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04/13/2006 Archived Entry: "A Foul Stench in the Desert"
A Foul Stench in the Desert
By Juan C. Ayllon
Photo by Mariane Iamele,
as modified by Juan C. Ayllon
LAS VEGAS – It’s not as if fouling is anything new or particularly startling to boxing principals.
For instance, in 1927, former Heavyweight Champion Jack Dempsey hit a surging Jack Sharkey low and, as Sharkey dropped his hands to complain to the ref, finished him with a vicious left hook to the jaw. In 1962, Emile Griffith defeated Jorge Jose Fernandez with a low blow, as Fernandez could not continue and Griffith was ahead on the scorecards. In 2000, Felix Trinidad used the low blow to good effect not once, but several times to derail strong surges by Fernando Vargas en route to stopping him in the 12th round.
Thus, it should come as no surprise that on April 8th, when Floyd Mayweather, Jr. appeared on the cusp of a stoppage victory, Zab Judah dug himself out of trouble with a whistling left hook into Mayweather’s groin. However, what followed was particularly troubling: Judah teed off with a dangerous—and illegal—right to the back of the head, where the vulnerable brain stem is located, while Mayweather was temporarily defenseless.
At a time when two ring deaths are still fresh in the collective memory—Levander Johnson in September and Kevin Payne in March—while Chicago’s Giuseppe Kidd struggles daily to recover from nearly dying in August, surely the act of Floyd’s uncle, Roger Mayweather, illegally storming the ring to intervene after Referee Richard Steele called “Time” is understandable, if not entirely pardonable.
A small riot ensued and, after order was restored, Mayweather went on to win the bout and the IBF and Vacant IBF Welterweight Titles by unanimous decision.
According to the Baltimore Sun, Steele maintained that rules in Nevada gave him discretion on whether or not to disqualify Mayweather, saying, “For this fight to end on a disqualification, we felt it wasn’t warranted. We kept the fight going. We gave the fans their money’s worth. We took all the ‘ifs’ out of it.”
Now, if this isn’t bad enough, with an investigation under way by the Nevada Athletic Commission, Judah’s promoter Don King is demanding the disqualification of Mayweather because of his uncle’s actions.
And we wonder why boxing suffers so in the eyes of the public?
When there is a dearth of superstars, a shrinking fan base, and a specter of corruption choking the sport of boxing, the last thing we need is the efforts of one of its premier promoters trying to dismiss a masterful performance in this manner. It is unconscionable and a naked act of brazen subterfuge to serve short term financial interests, at best.
When it comes down to it, technically correct or not, it appears like an old fashioned money grab.
Granted, Roger Mayweather’s entrance into the ring was illegal and needs to be dealt with appropriately. However, the irony is hard to miss: King’s guy, Judah, commits a double foul, the second being the kind that threatened the life of heavyweight boxer Joe Mesi with bleeding on the brain versus Vassiliy Jirov in March 2004, yet King wants to take away Mayweather’s title on the technicality that Mayweather’s second entered the ring illegally.
That’s almost like an attacker crying foul and demanding justice after his rape and possible homicide of a fair maiden is foiled at the last second when her uncle conks him on the head with an unregistered gun.
Something’s foul, all right. And the smell is not coming from a boxing ring in Nevada.
