EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH TEXAS FIGHT JUDGE GALE VAN HOY
Gale Van Hoy was [expletive] it to me. Excuse my french, OK, but he bent me over and he [expletive] me. I said before the fight this guy does not ever, ever go against a Texas fighter in the state of Texas. He knew I was complaining about him and what did he do? He did it to me on purpose. Because there’s no way anybody won that fight 118-110. I didn’t beat Juan 118-110 and Juan didn’t beat me 118-110.
“Boxing has no [expletive] integrity, man. It’s been happening for years. That’s why this sport has no popularity left. Nobody watches this s**t because every year, it’s decisions like this, and probably even worse than this … where people get [expletive] constantly.”—Paulie Malignaggi.
“That landslide of 118-110, what is that? What is that? We don’t need that,” Oscar De La Hoya said. “It was a closer fight. There’s no doubt about that. I just have to say that, Paulie, you have a tremendous heart. You’re one heck of a fighter. Houston really appreciates your heart and your devotion.”-
Veteran boxing judge and former construction union leader Gale Van Hoy was in the middle of a firestorm BEFORE he judged Saturday night’s Paulie Malignaggi-Juan Diaz HBO bout in Houston.
(AP Photo)
The voluble Malignaggi served public notice BEFORE he entered the ring against the Golden Boy promoter hometown hero that he felt he was being “set up” for a hometown decision defeat.
Not only that, Malignaggi named names, citing 75 year-old Texan Gale Van Hoy and California import Raul Caiz Sr. as mere tools for Oscar de la Hoya’s outfit.
That preflight controversy was a brush fire compared to raging inferno that erupted after Diaz posted a unanimous decision on a score of 118-110 (Van Hoy), 116-112 (Dave Sutherland of Oklahoma) and 115-113 (Caiz).
The lightning rod now is Van Hoy’s excessively wide margin. Even de la Hoya took a postfight pot shot at that tally.
(Ironically, it was Oscar as the promoter whose $1,800 check paid Van Hoy for his judging chores on the fight.)
Personally, my view from the couch to the TV left me with as 115-113 Diaz score. If you say Malignaggi won by a point or two, I wouldn’t spit in your face or anything.
But even Ray Charles could see that Malignaggi did not lose eight rounds and win only four.
Say what you want about his scoring but I spoke exclusively to the man in the middle of the boxing brouhaha bright and early Monday morning and Van Hoy ducked no questions.
Speaking from his home in Dickinson, Tx., Van Hoy admitted his scoring was off the mark but stuck to his guns about Diaz being the rightful winner.
“Oscar is probably right. I could have messed up, I’m human,” Van Hoy told Examner.com and Boxingconfidential.
“I never claimed to be perfect but I’m not a hometown judge. I’ve done 65 or so world title fights. I’ve done fights involving Manny Pacquiao, Floyd Mayweather and Kostya Tszyu. I did a Paulie fight in Little Rock, an eight rounder and I gave Paulie six or seven rounds. He doesn’t remember or mention that.”
Van Hoy said he viewed Maliganggi’s jab and dash tactics as being less effective than Diaz’s constant aggression.
“I am not infallible but this is how I saw it. Maybe, in retrospect, I was wide in my score, maybe I was off by a round or two. Paulie’s got a good jab but it kept hitting Juan’s gloves. There was not enough power in those jab.”
Van Hoy emphasized that he does not Diaz personally and hears only good things about Maliganggi.
“Laurence Cole (who refereed two of the three TV bouts) tells me that Paulie is one of the nicest guys in the world.”
The preflight rap against him was misplaced, Van Hoy said.
“Paulie talked about the Chris John-Rocky Juarez title fight in Houston,” Van Hoy said. “Caiz was a judge on that one also but what people forget is that all three of us scored that fight a draw.”
Most observers felt that the Indonsesian visitor, John, was robbed of victory in Juarez’s hometown although he did go home with his world title belt.
Someone who Van Hoy thinks is not such a nice guy is HBO’s unofficial judge Harold Lederman. Lederman was outspoken in saying Malignaggi got cheated.
“I know Harold for 30 years. He and his wife, they love Paulie. He shouldn’t have been so ugly to me. He’s such a good friend of Paulie’s so how can he be objective? I just feel Harold didn’t have to be so nasty to me.”
Question Van Hoy’s judgement, damned right I do. So can you.
But I won’t question the man’s honesty or integrity. I don’t think he was “bought” for $1,800.
The man answered all my questions when he didn’t have to.
He admits he likely made a human error.
Step down, next case.
