Not sure if we're talking about the same thing but Kellerman has some scarring on his left side of his lip that happened from a childhoodaccident.
Funeka robbery can't be swept under the rug
Sunday, November 29, 2009 | Print Entry
Bad decisions don't happen just in the United States and Germany. You can add Canada to the list.
Lightweight Ali Funeka dominated Joan Guzman so severely that the reading of the scorecards at the end of 12 mostly one-sided rounds appeared to be a mere formality on Saturday night at Colisée Pepsi in Quebec City.
Gary Shaw, who co-promotes Funeka with Cedric Kushner, was inside the ring after the final bell with a huge smile on his face, congratulating his man on what appeared clear as day -- that Funeka would win a unanimous decision and a vacant lightweight belt in his second shot at a 135-pound title.
Then came the horror as Michael Buffer read the scores. Judge Joseph Pasquale had it 116-112 for Funeka (and even that was too close if you ask me), but Alan Davis and Benoit Roussel, incredibly, each had it 114-114, two of the worst scorecards you will ever see, making the fight an absurd draw.
Funeka stood with a blank look on his face. Guzman, whose face had been smashed into a bloody mess, also looked surprised.
HBO's broadcast team of Bob Papa, Max Kellerman and Lennox Lewis -- who knows a thing or two about horrible draws after what happened to him in his first fight with Evander Holyfield 10 years ago -- also panned the decision. Papa called it "curious and absurd." Harold Lederman, HBO's unofficial ringside judge, had it 117-111 in favor of Funeka and blasted the scores.
After the fight, I received multiple calls, e-mails and texts from people in the business outraged by the decision, including promoter Lou DiBella, Top Rank matchmaker Brad "Abdul" Goodman, Star Boxing matchmaker Ron Katz and manager Shelly Finkel. All are very experienced, smart boxing people. None of them had a dog in the fight. Each of them was disgusted by the decision.
But nothing compares to Shaw's outrage.
Not long after the fight, Shaw e-mailed me to say that Funeka was robbed and that there "needs to be an investigation."
An hour later, he dashed off another note, which he copied to several people in the business.
"These judges were corrupt," Shaw wrote in part.
Shaw is an emotional sort, but I can certainly see where he's coming from, especially since his fighter fought exceptionally well only to be completely hosed.
"Let me put it to you this way," Shaw said Sunday. "Ali got robbed. As one reporter told me, 'This decision was so bad it made the [Juan Diaz-Paulie Malignaggi] decision look legitimate.' This may be the worst decision since Lewis-Holyfield I, and it needs to be addressed with a formal investigation by the IBF and Interpol. I implore the Promoters Association to issue a formal statement in support of such an investigation. At the very least, the IBF should make Funeka its interim lightweight champion so that no matter who he fights next, it's world title fight. We must stop robbing fighters, sending them home with nothing but shattered dreams instead of the rewards they earned in the ring."
Shaw and I don't usually agree on a whole lot, but we do this time.
Didnt Guzman just sign with GBP? Looks like a Golden Boy job to me
Yahoo! Sports' decade in review takes to the ring for a series of boxing-related top-fives. Last up is the top five stories of the 2000s. Whatever your opinion on the issues which engulfed the sport, these are the storylines that generated the greatest controversy and speculation over the past decade.
5. Margarito's illegal hand-wraps
Antonio Margarito headed into his Staples Center matchup with Shane Mosley as one of boxing's favorite sons; an iron-chinned superstar beloved for his bravery and competitive fire.
But the events of January 24, 2009, and their aftermath have turned Margarito into a boxing pariah. Margarito's hand wraps were found to have on them calcium and sulfur, which would have hardened into a Plaster of Paris-like substance.
Eagle-eyed Mosley corner man Nazim Richardson spotted the unusual nature of Margarito's wraps in the locker room prefight and immediately alerted officials. With new wraps, Margarito was smashed up by Mosley before being stopped in the ninth round.
The California State Athletic Commission handed down bans a month later - a ludicrously brief one-year suspension for both Margarito and his trainer Javier Capetillo.
4. Diego Corrales dies in a motorcycle crash
Corrales was one of boxing's most colorful characters, a man who lived and fought at full speed.
His spectacular wars with Jose Luis Castillo cemented his popularity, but he was unable to handle the resulting fame and battled constantly with personal problems.
Many friends said afterward it had been inevitable that Corrales' tumultuous life - he had served 14-months in prison for abusing his pregnant girlfriend - would end in tragedy.
Despite limited motorcycle experience, Corrales insisted on riding down a busy residential street in Las Vegas on the second anniversary of his classic victory over Castillo. His blood alcohol level nearly three times the legal limit, Corrales collided with the back of a vehicle and was pronounced dead upon arrival at the hospital.
3. The continued fall of Mike Tyson
Tyson's life and career had already plummeted downhill in the 1990s, but a new decade didn't bring any better fortune for the former undisputed heavyweight champ.
Iron Mike has become an increasingly forlorn figure, with most of the millions he earned during his career having been squandered away.
The early part of the decade offered an opportunity for him to scale the heights of the heavyweight division once more, but he was demolished by Lennox Lewis in eight rounds and followed up with shocking defeats to Danny Williams and Kevin McBride before, mercifully, hanging up his gloves.
2. The FBI raids Top Rank's offices
Has boxing ever seemed sicker than when federal agents stormed into Top Rank's Las Vegas HQ in the first week of January 2004 and seized computers, contracts and financial documents?
The most salacious part of the investigation was that Oscar De La Hoya's rematch with Shane Mosley had been "fixed," and the fight game winced from this latest controversy as Bob Arum's company came under scrutiny.
More ugly details filtered out, that the investigation was part of an ongoing probe into organized crime, rumors of fixing, tampered medical records and deep-rooted corruption.
The investigation eventually was dropped in 2006 with no charges filed, but it was an episode that took boxing to the top of the news bulletins for all the wrong reasons.
1. Top Rank/Golden Boy lawsuit over Manny Pacquiao
Pacquiao was on his way to becoming the world's most exciting fighter in 2006, and promotional giants Top Rank and Golden Boy both wanted a slice of the action.
Bob Arum claimed he had Pacquiao signed to a contract, but Oscar De La Hoya's Golden Boy also insisted he had him tied to a deal after handing over a satchel of cash during an airport meeting.
The two parties went head-to-head in an acrimonious courtroom battle that was eventually settled when the judge warned Arum and Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer that neither may like the final judgment.
The upshot is that Arum continues to promote Pacquiao, while Golden Boy also receives a sizeable cut every time he fights.
Honorable mentions: Despite lacking a definitive incident like these other stories, there were a couple of issues that were a constant theme during the 2000s.
• What happened to the heavyweights? �The decline of the heavyweight division has been lamented for much of the decade. Lennox Lewis' retirement left a void, while Evander Holyfield and Mike Tyson both faded from the world scene. Instead, a generation of big Russian and Ukrainian fighters came to the fore, led by the Klitschkos, Vitali and Waldimir, but none were really able to capture the public imagination.
• Boxing v MMA The emergence of mixed martial arts and the UFC has presented boxing with some significant challenges. MMA's deep undercards for pay-per-view events and the relative lack of bluster surrounding its fighters won over some supporters who had previously gravitated towards boxing. However, the huge PPV numbers generated in recent times by fighters such as Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather suggests boxing is not ready to roll over just yet
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First up is upsets of the decade - and if you even think about arguing that the decade doesn't really end until next year then we're going to send Corrie Sanders 'round to have some harsh words. Now you're scared.
5. Danny Williams beats Mike Tyson
Tyson already was well past his prime by the time he took on British journeyman Williams in Kentucky in July 2004. Even so, "Iron Mike" had dispatched Clifford Etienne inside a round in his previous contest and was expected to have little trouble in disposing of Williams in similarly quick time.
It was even suggested that a Tyson victory could put him back in the title picture following Lennox Lewis' retirement. However, Williams silenced that talk with a fierce flurry toward the end of the 4th, to which Tyson had no answer and was counted out.
4. Glen Johnson beats Roy Jones Jr.
Jones was still one of boxing's biggest stars when he took on Johnson in Memphis in September 2004, despite having being knocked out by Antonio Tarver four months earlier.
His bout with Johnson, who was 35 and had lost nine times, was supposed to get his career back on track - but instead ended with him flat on his back once more. A huge right hand from Johnson put Jones out cold in the 9th, and Jones hasn't been the same since.
3. Corrie Sanders beats Wladimir Klitschko
The younger of the Klitschko brothers was unbeaten in five years and was defending his WBO heavyweight title for the sixth time when he faced South African southpaw Sanders in Hannover, Germany, in 2003.
Klitschko was an overwhelming favorite but got tagged by a big left hand in the first round and never recovered. Big Wlad went down twice in the opener before being saved by the bell, but the Sanders assault continued and he finished it off less than 30 seconds into Round 2.
2. Bernard Hopkins beats Felix Trinidad
Few gave Hopkins a chance against Puerto Rican superstar Trinidad, who was 40-0 going into the final of Don King's 2001 middleweight unification tournament. Hopkins taunted Trinidad mercilessly before the fight, and even placed a $100,000 wager on himself to emerge victorious.
Once the contest started, Hopkins swiftly assumed control, fighting brilliantly on the outside and never giving Trinidad a chance to settle. He was at least five points up on each scorecard going into the final round, but capped it off in style by knocking Trinidad out midway through the 12th.
1. Hasim Rahman beats Lennox Lewis�
Lewis was the dominant heavyweight on the planet when he took on unheralded Rahman in South Africa in 2001. Even though the Brit had spent some of his precious training time filming on the set of "Ocean's Eleven," it was expected that he would be too big and too strong for Rahman.
But Lewis looked jaded and sluggish in the ring and was never able to generate any serious momentum. Even so, the fight was still even until the fifth round, when Rahman sent Lewis crashing to the canvas with a monstrous right hand that turned the heavyweight division on its head.
�ahoo! Sports' decade in review takes to the ring for a series of boxing-related top-fives.
Next up is fighters of the decade�- and if you even think about arguing that the decade doesn't really end until next year then we're going to send Pacman 'round to have some harsh words. Watch out.
5. Juan Manuel Marquez
Marquez has put together a spectacular decade, racking up 20 victories while operating mainly at the elite world level.
His only defeats have come against Chris John in Indonesia, Manny Pacquiao and a much bigger Floyd Mayweather, with the Pacquiao defeat subject to a contentious points decision.
He also fought to�a draw with Pacquiao in their classic 2004 encounter and has been a regular presence near the top of the pound-for-pound rankings.
4. Bernard Hopkins
It is amazing to consider that 10 years ago Hopkins was already considered to be in the twilight of his career.
Years of successfully defending his IBF middleweight title had not garnered him widespread recognition�- but that all changed in September 2001 when he cut down Felix Trinidad at Madison Square Garden to become the undisputed champion.
His middleweight reign, which included a spectacular body-shot knockout of Oscar De La Hoya, was brought to an end by two defeats to Jermain Taylor, but even into his 40s Hopkins was far from finished, punishing then-rising star Kelly Pavlik with a superb display in 2008.
3. Joe Calzaghe
Calzaghe came into the 2000s already a champion as holder of the WBO super middleweight title, and he continued his dominance before retiring undefeated at the end of 2008.
His last three fights were the ones that defined his career�- a unification bout with Mikkel Kessler, and trips to America to beat Bernard Hopkins and Roy Jones Jr.
Calzaghe's conditioning and work ethic were second to none, although he was criticized in some quarters for not testing himself in the States earlier in his career.
2. Manny Pacquiao
Just a few months before the turn of the decade, Pacquiao was fighting at 112 lbs and the boxing world could not imagine the future impact he would have on the sport.
He has risen through the divisions to win officially sanctioned belts in five divisions while being considered champion in seven, and elevated himself to the level of genuine superstar by trouncing Oscar De La Hoya, Ricky Hatton and Miguel Cotto.
Pacquiao drew with Agapito Sanchez in 2001, with Marquez in 2004 and lost a tight decision to Erik Morales in 2005. Apart from those setbacks, he has put together a perfect decade. No man has had a greater impact on boxing in the past two years.
1. Floyd Mayweather
No fighter has owned the 2000s like the Pretty Boy, whose sublime boxing skills have protected his perfect record and established him as the sport's leading star.
That status has come under threat thanks to the emergence of Pacquiao, and a 2010 bout between those two could be one for the ages.
Mayweather announced his retirement after beating Ricky Hatton in December 2007, but that was short-lived and he is back to cement his legacy.
Criticism that he has failed to fight the best out there persists, yet no one can question Mayweather's ability, with exceptional defense and phenomenal hand speed.
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Yahoo! Sports' decade in review takes to the ring for a series of boxing-related top-fives. Next up is the fights of the decade, featuring five sensational bouts that electrified the sport.
Share your thoughts and comments below.
5. Israel Vazquez beats Rafael Marquez, August 4, 2007�- WBC super bantamweight title.
This was one of the most anticipated rematches in recent history, following a classic encounter in March 2007 that ended when Vazquez suffered an injury to his nose.
The second version did not disappoint, as Vazquez and Marquez put together another bout featuring all-action intensity and a frenetic pace at the Dodge Arena in Hidalgo, Texas, five months after their first fight.
This time it was Vazquez who came out on top, despite being cut above both eyes in another torrid slugfest.
Vazquez floored Marquez with a left hook early in the sixth round and forced a stoppage with a blistering subsequent attack.
4. Juan Manuel Marquez draws with Manny Pacquiao, May 8, 2004�- WBA and IBF featherweight titles.
This fight did plenty to boost the reputations of both fighters, but it almost came to an end within the first round.
Pacquiao started like a steam train, unleashing flurries of punches upon Marquez in the opening exchanges and had his opponent on the canvas after only 90 seconds.
Two more knockdowns followed in the same round, but Marquez survived and gradually worked his way into the fight.
The scorecards caused controversy, with one judge scoring it 115-110 for Pacquiao, another 115-110 for Marquez, and a third, Bert Clements, 113-113. It later emerged that Clements had erroneously scored the first round 10-7 to Pacquiao, when it should have been 10-6 due to the three knockdowns.
3. Erik Morales beats Marco Antonio Barrera, February 19, 2000�- WBC and WBO Super bantamweight titles.
The first great bout of the 2000s also marked the start of a storied trilogy between a pair of modern greats.
Morales and Barrera refused to take a backward step, pummeling each other for 12 exhausting and thrilling rounds in a matchup that brought the Mandalay Bay crowd, and surely a fair share of the HBO viewing audience, to its feet.
In the end it was Morales who claimed a split decision, controversially, with many observers insisting that Barrera's efforts in the final round, when he knocked Morales down in the final minute, should have earned him the victory.
2. Micky Ward beats Arturo Gatti, May 18, 2002.
Two of boxing's biggest crowd-pleasers went head-to-head at the Mohegan Sun in Connecticut in what quickly would turn into a battle for the ages.
Ward and Gatti both withstood a tremendous amount of punishment, pounding away with astonishing ferocity.
An amazing ninth round saw Ward knock Gatti down with a vicious left to the body and he appeared to be on course for a knockout. But Gatti refused to wilt, finding incredible reserves of strength to fight back to keep the contest alive.
Ward went on to win a majority decision, but the rousing ovation the fighters received meant there was no real loser on this night.
1. Diego Corrales beats Jose Luis Castillo, May 7, 2005�- WBO and WBC lightweight titles.
The crowd was sparse at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center, but those in attendance and watching on television saw 10 rounds of boxing they would never forget.
All throughout the contest, Corrales and Castillo stood toe-to-toe, slugging it out in an epic battle of willpower and tenacity, culminating with an epic comeback and dramatic conclusion.
Both gladiators entered what would be the decisive 10th round exhausted and roughed up, with swollen eyes and bloodied faces. Castillo appeared ready to seal the victory when he twice sent Corrales sprawling to the canvas, both times courtesy of brutal left hooks.
However, Corrales regained his footing and his composure, gaining extra recovery time by spitting out his mouthpiece (even though it cost him a point). Then Corrales somehow produced a devastating right hand that turned the fight on its head. Following up with a flurry of punches, he backed Castillo on to the ropes, and with the Mexican unable to defend himself, referee Tony Weeks had no choice but to step in and call the fight.
Corrales was killed in a motorcycle accident exactly two years after the fight. And although Castillo won a rematch against Corrales five months after their first fight, he has never been the same fighter since.
On this night, though, they were kings, and they combined to put together a contest that will live on in boxing history.
preach
The same Kessler who just got his @*@ handed to him. A 43 year old Hopkins who he lucky to get a SD against and was made to look like an amateur in the process and beating a shot Jones who hasn't had a significant win in years. How impressive.Originally Posted by Jagshemash
Calzaghe #3 ahead of Hopkins
Yessir.
