5
International Boxing Federation Scandal
The IBF, among other entities, is a major sanctioning body which is based in New Jersey. The way boxing works is: each sanctioning body has a champion. Champions are only allowed to fight boxers ranked in the top 15. Ranking committees determine who gets ranked. Ranking committee chairmen have the final say and are notoriously corruptible.
In November 1999, IBF president Bob Lee Sr. was indicted and convicted on numerous racketeering charges. Lee was conspiring with his rankings chairman, C. Douglass Beavers, to rig the rankings system to favor boxers whose promoters and handlers paid them cash bribes. The duo routinely took hundreds of thousands of dollars from the likes of Don King and Cedric Kushner, in return for artificially inflating the rankings of their fighters. Promoters who didn’t pay didn’t see title fights. The result was: a completely corrupt system which was not in any way based on merit. Another black eye for boxing.
4
Boxing’s not so Golden Age
James D. Norris was a very wealthy and extremely powerful man in the mid 20th century. He owned many companies and was heavily involved in the sports world, including owning a National Hockey League franchise, a major stake in Madison Square Garden and champion racehorses. Jim Norris was also a very unsavory individual and was widely known to associate with criminals. As president of the International Boxing Club, Norris had a virtual monopoly on championship fights, due to a lucrative contract the IBC had to broadcast fights on national television.
Jim Norris was personally responsible for fixing numerous bouts, including: Harry Thomas vs Max Schmeling in 1937, and Jake Lamotta vs Billy Fox in 1946. His corruption knew no limits. Besides match fixing he was also unofficially managing many boxers (usually against their will) and persuading them to hire his associates as advisers. Norris’ actions perpetuated a chain of farce’s which were passed off as competitive bouts to an unsuspecting public, and helped erode boxing’s integrity.
3
Seoul, Korea – 1988 Olympics
Many people remember a young Roy Jones Jr. being robbed of a gold medal by corrupt Olympic judges, but few remember an even uglier incident that preceded it. New Zealander Keith Walker was officiating a bantamweight bout between Byun Jong Il of South Korea and Alexander Hristov of Bulgaria. The fight was an ugly foul-filled affair and Walker had to repeatedly penalize Jong for head butting.
At the conclusion of the fight, Hristov was announced the winner but this only incensed Jong’s countrymen. Numerous South Korean boxing officials and coaches stormed the ring and viciously attacked referee Keith Walker with punches, kicks, bottles and even chairs. The terrified Walker barely escaped serious injury and headed directly to the airport and took the first plane back to New Zealand. Shamed and embarrassed, the Korean Boxing Federation president and the president of the Korean Olympic Committee both resigned after this deplorable incident.
2
The actions of Panama Lewis
At one time Carlos “Panama” Lewis was a world class trainer, his character, on the other hand, was anything but world class. Despite already being under a cloud of suspicion for allegedly giving his boxers water spiked with illegal stimulants and for gambling on fights that he was involved in; Panama Lewis concocted a wicked plan for his fighter, Luis Resto. Resto was nothing more than a journeyman fighter, or simply a professional opponent when he took on undefeated rising star Billy Collins Jr, on June 16, 1983
Knowing Resto was overmatched, Panama and another trainer removed padding from Resto’s gloves and poured an illegal hardening agent on his hand wraps. Luis Resto proceeded to brutalize his unsuspecting opponent for 10 rounds. After being declared the winner, Resto approached Collins’ corner. Collins’ father, who at that point was suspicious of Resto’s new found power, touched Resto’s hand and immediately notified ringside officials. The gloves and hand wraps in question were confiscated by the state Athletic Commission and both were brought up on charges. Panama Lewis and Luis Resto both had their licenses permanently revoked and were given prison sentences. Sadly, Billy Collins Jr. would never fight again, his once promising career shattered by the injuries he received. Collins Jr. was dead less than one year later, a suspected suicide.
1
Death of Duk Koo Kim
A superstar in South Korea, Kim had risen all the way to the number one lightweight contender and earned a world title shot against the famed Ray “Boom Boom” Mancini, on November 13, 1982. The bout was extremely brutal, especially for Kim, who had begun to wear down in the latter rounds after absorbing tremendous punishment from the champion. In the early part of the 14th round, Mancini hit Kim with a crushing right hand that caused him to fly toward the ropes and hit his head on the canvas.
Kim managed to rise but the fight was stopped by the referee. Minutes later Duk Koo Kim collapsed into a coma and was carried out of the ring and taken directly to the hospital. Tragically, the Korean star died 4 days later from severe brain trauma. Out of the hundreds of recorded ring fatalities, Kim’s death was one of the saddest. Kim’s opponent, Ray Mancini, would never again be the same caliber fighter, and it was widely reported that he blamed himself for Kim’s death. Kim’s mother committed suicide three months after her son’s death by drinking a bottle of pesticide. The bout’s referee, Richard Green, consumed by guilt, also committed suicide shortly after the fight.
0 comments:
Post a Comment