Simons Says: The 'sweet science' soured again by big body blow
Simons Says: The 'sweet science' soured again by big body blow
Greetings sports fans! This is the inaugural edition of Simons
Says, with our opening column dedicated to boxing after the
recent world featherweight title fight between home fave and WBA
belt holder Chris John and former champ American Derrick Gainer.
A group of boxing aficionados and I watched the fight with a
keen eye but were flabbergasted by the scoring. According to the
10-point must system, the fighter deemed to have won the round
gets 10 points, and unless there is a knockdown or an absolute
pummeling, his opponent gets nine. In the case of a knockdown --
as Chris John suffered in the first round -- he loses that round
10-8.
The judges all had Chris John with scores of 118, meaning they
had him winning every round from two through 12 (11 times 10,
plus 8). Flat out impossible! Gainer clearly won a handful of
rounds in the first half of the fight, maybe even five or six of
them.
Judging criteria: 25 percent for defense; 25 for clean punches
that land, not on elbows or gloves; 25 for "ring generalship";
and the last 25 is for general aggressive. Chris John easily took
the fourth category, but Gainer far outdid him on defense and
clean, powerful punches, especially in rounds one through seven.
At the end of the fight, my cohorts and I all agreed that
Chris John would take it by a point or retain his belt by draw.
The dissenting opinion came from a Canadian analyst -- he also
believes Carl Lewis is as guilty as Ben Johnson -- who stated, "I
never saw Chris John get a clean punch in, and Gainer rocked him
with lightning counter punches."
And yet, despite it all, one judge scored it 118-109! In the
words of Frank Zappa (God rest his soul), "There is more
stupidity than hydrogen in the universe, but stupidity has a
longer shelf life." Or maybe the WBA needs to send that judge to
the eye doctor, pronto!
Not to take anything away from Chris John; he is a tenacious,
fun fighter to watch with a big "up-side" and seems like a fine
young man and top sportsman -- very rare qualities these days in
the "sweet science".
Trivia time: Who is the only non-gold medalist Olympic boxer
to be awarded the Val Barker Cup as Most Outstanding Boxer in the
games? (answer to follow)
They said it:
* British boxer Henry Cooper, replying to boxing abolitionist,
Baroness Edith Summerskill, who said: "Mr. Cooper, have you seen
the state of your nose?"
"Well madam, have you seen the state of your nose? Boxing is
my excuse. What's yours?"
* "I fought Sugar so many times that I'm lucky I didn't get
diabetes." -- Jake LaMotta, referring to his epic title fights
with Ray Robinson
* "When Mike Tyson gets mad, you don't need a referee, you
need a priest." -- Jim Murray, legendary LA Times columnist
* "I ain't never heard o' him. I s'pose he's one of dem
foreign heavyweights. They'z all lousy. Sure as hell I'll moider
da bum." -- "Two-Ton" Tony Galento, 1930s heavyweight boxer, when
asked what he thought of William Shakespeare.
The heavy-hitting, cigar-chomping, beer-guzzling, New
Jerseyite once fought Joe Louis for the title and was considered
the hardest hitter in the sport during his era, if not a literary
giant.
This Week in History:
* April 27, 1956: Rocky Marciano retired as undefeated world
heavyweight boxing champion.
* April 28, 1967: Boxing champion Muhammad Ali refused to be
inducted into the U.S. Army.
Trivia answer: Roy Jones Jr., in the 156-pound class at the
1988 Olympics in Seoul, Korea. Interestingly, he is also the
boyhood chum of and mentor to the aforementioned Derrick Gainer.
Jones, now considered one of the best boxers "pound-for-pound" of
all time, was the United States' "sure thing" to win gold in
Seoul, and, as expected, he ran roughshod over the competition in
reaching the final against hometown fave Park Si-Hun.
Despite a pummeling of epic proportions that left the
outclassed Korean bloodied, stupefied but standing -- albeit
listing dreadfully -- Jones was robbed of gold on a 3-2 vote in
what is now known as the most disgraceful judging scandal in
Olympic history.
It would later be discovered that a Korean syndicate (in
cahoots with the East German Stasi!!) bribed three judges.
Jones, however, was awarded the Val Barker Cup as the Olympics'
Most Outstanding Boxer, which has never happened before or since.
-- Rich Simons
Send comments on this column to bruce@thejakartapost.com and
Rich will try to publish them in the "mailbag" section each week.