The ultimate -- embarrassment
Bout is merely latest black eye
LAS VEGAS -- The Nevada State Athletic Commission is losing longtime executive director Marc Ratner to the Ultimate Fighting Championship organization May 15. Thursday, it will decide if boxing is going to give in to it as well.
International Boxing Federation welterweight champion Zab Judah was trailing badly and taking a shellacking from Floyd Mayweather Jr. late in the 10th round of Saturday night's world title fight at the Thomas and Mack Center when the soon-to-be-deposed champion rifled a low blow. As Mayweather doubled over in pain, Judah followed with an illegal punch to the back of the head as referee Richard Steele jumped between them, which is when a real problem broke out.
As the boxers quietly walked to neutral corners and Steele called for a five-minute timeout to allow Mayweather to compose himself, the undefeated challenger's uncle and trainer, Roger, suddenly bolted into the ring after Steele. Hot on his heels came a second Mayweather cornerman, who soon headed in Judah's direction. As he did, Judah's father-trainer, Yoel, charged as well, and a near-riot ensued. Las Vegas police and arena security reacted quickly to quell what seemed an ugly and potentially dangerous end to what had been a brilliant night of boxing by Mayweather.
Steele later said he did not consider the low blow intentional and never saw the rabbit punch. He did say he saw Mayweather's father charge into the ring, which violated NSAC rules and the norms of the sport, but he did not immediately disqualify the fighter, as he had the power to do once his uncle stepped on the ring apron. Why only he knows, but the smart money is he knew a riot would break out if he did act forthrightly.
Eventually, cooler heads prevailed, the fighters touched gloves after the ring was cleared, and then they embraced before the final round of a fight Mayweather won by a wide margin. Only problem was, nearly everyone in boxing believed Mayweather should have been disqualified.
Ratner and deputy state attorney Keith Kizer, who is set to replace him, tried to tap dance around what happened after the elder Mayweather was banished from the corner and the purses of the fighters were withheld pending the conclusion of Thursday's hearing. Ratner said the full commission would review tapes and likely fine and suspend Mayweather's uncle, but he and Kizer also began almost immediately laying the groundwork for doing what boxing so often does -- making a fool of itself and a mockery of its rules -- by arguing that because Steele had called time, the entrance of Mayweather's uncle and the second cornerman with five seconds left in the round was perhaps not grounds for a DQ.
According to Ratner, NSAC rules state the referee ''may" disqualify a fighter if his cornermen enter the ring during a round but claimed it was at the referee's discretion. It is universally accepted that a cornerman cannot do any such thing, however, and if he does even step onto the ring apron during a round the fight is over. That's because it is distracting, could cause injury, and, as it did Saturday night, may give his fighter an unfair advantage and thus is interpreted as a sign of surrender.
After the low blow, Mayweather was supposed to get a five-minute break. Because of the melee caused by his uncle, he got more than twice that amount of time, a fact that may have helped the beaten-up Judah more than Mayweather, but that is not the point. Judah's bombastic promoter, Don King, immediately insisted he would appeal to both the NSAC and the IBF, claiming Mayweather's uncle, a former world champion himself, ''done disqualified the fight. The world witnessed it. irrespective of who the winner should or should not be, when Roger Mayweather went into the ring, he disqualified his fighter. He challenged the referee, and someone from Mayweather's camp was choking my fighter. The integrity of the Nevada Athletic Commission is at stake. Whatever they do I'll live with, but it's a sad commentary."
As King droned on, Mayweather's promoter, Bob Arum, took the microphone to reiterate that the decision to disqualify Mayweather was up to the discretion of Steele. But King chimed in, ''I understand discretionary powers, but follow the rules. They can say whatever they want, but if they don't disqualify Mayweather, they'll be the laughingstock of the world. This is why our sport is going downhill. They can do whatever they want, but if they try and whitewash this, they'll only hurt themselves."
Kizer kept saying, ''The referee may, in his sole discretion, disqualify a fighter if a person enters the ring during a round" and then postulated that because Steele called timeout, there was a question whether the cornermen were improperly in the ring. Since a melee insued, one would think even a lawyer might find that improper, because this is still supposed to be a prizefight, not a street fight.
Ratner did say of the elder Mayweather, ''Evidently, he lost his mind," but Kizer was soon doing what they always do in Nevada: talking about the money. He said Mayweather's trainer could be heavily fined or suspended for a lengthy period, which he claimed would be a ''deterrent."
Ratner even raised the specter of the need to disqualify both fighters because of the entry of Judah's father into the ring, saying, ''It wouldn't be fair to disqualify one over the other." That would be true if both entered at the same time, but a review of the video showed they didn't. Two of Mayweather's cornermen were in the ring before anyone from Judah's corner moved.
When Judah's father entered the fray, both of Mayweather's cornermen went for him. That is when Judah is seen circling them and landing a punch on each man's head, the second of which dropped Roger Mayweather. That's the most damage any Judah did to any Mayweather all night, but to compare the two is ludicrous. Would Yoel Judah have come into the ring if Mayweather's cornermen were not already there?
''That's why we'll look frame-by-frame," Ratner said. ''I saw a low blow. I saw Roger go into the ring, and I saw another cornerman. But no, I don't think we'd overturn the decision. There was fault on both sides."
Not according to Steele, who said he did not believe the low blow was intentional. Others questioned that, but clearly that is within his discretion. Nevada now says whether or not to DQ a fighter is, too, even if his cornerman rushes into the ring, charges the referee and the opponent, creates a near-riot, and nets his man twice as much rest as legal. If that's not enough to DQ a fighter, what must a cornerman do? Brandish a gun?
Thursday, the commission has not only the opportunity but the duty to bring the nonsense to an end. If Mayweather was disqualified for the actions of his cornermen, what would it mean to him? Nothing, really. No one, including Judah, has any doubt who dominated the fight. He would still be paid, and even if Judah retained the title, the IBF could, and should, mandate an immediate rematch that would net both a big payday (but with no reason to assume Mayweather wouldn't win again).
''DQ the fighter and let him whip his ass again," King said of Mayweather. ''The boy is a great fighter."
That is the saddest part of this. Mayweather's greatness was obscured by his uncle's lunacy. Regardless of that, the NSAC should make clear in the most emphatic way that while Ratner may be moving on to officiate the madness that is UFC's few-holds-barred mayhem, the boxing commission he used to run is not. 