Cyber Boxing Zone -- News

KEEPIN' IT REAL: JASON CHRISTIAN

PSYCHIC NOT NEEDED

When are we going to learn? Why is it that we watch a few months go by without any ugly incidents, a period that actually included some good match-ups, and we suddenly believed that our beloved sport was back on the right track?

How many more times do we have to fall prey to nonsense like what we saw this past weekend in New York before we realize that controversial situations are more the norm than the exception? Perhaps we will all learn from this latest embarrassment, but the lesson was realized the hard way.

What should have been a big step towards restoring credibility and popularity to boxing instead brought more shame to an already tainted sport. All we did was throw down $50 of our hard earned money, proving once again that we fight fans are suckers.

ONE MORE TIME

I know I'm not breaking any new ground here, but I've got to say a few words about the judges. A pass may be granted to Stanley Christodoulou who scored the bout 116-113 for Lennox Lewis. I'm of the opinion that even that three point margin was too close, but at least the South African had the right guy winning.

LARRY AND CURLY, MINUS MOE

As for the other two judges, Jean Williams and Larry O'Connell, only two explanations can be offered for their tallies. Either they were compensated for leaning favorably toward Holyfield, or their abilities to comprehend reality are so impaired that they should not be allowed in public without guardians.

Now, based on his comments since the fight that the British judge has reconsidered his decision and found it to be erroneous, I'm willing to place O'Connell in the latter category. Let's say that he suffered from temporarily delusional tendencies.

BIMBO ANOTHER STORY

Williams, on the other hand, may be guilty of being both inept and corrupt. Her demeanor in the post fight interviews was that of someone who had just pulled off a heist and had little desire to stick around the scene of the crime. However, her scoring of the fifth round went above and beyond the call of duty, even if someone were on the take.

That three minute set featured Lewis landing jabs and power punches at will, while Evander barely landed enough to reach double digits by CompuBox tallies. I don't care if she was judging the fight from under the ring, it is literally impossible to have been anywhere near this fight and have scored that round for Evander.

SHADES OF O.J.

Not since the not so honorable Lance Ito has a judge, faced with such obvious evidence, performed so incompetently. Ms. Williams should not be allowed to watch future fights, much less judge them. We can only pray that this was her final association with professional prize fighting.

Of course, I would be remiss if I were not to mention our good friend Don King. I strongly believe that, in some way or another, he had something to do with the fishy decision at The Garden. However, I also believe that no one will ever be able to prove it, and therein lies the faulty thinking when attempting to find a way to remove Don King from the boxing world.

TRULY THE "TEFLON" DON

It has become quite obvious that Mr. King will never lose a major legal battle, so it's time to stop trying to defeat him in the courts. The only way to really rid boxing of King is for fans to stop supporting his shows, and for fighters to stop signing with him.

Without control of the big money-making boxers, and without the actual money that keeps his machine in motion, Don King would be powerless, and would eventually just fade away.

IN CASE YA' DIDN'T KNOW

Interestingly enough, in the midst of all of the controversy, an actual fight took place at "The Mecca" last weekend, and Lennox Lewis won it easily. How did he do it, when so many of us thought the great warrior Holyfield would dispose of the giant Brit? He did it with intelligence, patience, and good footwork

USED GOD'S GIFT

One area in which Lewis had an obvious advantage was in size. The much taller Lewis kept Evander at bay all night with that long jab, not allowing Evander inside where Lewis would be at a decided disadvantage. However, once Lewis smartly realized that he could control the fight with his jab, he stuck with it all night long.

Sure, he hit Holyfield with some nice power punches, and even scored well with a pounding right hand lead, but he never strayed far from his original plan. Some have criticized Lewis for not going for the kill, but he really had no reason to deviate from his plan.

Lennox was dominating the fight, and opening up would have just invited Holyfield to fight his kind of fight, an in tight brawl. In fact, even when Evander tried to force his way inside, Lewis' surprisingly effective footwork often allowed him to step off to the side and avoid being trapped against the ropes or in the corners.

Although the much larger man, Lewis used his sense of spacing and movement to control the action in the ring.

LENNOX MASTERFUL

In the end, Lewis flawlessly performed the two most important tasks in boxing, landing clean punches and avoiding the shots in return. Based on that, it's difficult to consider his performance anything less than brilliant. If only two jurists would have performed as flawlessly, boxing's soiled reputation could have received a much needed upgrade in the court of public opinion.

Jason Christian

Note: The writer is a new addition to the crew here at www.fighters.com Mr. Christian can be reached with your comments at jason.christian@cwix.com