|
It was one ugly week for boxing. Fixed fights. Bribes. Drugged boxers. And then to cap it all off a scoring screw-up at a weekend fight at the MGM Grand cost a featherweight fighter a championship title. You have to wonder when the sport will get its act together. You`d think Bud Selig was in charge or something.
What will now forever be known as "Black Eye Week" started when boxing promoter Robert Mittleman pleaded guilty in Las Vegas to two counts of sports bribery and one count of bribing a public official. Basically he was fixing fights and then brilliantly tried to pay a federal prosecutor and judge $15,000 to have the case against his boxer dismissed. Not a smart move. At least pony up a bit more green, buddy.
Here`s how it apparently went down. Mittleman says he was contacted by Danish boxing promoter Mogens Palle to fix a fight. Mittleman then arranged for heavyweight boxer Thomas "Top Dawg" Williams to lose to Brian Nielsen in Denmark on March 31, 2000. Williams, as planned, went down in the third round and received $40,000 from Palle for throwing the fight and Mittleman was paid peanuts -- $1,000 to set it up, the plea document states.
Later that year Mittleman was at it again. This time it was promoter Robert Mitchell who asked for the favor and Mittleman and his straw house punching bag agreed. Williams dove again in an Aug. 12, 2000 first-round loss to Richie Melito Jr. in Las Vegas and collected $15,000 to kiss the canvas early. Mittleman again pocketed his grand.
Mittleman got himself in more trouble in 2003 when he bribed and then greased the hand of an undercover officer giving him a tidy $3,000 down-payment to make things disappear after learning Williams had been indicted on federal sports bribery charges. The cop wasn`t on the make.
So now Mr. Fix It faces up to 20 years in prison and a $500,000 fine. He has agreed to testify in the August trial against his professional flopper Williams and set up man Mitchell, while Palle, the Danish promoter, denies he ever fixed boxing matches.
But then more bad boxing news surfaced from the heavyweight world. Wladimir Klitschko`s camp has asked for an investigation into the boxer`s fifth-round knockout loss to Lamon Brewster claiming Klitschko was drugged prior to the April 10 fight at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, according to a letter Klitschko`s attorney sent to the U.S. Attorney`s office. Lab work conducted by the Nevada Athletic Commission showed no abnormalities in Klitschko`s blood and his handler`s claims appear to be false.
A Las Vegas Review-Journal boxing writer quoted Marc Ratner, executive director of the Nevada commission, responding to the allegations as saying, "It saddens me that I`m talking about a fighter who was beat three weeks ago (over) a story that has no validity when I have one the best fights of the year this week."
Aahh, so let`s talk about that one. Ratner was referring to the Juan Manuel Marquez - Manny Pacquiao bout on Saturday (May 8) at the MGM Grand. In the first round Pacquiao knocked down WBA/IBF featherweight champ Marquez three times in the opening round. The fight wound up going the distance and Marquez retained his titles after it was declared a draw. The problem here was judge Burt Clements scored the first 10-7 for Pacquiao, when he other two judges put it at 10-6 as he should have. Clements later owned up to the mistake saying he didn`t know he was able to score a round 10-6.
"I just screwed up," he admitted later to the media. "Had I been aware of it, I would have scored it 10-6. I feel badly because I dropped the ball, plain and simple."
Alright the first rule of judging anything, whether it`s Tiddle Winks or hopscotch, know the damn rules. This is why boxing is lacking credibility. It`s become a joke and with each passing scandal you start to wonder what is more real, boxing or Vince McMahon`s WWE sideshow? But that`s exactly what professional boxing has become with its whiney ear-biting boxers, money-grabbing promoters and fight-fixing fighters. It`s time for boxing to clean up its sorry act.
|
|
|
3 comments - join this discussion...
|
|
|
|
|
|
