DALLAS, TEXAS – Nothing could have brought boxing’s sudden popularity from Manny Pacquiao’s recent victory back down to earth faster than Edwin Valero’s spousal assault Thursday and now tonight’s Joan Guzman disrespecting the weigh-in at the 135 lbs. limit, by coming in at an obscene 144 lbs.
This is not Valero’s first run in with the law and now Guzman has shamed himself again.
The lifestyles of Valero and Guzman are nowhere near those that made boxing great such as Salvador Sanchez, Sugar Ray Robinson, Joe Louis, Larry Holmes, Marvin Hagler and today Manny Pacquiao.
Valero’s fighting days may be through due to a long jail term or he may walk away a free man, depending on what his wife tells local police. Guzman, at 34, is well past his prime and has disrespected HBO again with a weight problem. He has nowhere to go. He’s undefeated, a two -weight division champion, but his career has more questions than answers.
World Boxing Council (WBC) President Jose Sulaiman had this to say when I reached him late Friday night:
I am sorry to know of such weight problem ; the WBC has a rule that champion and challenger must have a mandatory weigh in 30 days before their title bout with a 10% overweight allowance ; one other 7 days before the fight with a 5 % overweight allowance ,,,,,,,,, in this manner we have controlled the weigh reduction under medical care. BEST REGARDS. Jos? Sulaim?n
But this is a waste of valuable time, money, the media’s graciousness and ultimately the fans suffer.
The International Boxing Federation (IBF) and promoter Golden Boy Promotions should shoulder some of the blame for not checking the weight throughout the training camp and promotion and seemingly just hoping things worked out well in the end. Just what is the IBF doing for their 3%?
HBO isn’t happy and if boxing eventually loses HBO because of a repeat offender such as Guzman I don’t know where boxing would turn next.
That Guzman wasn’t checked and double-checked for his weight is purely amateurish on everyone’s part.
Now the fight will go on as long as Guzman doesn’t reach 150 lbs. by 7:00 AM Saturday morning, but only challenger Ali Funeka could win the title by winning the fight outright. So guard the buffet!
Funeka’s promoter, the usually calm Gary Shaw, was very upset at the proceedings, telling boxingscene.com’s Rick Reeno:
“He is trying to save Golden Boy’s show. This is not my date, this date belongs to Golden Boy, who did not monitor the weight of their fighter. I have thought about it and it is definitely not a go until I speak with Funeka and his team. I think Golden Boy should step up and renegotiate Guzman’s purse. I hope the networks like ESPN, Showtime and HBO, will never allow a two-time loser, meaning at the scales, to be televised again on their networks.” (Rick Reeno @ BoxingScene.com)
For a detailed account of the weigh -in proceedings, fellow examiner Chris Robinson was there live at the Las Vegas Hard Rock Hotel and Casino with this report:
http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-22973-Las-Vegas-Boxing-Examiner~y2010m3d26-Exclusive-weighin-photos-Guzman-overweight-Funeka-confident-Maidana-and-Cayo-ready-to-go
Guzman now is only there to fill a few rounds and be a pi?ata for HBO announcers to steer fans away from the Showtime presentation of Arthur Abraham vs. Andre Dirrell as part of the Super Six World Boxing Classic at 168 lbs.
When Marley leaves the country the boxing industry breaks down.
