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IBF PRESIDES OVER ANOTHER TRAVESTY IN BOXING By Ronnie Nathanielsz PhilBoxing.com Mon, 20 Jul 2015  Hours after International Boxing Federation president Darryl Peoples conceded that the IBF flyweight title fight between Thai champion Amnat Ruenroeng and mandatory challenger and former light flyweight champion Johnreil Casimero was ?an ugly, horrible fight? in which referee Larry Doggett was bitterly criticized by respected boxing writers, something similar happened at the Don Haskins Convention Center in El Paso, Texas. While it wasn?t as ugly as the Ruenroeng-Casimero title showdown, the battle for the vacant IBF super flyweight title was almost as bad. To begin with the appointment of referee Rafael Ramos, a Puerto Rican by birth, to officiate in a title fight where Puerto Rican McJoe Arroyo was involved was, at the very least, a question of poor judgment on the part of IBF Championship Committee chairman Lindsey Tucker and surely undermined the integrity of the selection process. That referee Ramos inexplicably deducted a point from Villanueva for an accidental clash of heads in round six but did nothing when Arroyo opened up a nasty gash over Villanueva?s right eye when he led with his head late in the same round raises serious questions of fairness. As respected boxing writer Jim Dower of Boxing News 24 remarked ?it looked like a really bad call by referee Ramos but then again the scoring for the fight was really poor as well.? He was referring to the lopsided scorecards of judges Larry Hazzard Jr and Levi Martinez who turned in identical tallies of 98-91 when referee Ramos called a halt in the 10th round because of the nasty cut on King Arthur?s right eye even though the Filipino protested and said he could continue. Significantly the stoppage at 2:05 of the tenth round came at a time when the fight was heading towards Villanueva?s direction according to Rappler and Ring Magazine?s Ryan Songalia. Songalia quoted ?Highly-regarded boxing writer Michael Woods? who referred to Villanueva as "the guy who deserved the victory," while writer Scott Christ scored the fight 95-94 for Villanueva but added: "This was a fight where Villanueva was ineffectively busier, while Arroyo was arguably slightly more effective, not that it took a lot, but with far less output." The stoppage on the recommendation of the ring doctor came at a time when Villanueva was getting the better of Arroyo with referee Ramos ignoring the fact that the cut was caused by a head-butt from Arroyo for which he wasn?t penalized. Significantly, Jim Dower who has no allegiance to either fighter said ?I scored it for King Arthur who was the more active guy and the fighter that landed more.? The Compubox stats supported his contention as Ryan Songalia of Rappler and Ring Magazine and a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America who reported that Villanueva (27-1, 14 knockouts) was the busier fighter, throwing 494 and landing 95, while Arroyo (17-0, 8 KOs) threw just 278 and landed 77. Villanueva's straight right hands were his best work of the fight, particularly in the earlier rounds, while Arroyo waited for counterpunch opportunities that materialized infrequently. If the reaction of fight fans who booed the decision lustily and for a longtime was any indication, then as Jim Dower reported ?they appeared to see it as a robbery since Villanueva landed more shots and was the much busier fighter while Arroyo clinched constantly.? Well known mouth-guard specialist Dr. Ed de la Vega who has been around the fight scene for some years now said respected Showtime commentators Mario Ranullo, Al Berstein and Paulie Malignaggi stated the scores were not fair and the result should have been different from that of the three judges. Shades of the Ruenroeng-Casimero fight where the Thai was guilty of long spells of holding with one lasting as long as 40 seconds while using a Muay Thai-MMA style takedown no less than eight times, in the process injuring Casimero who gamely battled the odds. When we spoke to Darryl Peoples after the fights at the Cotai Arena in Macau on Saturday about what the IBF was doing about the travesty of the foul-filled Ruennroeng-Casimero title fight he told us ?we didn?t want to penalize Casimero so we looked at it and left him at No.1. He is going to be in a position to fight at least in an eliminator? pointing out that ?the timing is very important. We have to inform the champion so if he doesn?t have enough time for him (Casimero) to fight an eliminator he is going to be the mandatory.? Asked when asked when an eliminator could happen, Peoples replied ?we are not quite sure what will happen with the eliminator. Amnat has nine months before his mandatory, so if he doesn?t do his optional within seven months then we have to notify him there?s a good possibility he will fight a mandatory? against Casimero. We pursued the question as to why Casimero has to fight an eliminator when he already did so and won against Puerto Rico?s Santos in one round only to be disadvantaged in a title fight which deserved a rematch. Peoples said ?he may not have to.? Photo: Referee Rafael Ramos deducts a point from Arthur Villanueva of the Philippines in the eventful sixth round during the IBF world title fight between Villanueva and Puerto Rico's McJoe Arroyo where later in the round Arroyo headbutted Villanueva that opened a huge cut above Villanueva's right eye. Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ronnie Nathanielsz.  |
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