FINALLY In an unprecedented move that demonstrates that there are actually some governing bodies that do care about improving how a particular sport can be better played and officiated, the suits at the Nevada Athletic Commission have approved the use of video instant replay in both boxing and mixed martial arts.
Well, it’s about damn time. For too long already has pro boxing been mired in archaic rules, marching to its own esoteric beat, unmindful of innovations sprouting around it, and inexplicably ignoring the advent of modern technology as a tool to complement its appeal.
Instant replay will now be an exclusive option available to the referee in determining accidental or intentional fouls.
SIMPLE. The logic is simple: If we can review the tape and check if Kobe Bryant’s feet were set beyond the three-point arc, why can’t we use instant replay to determine if Miguel Cotto’s blow landed on an opponent’s midsection and not on the family jewels?
I could go on and on about fights that could have been better officiated had this option been made available before, but we really don’t need to look far.
Just recently, the Rodel Mayol-Ivan Calderon fight was ruled a technical draw due to an accidental head-butt. But from what I saw (and this is only my subjective take) the precursor of the last opened-cut on Calderon was a legal blow landed by Mayol.
Of course, it’s easy to place blame on the referee. But consider that unlike us schmucks who have the luxury of lazily lounging around in our living rooms with our cold last rounds in hand, waiting to be spoon-fed the instant replay a few seconds later, the ref has to make a judgment call in the heat of the action and instinctively base his decision on what he thought he saw at that particular moment.
Let’s hope other state athletic commissions and jurisdictions follow suit.
Now, if only I could propose an amendment to make mandatory instant replays for those agonizingly brief moments that they show the round girls strutting around the ring, I would be so thankful.
(Ouch! That sound you just heard was a bunch of folded newspapers landing smack on my nape. Hey ref, did the wifey land a legal blow? Let’s check the replay.)
RX ON THE FLASH. When he’s not busy attending to his patients, top-notch orthopedic surgeon Dr. Wilson de la Calzada likes to check out the latest boxing action.
My last column wherein I gave Nonito Donaire a rating of eight elicited this comment from the good doctor: “I think you were too generous in your assessment. He’s a good boxer but his power is overrated and he keeps his hands down too much. Also, those brittle hands will be a problem when he faces bigger opponents.”
Well doc, I do agree that Nonito has his bad habits, as all fighters do. Regarding the power issue, I don’t think it’s overrated, but I do believe that the “Filipino Flash” has become knockout-conscious.
Instead of pacing himself and letting the knockout come, he expends too much in the first few rounds relying on his speed and power to take his opponents out. This is readily apparent by his seeming aversion to throwing body punches.
But I think the rating that I gave was reasonable, considering that Concepcion was at least 12 pounds bigger during the fight. In the lower weight classes, this is quite substantial and Donaire showed he could outthink and outfox a stronger and bigger opponent.
He’s still a young man and can definitely improve his game in the years to come.
LAST ROUNDS. It’s on birthday boy Ethan Victor Siu and on Reineer Tan and Trina Zosa who recently turned hearts aflutter and eyes weepy when they exchanged solemn “I do’s.” Congratulations and cheers!
