RULES ARE THERE, IF YOU FEEL LIKE LOOKING
Pittsburgh, PA- As a writer, I must follow certain rules, such as actually penning complete, cogent sentences, checking my facts and not telling lies. I could tell you that I once sparred with Mike Tyson or that I�m Bernard Hopkins� cousin, but aside from the fact that you may not believe me, those lies would violate about 50 journalistic codes. Fortunately for boxing officials, they don�t feel constrained by the same boundaries, as we saw again last night in the Sergio Martinez-Kermit Cintron fiasco.
DISSECTING A ONLY IN BOXING DEBACLE
After seven largely uneventful rounds, during which referee Frank Santore handled the clinching as if his contract forbade him from touching either fighter, Martinez landed a left to the top of Cintron�s head that at the end of the seventh that stunned him, making him taking a knee while claiming a headbutt. The Florida State Boxing Commission�s rules about what should happen next are actually refreshingly clear: The bell should still ring at the end of 3 minutes (as opposed to most states, where the bell doesn�t ring until after the referee�s count), and if the fighter does not beat the count, the ref must wave off the fight as a knockout with both arms.
WHAT WAS THE REFEREE THINKING/DOING?
Cintron looked to just barely beat the ten count, and Santore appeared to clearly rule a knockout, except that he did not wave off the fight with both hands. Had Santore ruled initially that Cintron was up at 9, he should have directed him to his corner for the normal one minute break; instead, after over two minutes of confusion, he seemingly changed his mind and let the fight continue. In short, his indecision and failure to execute this basic rule unnecessarily created this controversy.
AND SANTORE WAS THE GOOD ONE
If Santore�s refereeing was bad, the judges� scorecards were inconceivable and implausible. Judges Ged O�Connor and Peter Trematerra somehow both each scored the fight even, 113-113, though Martinez dominated the fight. Perhaps my score of 118-108 for Martinez was a bit generous, but in no way did Cintron, who landed about three meaningful punches all night, deserve close to six rounds. Though the third judge, Tom Kaczmarek, had a reasonable score of 116-110 for Martinez Saturday night, in 2007 he ridiculously had Oscar De La Hoya defeating Floyd Mayweather. Like Kaczmarek, Trematerra has judged hundreds of bouts, but just last year he and two others each awarded Chad Dawson a gift over Glen Johnson, 116-112. Bad scoring happens, and don�t let the fight get close if you can�t accept that; however, Martinez really didn�t, as he won a minimum of eight or nine rounds.
ACCOUNTABILITY BREEDS COMPETENCE
Commissions, fans, and perhaps even boxers will accept bad scores and mistakes in refereeing every once in a while � everyone�s human. But in this case, will the Commission even review Santore�s mistakes with him (he also improperly deducted a point from Martinez late in the fight) and those ridiculous scores with these judges? How difficult will it be for them to line up their next big fights? Where no accountability exists, chaos is certain and mistakes will frequently and inevitably come. Heck, if I can get away with whatever I want when I write with impunity, what�s to prevent me from just stopping in the middle of.
Brian Gorman
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