?Ladies and gentleman, we have?a split decision after 12 rounds.
?Judge Jerry Roth scores it 115-112 for Manny Pacquiao?Judge Duane Ford scores it 116-114 for Juan Manuel Marquez?
Here Michael Buffer takes a suitably dramatic pause before speaking again.
?And judge Dick Flaherty scores it 118-109 for the winner and still WBC super featherweight champion of the world?Juan Manuel Marquez.?
This could very well be the nightmarish declaration Buffer reads to the thousands at Mandalay Bay and to the millions of Pinoys watching around the world along about 9 p.m. March 15.
It may have been completely unintentional but the WBC and the Nevada commission have allowed Flaherty, a former Boston cop, into deciding what may be the most important boxing watch of 2008. They?ve thrown a wild card into the Manny Pacquiao-Juan Ma deck and they may regret it for a long time.
Flaherty, who is in his 70s, is one of the most inconsistent and erratic judges in the world. He is almost as bad a referee but, in this particular case, he can affect only the fortunes not the health of these two great fighters.
I?m not saying this experienced official is the worst judge in his home state of Massachusetts but he is probably in a tie with four others for that unwanted crown. I guess political hacks appoint other hacks to the Commonwealth?s commission and then those hacks hire other hacks as judges and referees. Whatever the cause, the officiating in the Bay State is woeful.
Let me add that Flaherty is a nice guy, honest as can be and that my best friend from childhood days is close to him. So there is nothing personal in my diatribe here. In fact, this is a story I would prefger not to write but too much is at stake here for Messrs. Marquez and Pacquiao.
Want some examples of how Flaherty could easily miscall Pacman-Juan Ma? There is plenty of prior evidence.
Let?s start with the controversial first bout between Sam Peter and James Toney. The only person in the free world who tabbed it 9-3 for the Nigerian was, you guessed it, Flaherty. This was a bout which produced a media postfight poll in which 28 of 29 journalists said Toney won.
For more recent ineptitude, look to the stirring Jaidon Codrington-Sakio Bika ?Contender? finale on ESPN. Codrington, who was stopped in the bout, was on the floor when Bika threw a punch at him. No warning, no penalty, no nothing by Flaherty.
Flaherty has been officiating poorly for a long while. Journalist Michael Woods wrote once about seeing a 1996 bout in Massachusetts in which a local yokel was aggressive but not effectively aggressive against an outsider. Flaherty, of course, had local yokel way in front at the finish.
This is the same Flaherty who, in speaking to fight writer and fellow ex-cop Bob Maldinich, answered critics of his ridiculous Peter-Toney ballot this way: ?My record speaks for itself. Fact is, I always give 110 percent. My eyes and my mind are totally focused on what is going on in the ring. I have tremendous faith in my ability to officiate fairly and objectively.?
Now, if Tom Kaczmarek says that, it?s one thing but Dick Flaherty gasses himself?
I saved what I think is the worst for last. On August 5, 2006, Kassim Ouma posted a 10-round decision over Sechew Powell in New York. I was at the fight Reliable judge Syteve Weisfeld saw it 97-93 and Tony Paolillo called it 96-94. So you had two judge just four points apart in a 10-round bout.
Then came Flaherty?s stunner.
In his wisdom, Flaherty called it a 100-90 shutout or 10-0 in rounds for Ouma. What this means is that he and Weisfeld were an astonishing eight points apart after 10 rounds. In other words, Weisfed tabbed it 6-4 for Ouma while incredibly Flaherty called a shutout.
Oh, I’ve got another eye opener on Flaherty .This once came during 2000 in New Orleans when Roy Jones turned back Eric Harding by decision. Judge Kenny Saintes favored RJJ by seven points while Barry Oregon had him in front by four points.
Sticking out like a sore thumb–again–weas Flaherty who barely gave it to Jones with a 96-94 tally. How could he and Saintes be five points apart in a 12-rounder? I don’t recall any special controversy or dispute on that one which makes it all the more remakable.
Flaherty seems to be out of sync with his peers quite often.
Manny Pacquiao, accept Dick Flaherty at your peril. If Team Pacquiao accepts this judge, then a robbery by pencil is likely to happen.
Beware the Ides of March, especially when Flaherty is giving official pen and paper.
I?d rather be judged by Pontius Pilate than by Flaherty.
He may be Pacman?s worst professional nightmare.
On the other hand, he is capable of screwing it up for Juan Ma also.
An honest judge, yes. But erratic is as erratic does.
