uesday, Dec. 29 4:29pm ET
Kinder, gentler boxing world?
By
Brian Kenny
Special to ESPN.com
Let's get this straight. I'm not talking about amateur bouts. I'm not talking about 4-round, 6-round or 8-round professional fights.
In world championship fights, however, a boxing contest should not be terminated until one person is either unable to continue, or is in danger of being seriously hurt.
Notice I didn't say "in danger of being hurt." Being hurt is part of the sport, and being knocked down is part of the sport. But there is a growing trend to "save" fighters before they want to be saved.
This past weekend points out that both sides lose when we grow oversensitive to professional world championship level fighters getting knocked down by other professional world championship fighters.
This past weekend, David Tua almost finished an exhilirating comeback KO over greatly-improved heavyweight Hasim Rahman. Then, on the same card, Floyd Mayweather Jr. almost had the knockout of the year against the talented and tough Angel Manfredy.
Almost.
In both fights, the referee jumped in early when a fighter was under attack on the ropes. In the case of Tua-Rahman, it came while the fighter who was winning by a significant margin was under attack. Rahman, who had fought beautifully throughout the bout, took a Tua hook clearly after the bell in the ninth round. In the 10th, Tua launched a legal assault and pinned Rahman on the ropes. Rahman had taken some clean shots, but never had his head snapped back or his legs buckled. Perhaps Tua was a few punches away from a knockdown.
It's possible, but we'll never know. Referee Telis Assimenios jumped in and stopped the fight. In his defense, Assimenios didn't have a standing 8-count at his disposal. Rules for the bout didn't permit it. Rahman was on the ropes, but was never helpless on them, or being held up by them. It didn't call for a knockdown, or a stoppage. It needed to continue.
Assimenios said he felt Rahman had taken too many shots and should've taken a knee. His heart was in the right place, but his assessment was incorrect. Rahman had given most of the punishment throughout the fight, not taken it. He hadn't been knocked down or wobbled throughout the fight! An undefeated 240-pound heavyweight in line for a title shot shouldn't be eliminated because he's having a rough minute. In this case he must be given a chance to get out of trouble.
At ringside, HBO analyst Roy Jones Jr. spoke while winking. He astutely saw that Tua capitalized on a situation that could be perceived to be more dangerous than it really was. Roy would know. His most effective tactic is to overwhelm an opponent with a blurrying avalanche of punches in a short burst, and hope a referee will leap in to save a man hiding in a shell on the ropes (see Jones-Merqui Sosa). Jones commended the compassion of the referee while still acknowledging that the public, and the fighters, deserved more.
Rahman is filing for a rematch with the IBF. Let's hope he gets it. The two men have enough time to fight again and still be ready for the Holyfield - Lewis winner in the summer.
New pound
for pound?
Now get ready to adjust your pound-for-pound ratings.
Floyd Mayweather Jr. is that good. Up there with Roy, Oscar, and above
Sugar Shane Mosely.
Sure, Angel Manfredy was taken out of the fight without getting knocked down. The difference between this stoppage and the previous one was "El Diablo" was rocked and rolled across the ring before it was done. His head did snap back. His legs did buckle. It was only a few seconds from being over, and leaving no doubt whatsoever. Instead, referee Frank Santore jumped in, halted the exhilirating Mayweather flurry and left a tiny sliver of doubt as to whether the second best fighter at 130 pounds could have survived.
The next seconds were telling. Manfredy wobbled away, offering no objection. Given a moment to clear his head, he began shouting expletives, citing "politics" for the stoppage.
That's nonsense. It's inevitable, though, when you don't let someone finish the job. Angel should've been given a chance to survive. His wins over quality world-class opposition -- Arturo Gatti, John Brown, Calvin Grove, Jorge Paez and Wilson Rodriguez -- earns him the benefit of the doubt.
Where's the
8?
In both fights, the referee was looking out for
the fighter. In both fights, the standing 8-count was not available to
them. Why would any governing body take this away? At its worst it credits
a fighter with a knockdown when none occurred. At its best it saves a fighter
from a barrage deemed dangerous by the referee, and offers some middle
ground between unanswered punches and an early stoppage.
We had that same situation on Friday Night Fights on ESPN 2 in early December. Stephane Oullet, ranked No. 2 by the WBC among middleweights, was leading fellow Canadian Matthew Hilton on our scorecards, 9 rounds to 2, going into the 12th and final round.
Hilton rocked Oullet midway through the round, and pinned him on the ropes in the final minute. Oullet leaned back on the ropes, and threw punches back in defense. A fresher Hilton may have knocked him down, but an exhausted one was unable to get enough on his power shots. He did, however manage to continue the tired attack. Oullet was unable to get off the ropes, and in jumped the referee. End of fight, with 19 seconds left!
Unfair to Oullet, who was too tired to argue too strenuously. Again, the standing 8-count was not in effect.
Whether you like your boxing to resemble a Schwarzenegger movie, or if you think it should be banned by the AMA, the standing 8-count makes sense. We have grown away from fights we often feature on our classic segments of Friday Night Fights. There's no need to get back to the poundings allowed on Jake La Motta or Sugar Ray Robinson. We don't need blood flowing or 40 unanswered shots given to helpless men.
In past months, we've seen Julio Cesar Chavez (vs. De La Hoya), Genaro Hernandez (vs. Mayweather), Jesse James Leija (vs. Mosley), and Otis Grant (vs. Jones) all take a seat well before any significant damage. Fighters see they're losing, and drop out to avoid what they see as inevitable.
There are plenty out there that still adhere to the warrior ethic. Gatti. Manfredy. Rahman. They didn't want an easy out when they fought losing efforts this month. We deserve to see those at the highest level of our sport fight to the end.