Each week, Gerry will answer as many of your questions as he can on the Sirius/XM radio show, “Friday Night at The Fights,” a show that Gerry co-hosts with Randy “The Commish” Gordon, the former Chairman of the New York State Athletic Commission.
The show airs every Friday on Sirius channel 94 and XM channel 208 from 7 – 9 p.m., Eastern Standard Time.
Our first question this week comes from John Guilfoyle, who asks:
Hi Gerry, in his Hall of Fame induction speech, Michael Katz stated that “because of the politics involved, Gerry Cooney never became Heavyweight Champ.” I can remember Katz criticizing you for getting, what he called, “an undeserved shot” at Michael Spinks, so what did he mean by that?
Our next question comes from Jon V., who asks:
Hi Gerry, Hi Randy, long time listener, and I love the show! This week, on Jim Lampley’s new show, “The Fight Game,” Duane Ford stated, in an attempt to justify his scoring, that Bradley was landing a lot of punches on Manny’s arms and gloves. Anyone who knows anything about boxing knows that is exactly how a punch is blocked! So, if I understanding him correctly, he basically said that he was penalizing Pacquiao for blocking Bradley’s punches and this man is considered one of the best judges in the sport! Do you think anything can be done to keep people like this from ruining our sport?
Gerry answered the following questions on the air last Friday.
Our first question came from Sammy T., who asked:
Hi Gerry, based on what we’ve been seeing in boxing lately, the latest being last Saturday’s decision in the Pacquiao/Bradley fight, it got me to wondering why the Association of Boxing Commissions seems so powerless. Why should Nevada get to decide whether to call those judges to task, as an individual entity, when there is an organization in place that should be handling those things?
Randy “The Commish” Gordon was able to jump in on this one since he is a former president of the Association of Boxing Commissions. Randy pointed out that even though there is a unified set of rules issued by the Association, each state retains its right to govern what happens within its borders. Each state would have to give up that right for the Association to take charge of issues like the Bradley-Pacquiao decision.
Our next question came from Victor Q., who asked:
Hey Champ, this weekend Julio Caesar Chavez Jr. will be fighting again. A lot of people knock him and say he’s being treated with kid gloves, but I think he looks pretty good in the ring, very strong and willing to mix it up. What do you think of him?
Gerry stated he likes the young Chavez and thinks he’s a legitimate fighter although he does dry out heavily to make weight, which is not always the smartest practice. Gerry feels Chavez will eventually have to move up in weight and face guys as big as he is and that will tell the story.