Attardo doesn't need fighting chance
Tommy Attardo is the poster boy for full employment of the Boxing Severity Index.
Attardo is a tough but shopworn 37-year-old ex-fighter who may be allowed back into the ring Friday night in the employ of Brockton promoter Rich Cappiello after a well-earned two-year layoff. Even if it had been 20 years, Attardo no more belongs in the ring at the Shaw Center in Brockton against Mike Culbert than Cappiello does, yet the Massachusetts Boxing Commission may reluctantly lift his long-standing suspension because a neurologist in Rhode Island allegedly gave Attardo an EEG (brain wave test) this week that, according to Cappiello, ''Tommy passed."
Attardo wouldn't pass an eye test if you've seen him fight and know anything about impaired fighters. Worse, Attardo failed the BSI test created by Dr. Flip Homansky, a long-time ringside physician in Las Vegas, who is a member of the Nevada State Athletic Commission.
Attardo is well known and admired in local boxing circles for his toughness and his love of a sport that has never loved him back. He gave his all in each of his 25 fights but the results have not been easy. Although he began his career 8-0, he is now 10-14-1, having lost 14 of his last 16 fights and the last seven in a row. He has been knocked out in three of his last seven fights and hasn't beaten anyone since May 24, 2002.
Cappiello has matched him against another fighter trying to launch a comeback, 39-year-old Culbert, but there is a significant difference between the two. Culbert is 29-4-1 and went six rounds with Roberto Duran nine years ago. Although he's had only one fight in the past two years, Culbert is 8-0-1 in his last nine and his last victory came April 29 over (honest) Michael Corleone (did The Godfather know about that?).
Cappiello insisted yesterday Attardo had been training hard and deserved another chance and that he had been careful to match him with ''the lightest hitter around here." When asked why he would feel the need to do that, Cappielloi didn't have an answer.
Nick Manzello and Gary Litchfield, two of the three members of the Massachusetts Boxing Commission, said yesterday they were reluctant to see Attardo back in the ring but Manzello said they might have no choice if Attardo passed the required medical exams. Litchfield felt it should take more than that.
''They can't just fax us an EEG and say he's fine," Litchfield said. ''I need more than that or I'm not in favor of him fighting."
Homansky's test takes into account a fighter's age, number of rounds, recent record and recent knockouts to come up with a risk number for future injury. Attardo scored in the highest risk for injury category, High Risk A, with a score of plus 7. The highest possible number in the BSI is plus 9.
The BSI is used by at least five state commissions and soon will be adopted by the Association of Boxing Commissions. The test's five factors are:
If you have one or fewer fights over the past two years, plus 1. Count Attardo in.
If you've lost five or more fights in a row, plus 2. Count Attardo in.
If you've been KO'd or TKO'd three times or fewer in the last two years you were active, plus 2. Count Attardo in.
If you're older than 35, plus 1. Count Attardo in.
If you've fought more than five years as a pro, plus 1. Count Attardo in.
That BSI factor puts Attardo in the highest risk category. That being the case, the BSI suggests ''further clinical evaluation by the commission and their medical advisory board before licensure." However, it goes on to point out, ''this scale is not meant to replace good judgment but to be utilized as one objective tool to determine suitability to compete."
Reached in Las Vegas, Homansky said of Attardo's EEG, ''That doesn't prove anything except that he hasn't had a seizure. It's a brain wave test. It gives no indication whether he's at greater risk or has brain impairment. Has he had an MRI? Has he had other neurological tests?"
Homansky went on to say, ''If tests alone could answer this kind of question then we wouldn't see people having heart attacks after they've just had an EKG. You have to use some judgment. Look at the guy. The best test is people knowledgeable in the sport getting a medical report together and using their experience and best judgment."
When that latter point is factored in, the words of the promoter seem to damn Attardo.
''We all agreed in the Commission office a month ago that if he passed his EEG they'd give him a chance in one fight and then evaluate his performance," Cappiello said. ''He passed. He wouldn't fight on my show if he didn't pass all the tests.
''He's well rested. He's had two years off. He's in great shape. He wants to box again. I felt he deserved an opportunity.
''I don't have him in over his head. Mike's a light puncher. If I felt if he was at risk, I wouldn't let him fight. I found the lightest puncher around."
The fact Cappiello admits to being careful is damning evidence because a light puncher can do damage to an impaired opponent. Because a light puncher lacks the power to knock Attardo out quickly, it only adds to the number of punches Attardo might take to the head before the fight is stopped.
''Look, I understand where people are coming from," Cappiello said. ''I know he's lost a lot of fights but they agreed if he passed his medical test they'd give him another chance. Now all of a sudden they're getting panicky. Mike's 39 himself. Just because he's [been] winning doesn't mean he's fighting any better [than Attardo]. I'm taking the responsibility as the promoter."
Sure he is. And Tommy Attardo, a plus 7 on the Boxing Severity Index out of a possible plus 9, is taking the risk. All the risks. Manzello, Litchfield, and Ben Doherty, who head the troubled Mass. Commission, should remember that.
Short jabs
It is not just Cappiello's card that has problems. On the same night, fledgling promoter Andrew Kravitz and long-time matchmaker/trainer/manager Vinnie ''The Hat" Vecchione are running a card at the IBEW Hall in Dorchester. Among those on the card is undefeated Gerry Grelish (2-0). He should still be undefeated when the night is over because he's mismatched against a 39-year-old from Waterbury, Vt., named Jim Combs, who has lost 16 of his last 17 fights on his way to a 3-16 record. His one win since 1993 came against Richard Zola five years ago, when Zola was 3-11-2. According to BoxingRecords.com, Combs hasn't fought since Feb. 2, 2002, when he was knocked out in the first round. And how about this for coincidence? He lost to Attardo March 28, 1997. He is 1-8 against Massachusetts opponents and has lost twice to three fighters, Shaun Cregan, Robert Genese, and Ryan Conway. You want to know where he is on the BSI scale? He's off the scale. Yet that's one of the six listed bouts on that show Friday night? If these kind of matches are going to continue, why not just shut down the Commission since they're not regulating anything but how many comps they can get at ringside . . . This month is the sad, fifth anniversary of the passing of a brave Massachusetts fighter named Bobby Tommasello . . . Some times the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. Old friend Beau Williford, once a world rated heavyweight, reports his son Christian is a three-time Louisiana Golden Gloves champion and is ranked seventh in the country in USA Boxing's Junior Olympic ratings at 176 pounds . . . At a recent panel discussion in Atlantic City with the Association of Ringside Physicians, boxers Calvin Brock, Monte Barrett and Brian Adams discussed safety issues, including the use of 20-ounce training gloves for all sparring to reduce injuries. Then Brock brought up a powerful point, stating that there is such a stigma to a fighter quitting in the ring that it forces many to face further risk, even after they know all is lost. ''There needs to be less criticism of a fighter when he knows he's had enough and is near to being knocked out," Brock said. ''Once in the amateurs I knew one or two more punches and I'd be knocked out and I told the referee I'd had it. I was criticized for years because of that. It kept being brought up as if I had no heart. There should be nothing wrong with living to fight another day." Barrett added that when there are 20,000 people in an arena, it is foolish to expect the competitors to locate the ringside doctor and let him or her know they've had enough, and it is nearly impossible to do it in the corner while surrounded by handlers. As one doctor in attendance pointed out, ''I can count on one hand the number of times the corner has thrown in the white towel. We as physicians have to take more leadership in this. We can't expect the fighter to tell us." . . . Roy Jones Jr. was more introspective than he had been in a long time early last Sunday morning, about 90 minutes after he'd lost for the third straight time by a wide margin to light heavyweight champion Antonio Tarver in Tampa. After first exhibiting a scaled-down version of his usual bravado for the public, Jones stood with an old friend and talked about the slippage he has had to deal with at age 36. ''He wouldn't beat me in my prime," Jones said defiantly of Tarver. ''It's a little bit hard," he said. ''My reflexes are a little slower but God brings these things for a reason. It's made me more interesting [to the public]." Jones insisted that despite his third straight defeat, the fact he avoided being knocked out for the third straight time was encouraging enough that he plans to continue fighting if he can find big-money fights. ''I could win some title easy but I'm in the mega-fight business," Jones said. ''It's hard to quit after two knockouts. You can't go out like that. Now I went 12 rounds with the champion after being taken out on a stretcher in my last fight. It wasn't like he walked away with it. If he knocked me out [again] I would have stopped for sure but now I'm on an incline and you can't quit on an incline. It's a matter of going back and correcting a few things. One or two more fights and I can beat Antonio. Maybe Tarver and me can do it a fourth and fifth time." . . . Tarver said he would fight Jones again because he believes it's the only big-money fight left for him in the 175-pound division. ''I'll tell you what I'm about," Tarver said. ''I'm about money."Boo Byrd
International Boxing Federation heavyweight champion Chris Byrd didn't help his marketability with a boring victory over DaVarryl Williamson last weekend in Reno. The crowd was booing almost from the opening bell. And people say John Ruiz is dreadful to watch. Byrd feels he has yet to receive the recognition he's earned by being the longest reigning heavyweight champion. ''I feel I'm the best heavyweight in the world," he said. ''Period. I used to be crazy about being the best, No. 1. I wanted to be considered the No. 1 heavyweight in the world. But now, at this point in my career, how things have been going in my career and not getting certain fights and people ducking me, I just concentrate on who I am in boxing. I don't worry about the unification thing. You can't make somebody fight you. Whatever happens, happens. To fight three times in three years is crazy. It's been disappointing to the point of sometimes you get frustrated and really just want to retire. I've been to that point but God is faithful so I just keep plugging along. I have to remain patient and fights will happen but it's been disappointing. It's mentally draining. The business side of boxing is horrible. I think it's taken my best years of boxing. If I would have been very active the last three years, with two or three fights a year, you would have seen some really good fights. Really special skills." . . . Saturday night fireworks will go off on Showtime when Diego Corrales and Jose Luis Castillo face off in a rematch of what appears to have been the fight of the year last spring. Corrales and Castillo went toe-to-toe for 10 rounds before a battered and bloody Corrales got up off the floor and stopped Castillo, just when it appeared he was out on his feet. Now the two are back in Las Vegas for a rematch which figures to be just as electric as the first fight . . . Vernon Forrest, the former welterweight champion, is funding housing in Atlanta for five homeless New Orleans families at the Amerisuites Hotel . . . Providence's Peter Manfredo gets his chance to avenge a loss in the finals of ''The Contenders" television series Oct. 15 at
