WBA disgraces itself again, Gloria Martinez-Rizzo needs to go

When Gabriel Maestre was “judged” the winner over Mykal Fox last weekend, I blinked a few times, shook my head, and rolled my eyes.

Know why?

Boxing and bad decisions go hand in hand.

Take Fox. He was the “B” side, a term I hate with a passion. B side for bunk. The guy came to win. Most do. When they get jobbed, it’s horrific.

Fox was a late replacement on the Premier Boxing card. His record wasn’t bad, but his chances of winning seemed close to nil. Especially with what was stacked against him.

Everything.

But on fight night, Fox outboxed WBA champion Maestre with ease. His jab was on point. He dropped Maestre in round two.

Fox won the fight, right?

No. Two ringside judges scored the bout 115-112 and 114-113. The third, Gloria Martinez-Rizzo, saw Maestre, the “A” side and WBA fighter, winning 117-110. The crowd booed loudly. Fans watching the broadcast complained.

Ringside commentators Lennix Lewis and Joe Goossen criticized the judges.

Martinez-Rizzo is married to WBA executive Richard Rizzo. A WBA official was in Maestre’s corner.

In other words, the books were cooked.

A mere hours later, racist tweets attributed to Martinez-Rizzo from 2019 were uncovered by boxingscene.com writer Corey Erdman. In the tweets, Martinez-Rizzo referred to former first lady Michelle Obama as “monkey face.” In another, she told basketball star Lebron James to “go back to the stable.”

Fox, who is African-American, said, "Wow. I was never gonna win on her card."

To be completely transparent, I have no independent evidence that Martinez-Rizzo has scored negatively against African-American fighters in previous fights she’s judged.

The tweets speak for themselves.

“The review of the fight was ordered immediately,” said Mendoza. “Based on the preliminary scorecards received indicates a direct rematch could be ordered. The judges were also accepted by the Minnesota Commission, will be interviewed individually.”

The statement on the surface is ridiculous. ”A direct rematch COULD be ordered.” Could? Get outta here. And the most laughable “The judges, were also accepted by the Minnesota Commission, will be interviewed individually.”

Oh. In other words, since the commission accepted the judges, it’s their fault. Not the WBA for breeding incompetence.

And corruption.

The WBA knows those words fluently.

Forty years ago, in an article by Sports Illustrated, a judge claimed he was influenced by WBA president Mendoza to judge certain fighters competing for titles more favorably. Bribes were also mentioned. Promoters paid to get their fighters ranked.

I won’t even go into the WBA’s preference for champions (four in each division), super and interim champions. Hint: Follow the money.

Happily, and I will admit in a surprise move, the WBA announced it was suspending Mendoza-Rizzo for six months.

"We saw her score was wrong despite the unanimous decision," Mendoza told ESPN. "Those comments she made in the past -- she might be expelled by the WBA."

OK WBA. Talk is cheap. Let’s see if they follow through.