Simons Says: The 'sweet science' soured again by big body blow<\/p>\n
Greetings sports fans! This is the inaugural edition of Simons
\nSays, with our opening column dedicated to boxing after the
\nrecent world featherweight title fight between home fave and WBA
\nbelt holder Chris John and former champ American Derrick Gainer.<\/p>\n
A group of boxing aficionados and I watched the fight with a
\nkeen eye but were flabbergasted by the scoring. According to the
\n10-point must system, the fighter deemed to have won the round
\ngets 10 points, and unless there is a knockdown or an absolute
\npummeling, his opponent gets nine. In the case of a knockdown --
\nas Chris John suffered in the first round -- he loses that round
\n10-8.<\/p>\n
The judges all had Chris John with scores of 118, meaning they
\nhad him winning every round from two through 12 (11 times 10,
\nplus 8). Flat out impossible! Gainer clearly won a handful of
\nrounds in the first half of the fight, maybe even five or six of
\nthem.<\/p>\n
Judging criteria: 25 percent for defense; 25 for clean punches
\nthat land, not on elbows or gloves; 25 for "ring generalship";
\nand the last 25 is for general aggressive. Chris John easily took
\nthe fourth category, but Gainer far outdid him on defense and
\nclean, powerful punches, especially in rounds one through seven.<\/p>\n
At the end of the fight, my cohorts and I all agreed that
\nChris John would take it by a point or retain his belt by draw.
\nThe dissenting opinion came from a Canadian analyst -- he also
\nbelieves Carl Lewis is as guilty as Ben Johnson -- who stated, "I
\nnever saw Chris John get a clean punch in, and Gainer rocked him
\nwith lightning counter punches."<\/p>\n
And yet, despite it all, one judge scored it 118-109! In the
\nwords of Frank Zappa (God rest his soul), "There is more
\nstupidity than hydrogen in the universe, but stupidity has a
\nlonger shelf life." Or maybe the WBA needs to send that judge to
\nthe eye doctor, pronto!<\/p>\n
Not to take anything away from Chris John; he is a tenacious,
\nfun fighter to watch with a big "up-side" and seems like a fine
\nyoung man and top sportsman -- very rare qualities these days in
\nthe "sweet science".<\/p>\n
Trivia time: Who is the only non-gold medalist Olympic boxer
\nto be awarded the Val Barker Cup as Most Outstanding Boxer in the
\ngames? (answer to follow)<\/p>\n
They said it:<\/p>\n
* British boxer Henry Cooper, replying to boxing abolitionist,
\nBaroness Edith Summerskill, who said: "Mr. Cooper, have you seen
\nthe state of your nose?"<\/p>\n
"Well madam, have you seen the state of your nose? Boxing is
\nmy excuse. What's yours?"<\/p>\n
* "I fought Sugar so many times that I'm lucky I didn't get
\ndiabetes." -- Jake LaMotta, referring to his epic title fights
\nwith Ray Robinson<\/p>\n
* "When Mike Tyson gets mad, you don't need a referee, you
\nneed a priest." -- Jim Murray, legendary LA Times columnist<\/p>\n
* "I ain't never heard o' him. I s'pose he's one of dem
\nforeign heavyweights. They'z all lousy. Sure as hell I'll moider
\nda bum." -- "Two-Ton" Tony Galento, 1930s heavyweight boxer, when
\nasked what he thought of William Shakespeare.<\/p>\n
The heavy-hitting, cigar-chomping, beer-guzzling, New
\nJerseyite once fought Joe Louis for the title and was considered
\nthe hardest hitter in the sport during his era, if not a literary
\ngiant.<\/p>\n
This Week in History:
\n* April 27, 1956: Rocky Marciano retired as undefeated world
\nheavyweight boxing champion.
\n* April 28, 1967: Boxing champion Muhammad Ali refused to be
\ninducted into the U.S. Army.<\/p>\n
Trivia answer: Roy Jones Jr., in the 156-pound class at the
\n1988 Olympics in Seoul, Korea. Interestingly, he is also the
\nboyhood chum of and mentor to the aforementioned Derrick Gainer.
\nJones, now considered one of the best boxers "pound-for-pound" of
\nall time, was the United States' "sure thing" to win gold in
\nSeoul, and, as expected, he ran roughshod over the competition in
\nreaching the final against hometown fave Park Si-Hun.<\/p>\n
Despite a pummeling of epic proportions that left the
\noutclassed Korean bloodied, stupefied but standing -- albeit
\nlisting dreadfully -- Jones was robbed of gold on a 3-2 vote in
\nwhat is now known as the most disgraceful judging scandal in
\nOlympic history.<\/p>\n
It would later be discovered that a Korean syndicate (in
\ncahoots with the East German Stasi!!) bribed three judges.
\nJones, however, was awarded the Val Barker Cup as the Olympics'
\nMost Outstanding Boxer, which has never happened before or since.<\/p>\n
-- Rich Simons<\/p>\n
Send comments on this column to bruce@thejakartapost.com and
\nRich will try to publish them in the "mailbag" section each week.<\/p>",
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