On that issue, Schaefer states, “I just want to clarify the notion of a dying sport; it really mainly comes from a handful of promoters who feel because their business is dying that the sport is dying and I just don’t think that’s an appropriate reflection. If you ask Bob Arum, he has probably never been as active and as busy as now and the same for us. So that notion of a dying sport is negatively spread by a handful of promoters who have, in fact, no dates and no network deals and so on and therefore, they feel it’s a dying sport.
“But that’s inaccurate. Their business is dying- but not ours.”
DC
Golden Boy is taking some heat for taking Amir Khan into the hometown (Washington D.C.) of Lamont Peterson, who upset “King” Khan this past weekend for his junior welterweight titles. Honestly, that sounds like some Monday Morning Quarterbacking and, in my opinion, GBP should be given credit for putting on an event that was highly successful and discovering a new market where it looks like boxing can thrive on a consistent basis.
What took place last Saturday night was great for boxing in many respects (regardless of where you stand on the officiating).
“It’s actually funny but I had people asking me, ‘Well, y’ know, Bob Arum is telling everybody it was ridiculous for us to go to Washington because it’s a corrupt decision and you don’t go to Washington,’ and so on. Well, I think, in fact, if that is the case, then I think it’s a much bigger problem than just going there and I think not going there really does not solve the issues. In fact, there are issues with certain officials or whatever. Not going there and just ignoring it, is that the way you fix it? I think what you do is, you cheat the fight fans out of great fights and obviously, you look at Washington, there are plenty of fight fans and I can assure you those 9,000, almost 10,000- which were there- they’re going to tell their friends the great night they had and the next time we go back to Washington- and, by the way, we will go back- we’re probably going to have 15,000 at the Verizon Center.”
The bottom line is that with the likes of Gary Russell Jr. and Seth Mitchell, Golden Boy has a lot more business to do in this jurisdiction in the near future. And D.C. traditionally has had a strong amateur program that regularly churns out talent.
“So I think it’s important to cultivate these markets. Some of them big, big markets like California with ‘Fight Night Club’ but I think it’s important to go to some of the secondary markets as well. And I definitely think that’s going to continue to be a top priority at Golden Boy in 2012.”
REMATCH
If it were up to Golden Boy and Team Khan, the second chapter of Peterson-Khan would occur next.
“I hope that Barry Hunter and Lamont Peterson are going to stay true to their word where they did promise Amir, us and everyone in the media there that night that, yes, they would do the rematch,” said Schaefer. “We made them a seven-figure offer and I’m waiting to hear back from them. But for whatever reason they decide not to, I would assume they would get stripped of their belts as well because I’m sure that the sanctioning organizations, given the nature of that decision, will be ordering an immediate rematch.
“But let’s say for whatever reason they change their mind and they don’t want to do a rematch, then Amir has a date with HBO and there are a lot of names out there which he could make some exciting fights.”
Regardless, according to Schaefer, Khan has a date set for him on May 19th at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. “I asked the Staples people about the first available Saturday between now and whenever and it’s May 19th. So I told [Chief Operating Officer of AEG] Dan Beckerman to put a hold on that for us so that we could do that. I’d like to do a Peterson fight but are there other names? Absolutely. And names that can be as meaningful and as big? Absolutely. Amir’s first preference is obviously to do the rematch but would I like to see a fight between Amir and Robert “The Ghost” Guerrero? Absolutely. Would I like to see a fight between Amir and the winner of Morales and Garcia? Absolutely. Would I like to see a fight between Amir and WBA number one-rated Humberto Soto? Absolutely? So there’s a lot of fights out there and, by the way, each one of the three I just mentioned, I’m sure can sell out Staples Center.”
IBF
Daryl Peoples, President of the IBF, confirmed to Maxboxing on Thursday afternoon that, “We did get a letter from Arnold Joseph on behalf of Golden Boy to ask [IBF Championship Chairman] Lindsey Tucker and I to review the tape and had asked in the letter that we order an immediate rematch pursuant to rule 5K, I believe it is, in our rules. So we did request a tape; we’re waiting for that tape to get sent to us. But as far as a formal appeal under rule 11 of our rules, we haven’t received that yet.”
So did they refer to the officiating or the scoring of the bout?
“Well...” said Peoples, with a slight pause, “in the letter that we got from them, they have a little bit of an issue with both.”
As for the stories circulating that there was a discrepancy in tabulating the scores, Peoples said, “From different accounts I’ve heard, that was an issue too. We did request all of the original scorecards- well, copies of the individual score tabs from the judges that night and we’re going to look at them. We’re going to tally them and see if we can find any inconsistencies on the individual score tabs against what was announced at the fights.”
This will not be a long process, according to Peoples.
“We’re going to try to turn it around as soon as possible because if Golden Boy doesn’t like what we tell them, they do have the option to file an official protest under rule 12 but that needs to be done within ten business days of the fight. So it is time sensitive,” he explained.
Just wondering, will every hard-fought, close contest now be subject to some sort of review or protest? What happened to just having a competitive fight and moving on? If you think about it, if Khan has an HBO date waiting for him with the Staples Center reserved for him, did he really lose all that much? With or without a Peterson rematch or the title belts, Khan is well taken care of going into the near future.
“Y’ know, that seems to be the trend and we’ve seen it before,” said Peoples, whose organization earlier this year called for an immediate rematch between Abner Mares and Joseph Agbeko after their first fight was marred by controversy. “It seems to come in bunches but, as you know, somebody’s gotta win and somebody’s gotta lose.”
And someone’s gotta protest.
There seems to be a belief that the sheet of paper given out to the media on press row at the fights with the scores handed in by all three judges are the actual scorecards when really, they are just scores transferred from the scorecards handed in at the end of the each round by the judges to the referee.
(*Click scorecard for larger image.)
Peoples explains, “On the master scorecard, you’ll see red, white and blue- just as an example because those are the colors that the IBF uses. But what it is, it’s a snapshot of each of the judges’ individual scores and the person who’s keeping that master scorecard, all he’s doing is copying what’s on the individual scorecards round by round and he’s putting it on the master scorecard. Then he’s tallying the total at the end of the bout.”
COOP-A-LOOP
And the final word on referee Joe “Hangin’ with Mr.” Cooper comes in this email I received on Thursday:
Loved your “Cooper Recant”, I was like, finally there’s ONE writer out there who actually sees that rules need to be followed when it impacts a fight.
Yes, I am a bit biased because I was a short amateur who always needed to fight inside so two of the fouls employed by tall boxers that I hated were holding and pushing. Well, duh, I already took 2 punches just to get inside and now my opponent is allowed to foul and hold me or MMA me and push me away? I also agree that Cooper should have stopped the action and gave a clear warning that next push is going to result in a point deduction.
If fans or writers are cool with clinches and pushes, go watch MMA (which I love also) where the inside fighter can body slam or take down a taller fighter to defend themselves. In boxing, if the inside fighter pays the price and works his way in, the referee really needs to enforce the rules a la Cooper and Keith Hughes. It was NO coincidence that Khan and Berto were involved in the most exciting fights of their careers when the referees enforced the rules so their opponent can actually box them on an even playing field.
JL
SHOWTIME
Why was Stephen Espinoza still representing Golden Boy and Bernard Hopkins at the CSAC, regarding the overturning of the first Dawson fight into a no-decision? Yeah, I realize he may have filed that case originally but given his new role as the boxing czar at Showtime, while he may have not broken any laws, everyone that green-lighted this (from the higher-ups at his network to Golden Boy and Espinoza) sure didn’t practice much common sense, given that there is a perception coming into this job that he will be pro-Golden Boy.
Personally, I think he should be given a clean slate but this here just has you shaking your head in disbelief (and trust me, the boxing industry is bewildered by this hubris). Would Hopkins’ argument- which to me, was rock-solid, given the nature of Dawson’s foul on October 15th- have fallen apart if Espinoza had simply decided to recuse himself from this case?
Who knows, maybe- just maybe- by making sure that Hopkins had his loss overturned, therefore ensuring his contract with HBO was still in effect, Espinoza was actually doing his job for his new employer (Yeah, I just went all Oliver Stone there).
MAXBOXING RADIO
Here is the latest edition of Maxboxing Radio where Corey Erdman and I talk about the Peterson-Khan fight and preview the “Super Six” finals.
STORMY FLURRIES
The WBC mandated a rematch between Bernard Hopkins and Chad Dawson? I guess they will also mandate sequels to “Gigli,” “Glitter,” “Catwoman” and “Battlefield Earth”...Both sides have agreed to an IBF junior welterweight elimination bout between Zab Judah and Vernon Paris...The WBC also mandated that its middleweight beltholder Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. face Sergio Martinez ( who had that belt ripped from his boxing trunks for no good reason) immediately (but both Chavez and Martinez had scheduled bouts on Feb. 4th and March 17th respectively). This news brought about this tweet from @FauxBobArum: “The WBC ordered two fights I don’t want to see happen: Hopkins-Dawson and especially Chavez-Martinez...While the “Super Six” takes place, the best pure slugfest at 168-pounds is taking place in Mexico between Donovan “Da Bomb” George and Librado Andrade in an IBF eliminator that will be streamed at www.att.net/boxeo starting at 9:30 PM ET/6:30 PM PT...Geez, “Sudden” Sam Hurd went all Nate Newton...
