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 Great, What Boxing Needs More of - The Feds
By Steve Kim (May 6, 2004)
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This week, the boxing world should be squarely focused on Saturday's fantastic doubleheader being aired on HBO from the MGM Grand featuring Manny Pacquiao vs. Juan Manuel Marquez and Miguel Cotto getting his sternest test as a professional against Lovemore N'Dou.
Instead, we are being constantly reminded of what happened in Las Vegas on April 10th, when Lamon Brewster stopped Wladimir Klitschko in five rounds
for the vacant WBO heavyweight title. It was a great night of boxing that should be remembered, but what's constantly being shoved in our faces are the bizarre conspiracy theories coming from camp Klitschko - which is now being led by Judd Burstein, boxing's pound-for-pound most litigious attorney.
A press release was sent out on Wednesday afternoon detailing a letter sent out by Klitschko, through Burstein, requesting that the United States Attorney General for the District of Nevada launch an investigation into the circumstances surrounding his loss to Brewster.
Already, we've heard rumors and innuendos of poisoned food, contaminated water bottles, off-the-chart blood sugar levels and of all things, vaseline, playing a role in Klitschko's loss. Somewhere, Oliver Stone is developing a screenplay.
What's worse is that Burstein would cc this letter to Senator John McCain, the supposed boxing reformer from the state of Arizona.
The media was sent spam not only containing Burstein's letter to United States Attorney Daniel G. Bogden, but a press release explaining it.
The press release would state: "As evidenced by this week's guilty plea in your District by Robert Mittleman to charges that he fixed fights and then unsuccessfully sought to bribe both a federal judge in your District and an Assistant United States Attorney in your office, it is regrettably all too possible that someone sought to illegally influence the outcome of the Klitschko/Brewster bout. It is our firm's belief that there was some foul play involved here, and we believe that the facts of record to date more than justify a full investigation by your Office."
Ok, I guess 'Big Frankie' will be implicated soon in this whole fiasco, too. The claims that somehow Mittleman's admissions somehow relate in any way to what happened on April 10th, is a spurious claim, at best, and misguided in reality.
"That is misguided," agreed Marc Ratner, executive director of the beleaguered Nevada State Athletic Commission. "One thing has nothing to do with the other. I can't speak for the Top Rank investigation; I don't know what happened there, and I can't speak for what happened four years ago at the Paris Hotel with Richie Melito. But none of those are connected whatsoever."
The press release would summarize the questions that were posed in the letter to Bogden.
"1. Why, shortly before the bout, did the betting odds on the Klitschko/Brewster fight move from 11-1 in Mr. Klitschko's favor to 3.5-1? That extraordinary movement suggests that there was a huge amount of late money bet on Brewster with no sound reason for that betting pattern - other than the possibility that someone knew that Brewster had been handed an unfair advantage in the fight."
Ok, well, in that case, Nevada had better investigate the first Holyfield-Tyson bout - which went from 25-1 down to about 3-1 by the time the bell sounded for the first round.
The bottom line is very simple - no smart player will ever lay such heavy odds, and a lot of gamblers merely play the 'value' of getting such a high payback. Only a fool would lay should high numbers, especially with a guy that just got knocked out 13 months ago by Corrie Sanders and had also been stopped by Ross Purrity of all people. Ever heard of the proverbial 'puncher's chance'? Well, that's what every experienced player was banking on when they invested in Brewster or on the history of Klitschko's chin.
Also, Sam Simon, who manages Brewster, has many affluent, downright filthy rich, Hollywood friends that put some pretty good money on Brewster. These guys, like Drew Carey, weren't just putting up $50. In a fight that doesn't get that much action, it doesn't take too much to sway the line one way or the other.
By the way, if the gaming commission thought anything was fishy, sports books have been known to pull events off the board. From what I know, this was never discussed leading up to the fight.
"2. How is it that an all-access pass reserved for a Klitschko team member was given to an as-yet unidentified person who could not possibly have had proper photo identification? Who was that person? Why was he given a pass? What was he doing with his access?"
Great, now a missing credential is responsible for the downfall. I'm shocked that someone got into a fight with a credential that didn't belong to them? What's next? People going into Sizzler and passing around one plate for the all-you-can-eat salad bar? Or going into 7-11 and filling up a Styrofoam cup with Dr. Pepper?
Y'know I've always been suspicious of those people at Brener-Zwikel and Magna Media, who are in charge of these things. From know on, I'm keeping my eye on both John Beyrooty and Andy Olson.
"I want to say for the record," adds Ratner, "they had two large security guards, not just small, little guys like me, but bigger than I, probably 6'4, 6'5 and I had to show my credential and introduce myself saying, 'I'm the commission director. I've got the gloves here, I'm going to be coming in and out.' I couldn't get in otherwise.
"So nobody could have gotten in that dressing room that night."
It's highly unlikely that the Klitschkos, who run their camp as privately and with as much paranoia as the KGB, would let an interloper waltz into their dressing room the night of the fight.
"3. Why is it that Mr. Klitschko's urine and blood samples were destroyed notwithstanding Mr. Klitschko's team's immediate and constant requests that those samples be sent to Los Angeles for further testing. Significantly, according to the policies of the laboratories holding the specimens, Mr. Klitschko's blood and urine samples had not been destroyed at the time they were requested."
Funny, but Burstein sure didn't have a problem with Shane Mosley's test results being destroyed rather quickly in the aftermath of his rematch with Oscar De La Hoya in September, in the midst off all the BALCO hysteria that surrounded his client a few months back.
"When the fight was over, when Wladimir had trouble getting up, we were so concerned about him that we took him to a trauma center - not just an emergency room - with a neurosurgeon in the ambulance," recalled Ratner, of the aftermath that took place after the bout. "We were afraid of possible bleeding; we were very, very concerned. His pupils were irregular, so we weren't going to take any chances.
"At the hospital they took urine and blood. Those tests came back, nothing irregular and nothing remarkable; there was nothing there. They had his trunks tested, nothing on his trunks; they took subsequent tests, they investigated on their own, they said,' We're going to test' and they went to a place called 'Quest Laboratories' and from those tests there was nothing irregular or remarkable.
"They're saying now there's some blood missing. I can't speak to that, I don't know what the hospital or lab does with the blood. But all the results of the tests that were taken have shown absolutely nothing unusual."
The fourth point asks, "How is it that Wladimir Klitschko, someone who has always come into the ring in top physical condition, found himself in a position
where, commencing in the second round (before he was even hit by Mr. Brewster), he experienced a rapid loss of energy, coherence and equilibrium?"
Funny, but were they saying this after he knocked down Brewster in the fourth? Maybe, just maybe, based on what happened in his bout with Sanders and now, Brewster, he simply doesn't take a great punch?
"5. Why is it that Emmanuel Steward, Mr. Klitschko's Hall of Fame trainer, believes that there was something physically wrong with Mr. Klitschko on the night of the bout? Mr. Steward stated: "Wladimir was in perfect shape for the bout. In all my years as a trainer, I have never seen anything like this. I know when a fighter is hurt from an opponent's punches. In this case, there was something else causing Wladimir's problems."
Let me preface this by saying I have a lot of respect for Steward and his accomplishments as a trainer, but just because the trainer of the guy that just happened to be stopped thinks something wasn't kosher, should we should take that as gospel, as if that's not a biased opinion? Or perhaps it's a trainer who doesn't want to lose his current position?
There are many other world-class trainers who simply believe that Klitschko simply punched himself out and /or doesn't have a strong set of whiskers.
How 'bout getting a third-party opinion on this matter?
"Everyone in the industry knows that there is an ongoing FBI investigation into fight fixing and fraudulent medical reports in Nevada," Burstein was quoted in this press release. "The strange events of April 10th give real cause for concern that Mr. Klitschko may have been the victim of the very type of activity that is being investigated by the federal government."
Again, a baseless comparison, and instead of attempting to clean up the sport of boxing that they profess to care so much about, they are only hurting it's image further.
"I'm saddened by it because the sport has enough credibility problems," said Ratner, of these allegations. "And this just brings more negative attention to the sport and I hate that."
What's ironic is that it wasn't too long ago that it was Burstein representing Mosley in fending off irrational and irresponsible charges that his client was the beneficiary of a 'rigged' decision against De La Hoya, by his promoter Bob Arum. He was outraged - and rightfully so - but that hasn't stopped him from casting aspersions on the same jurisdiction he so strongly defended just months ago.
The shoe is now squarely on the other foot, it seems.
Wladimir Klitschko is quoted in the release as saying: " I have thought long and hard about requesting an investigation because I am concerned that the public, and particularly my fans, will see me as making excuses instead of taking responsibility for a loss. That is not my intention. I simply want to know the truth, and I have not yet been given adequate answers to the many questions I rightfully have.
"I understand that an investigation cannot change a loss into a win. I also understand that my path to redemption requires victories in the ring. So my call for an investigation should not be viewed as a strategy to change the past; it is to make the future better for the sport of boxing. One of these days, I will hopefully earn the chance to fight Lamon Brewster again, and the result of that meeting will offer a far better explanation of my loss than the result of any investigation."
Predictably, Brewster's management is not amused by all the machinations.
"We've sent a cease-and-desist order," said Simon on Wednesday afternoon. "It's just so preposterous. If he wants a rematch, we're happy to give him a rematch.
"At first I thought it was humorous; it's a bully and a sore loser trying to save some face. And of course it's completely unsubstantiated. At this point, it satisfies every definition of libel. They know it's not true, there's malicious intent, in fact costing Lamon money by impugning a wonderful victory."
This is not attempt at cleaning up the sport of boxing, but rather an effort clear up a blemish on the record of a fighter by dragging the whole industry through the mud.
That's as clear as Brewster's knockout of Klitschko in April.
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