” Cross’s favorite boxing announcer.

There was boxing on the Beach at Patong in Phuket last week probably cheek and jowl with my pal’s Island
Lager Bar home of Phuket Island Lager. WBC#24
flyweight Denburapa Ekarin (18-4-1) got a 12 round
decision over Filipino Jun Eraham. This was
Denburapa’s first defence of the title that he won in
March. Being WBC #24 doesn’t sound like much now but in a short time it may mean a lot less.

Word on the street is that the WBC is about to go
belly up. They have been just about done in by
financial troubles mainly caused by the loss of the 30
million dollar lawsuit in a New York City Court to
Graciano Rocchigianni. One source reported May 12 as a drop dead date to either go into Chapter 7 stage of bankruptcy (liquidation) or reach a settlement with
Rocchigianni. That date has passed and nothing.

Another option would be for the WBC to terminate the
bankruptcy and continue to do business. This course of action would then allow Rocchigianni to “attach”
sanctioning fees in the USA.

Undefeated Narongrit Pirang 18-0 puts it on the line
tonight on national TV in America. He gets Art
Simonyan 13-0-1 who is beatable. Will Pirang be
undefeated when we meet again? Stay tuned. This column was put to bed before the “amber fluid” started
flowing. Honest.

(Opinions and editorials of HotBoxingNews.com is the opinion of those writers and may not be the opinion of HotBoxingNews.com)

Want to make contact or comments to Howie Reed
Go Here! mailto:reed@hotboxingnews.com