Tales from the Tape: Jones-McCallum
Mark E. Ortega
HBO World Championship Boxing: Jones, Jr.-McCallum/Barrera-Jones [11-22-96]
One of the many thrills about boxing, for me at least, is that behind every fight there is a back-story. Regardless of how big or small the fight is, in the build-up for the fight there have been interesting moments that make it interesting to look back at old fights and some of the comments made by those featured in the televised broadcasts. This will be the inaugural run of the series, and the lone piece submitted in 2008 to see what the response will be.
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Friday, November 21, 2008
Frankel decisions older Pacquiao!
Frankel decisions older Pacquiao!
Mark Ortega
November 21, 2008
Thursday night saw Robert Frankel [26-9-2, 4 KOs] of Denver, Colorado deliver a tremendous effort en route to a unanimous decision victory over Bobby Pacquiao [29-15-3, 14 KOs] of the Philippines at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, California.
The fight turned out to be a worthy, although one-sided main event, with lots of back and forth action throughout. The final scores read 98-91 unanimously in favor of Frankel, who has now won his fifth straight fight in a row after dropping his first two of 2008.Yes, this was Frankel’s seventh fight of 2008, and it may have been the best year of his career.
Although Frankel entered this fight with only four knockouts in thirty-five professional bouts, it was apparent very early on that he was the stronger fighter. Frankel was able to snap Pacquiao’s head back on plenty of occasions, and he seemed to do more damage. Pacquiao had moments where he landed well behind the jab, but he left himself too open to straight right hands from Frankel to warrant being awarded very many rounds. Pacquiao has now lost three straight but looked better in this fight than in his last two defeats and can still deliver a watchable fight.
Following the bout, Frankel had this to say when asked what it as like to add a big name like Pacquiao to his ledger. “I take every fight like it is a big fight, no matter who it is,” explains Frankel. “That is Pacquiao’s brother, it is a good name to have [on my record,] but it is not Pacquiao. Not the big man. But I am ready for him.”
In the co-featured bout, Chika Nakamura [8-0, 3 KOs] of New York, New York scored a controversial unanimous decision over Tiffany Junot [4-2, 3 KOs] of New Orleans, Louisiana in an exciting six round female lightweight bout. Although Nakamura was coming forward, many felt that Junot was landing the more effective blows. Junot seemed to be throwing more in combinations and got stronger as the bout progressed, while Nakamura was throwing one to two punches at a time.
The difference may have been Nakamura started and ended strongly. The first and last rounds were here best, while Junot did better in the middle part of the fight. Although the scorecards of 58-56 across the board drew the jeers of the crowd, it would be incorrect to classify this as a robbery as each round was razor-thin close. UBR scored the bout 58-56 in favor of Junot.
The only complaint could be that nobody officially scoring the bout was able to find the fight either a draw or for Junot. This was a fight that drew lots of attention from the crowd and may have been the best fight of the night, and could possibly lead to a rematch. Following the fight, Junot mentioned that she wished that it was an eight round fight because she was ready to keep going, so potentially they could fight down the line.
Also featured on the card was a thrilling four-round super middleweight contest that saw Roberto Florentino [3-3, 3 KOs] of Indianapolis, Indiana knock out Jason “J.P.” Peterson [2-2, KO] of San Francisco, California in the third round. Both fighters came out quickly with Florentino setting the pace for this fight by throwing lots of punches, all with bad intentions on them. Peterson was happy to oblige Florentino and willingly entered into a slugfest. Florentino was the quicker fighter and landed at will for the most part. Florentino also did not fail to offer openings to Peterson who dropped some good right hands on the southpaw that Florentino took very well. Peterson did not take the punches quite as well and got hit by a huge shot that staggered him against the ropes and prompted the referee to issue a count. Peterson boldly rose to his feet but when he arose the referee asked him vital questions that Peterson did not respond to. The time of the stoppage was 1:48 in the third round. This will be Peterson’s last fight before he goes to prison for five years stemming from a drug charge from years ago.
In a circus-like attraction, five-foot-six Karim Mayfield [7-0-1, 5 KOs] of Daly City, California shut out the six-foot-fight Trenton Titsworth [2-6-1, 2 KOs] of Omaha, Nebraska in a four round welterweight bout. Although the fight was not very pleasing to watch, much of it can be hung on the huge size disparage between the two fighters and the fact that one fighter did not come to fight. Titsworth held for much of the fight, and at one point failed to launch a punch for over three and a half minutes. Mayfield had to try and land punches and his nearly foot taller opponent, which would give anyone some trouble. When Mayfield was able to land, he was effective and had Titsworth in trouble multiple times. Mayfield was originally slated to take on Abel Perry [9-2] in a six rounder, but an injury forced a new opponent and for the fight to only be a four rounder. This was Mayfield’s first bout back since his exciting March victory over Francisco Santana at a Fight Night at the Tank. The official scores of the bout were 40-36 across the board. UBR also scored the bout 40-36 in favor of Mayfield.
Welterweight Eric Garcia [3-0-1, KO] of Salinas, California scored a four round unanimous decision over Pueblo, Colorado’s Geoffrey Spruiell [7-7, 2 KOs]. The first round was fought pretty evenly with Garcia pressing the action. In the second, Garcia threw an accurate right hand that dropped Spruiell brutally. Spruiell somehow recovered from the shot and made it out of the round despite his opponent going for the kill. Garcia was not able to finish his opponent and had to settle for a unanimous decision victory in which all the judges scored the bout 39-36. UBR scored it a shutout, 40-35, for Garcia.
In a heavyweight four rounder, Yohan Banks [2-1-1, KO] of San Jose, California scored a brutal knockout over San Francisco, California’s Bernard Gray [2-3] in the second round. A pretty uneventful fight took a sharp turn when Banks threw a wild right hand uppercut that dropped Gray and prompted the referee to not even issue a count.
In the card’s opening bout, hometown girl Melissa McCorrow scored a four round unanimous decision over Gloria Salas of Cathedral City, California. McCorrow was very well received and had her own cheering section, but the rest of the crowd joined in when they saw what was happening in the ring. There was a lot of back and forth action over the course of all four rounds, with McCorrow throwing a great jab and landing good shots to the body that slowed her opponent down. Salas had her moments, backing McCorrow up a few times, but she was not the busier fighter. The official scoring of the bout was 40-36, 40-36, and 39-37.
This was the first Fight Night at the Tank promoted by Sycuan Ringside Promotions and 3,453 people attended the show. The Fight Night at the Tank will return to San Jose in 2009.
Mark Ortega
November 21, 2008
Thursday night saw Robert Frankel [26-9-2, 4 KOs] of Denver, Colorado deliver a tremendous effort en route to a unanimous decision victory over Bobby Pacquiao [29-15-3, 14 KOs] of the Philippines at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, California.
The fight turned out to be a worthy, although one-sided main event, with lots of back and forth action throughout. The final scores read 98-91 unanimously in favor of Frankel, who has now won his fifth straight fight in a row after dropping his first two of 2008.Yes, this was Frankel’s seventh fight of 2008, and it may have been the best year of his career.
Although Frankel entered this fight with only four knockouts in thirty-five professional bouts, it was apparent very early on that he was the stronger fighter. Frankel was able to snap Pacquiao’s head back on plenty of occasions, and he seemed to do more damage. Pacquiao had moments where he landed well behind the jab, but he left himself too open to straight right hands from Frankel to warrant being awarded very many rounds. Pacquiao has now lost three straight but looked better in this fight than in his last two defeats and can still deliver a watchable fight.
Following the bout, Frankel had this to say when asked what it as like to add a big name like Pacquiao to his ledger. “I take every fight like it is a big fight, no matter who it is,” explains Frankel. “That is Pacquiao’s brother, it is a good name to have [on my record,] but it is not Pacquiao. Not the big man. But I am ready for him.”
In the co-featured bout, Chika Nakamura [8-0, 3 KOs] of New York, New York scored a controversial unanimous decision over Tiffany Junot [4-2, 3 KOs] of New Orleans, Louisiana in an exciting six round female lightweight bout. Although Nakamura was coming forward, many felt that Junot was landing the more effective blows. Junot seemed to be throwing more in combinations and got stronger as the bout progressed, while Nakamura was throwing one to two punches at a time.
The difference may have been Nakamura started and ended strongly. The first and last rounds were here best, while Junot did better in the middle part of the fight. Although the scorecards of 58-56 across the board drew the jeers of the crowd, it would be incorrect to classify this as a robbery as each round was razor-thin close. UBR scored the bout 58-56 in favor of Junot.
The only complaint could be that nobody officially scoring the bout was able to find the fight either a draw or for Junot. This was a fight that drew lots of attention from the crowd and may have been the best fight of the night, and could possibly lead to a rematch. Following the fight, Junot mentioned that she wished that it was an eight round fight because she was ready to keep going, so potentially they could fight down the line.
Also featured on the card was a thrilling four-round super middleweight contest that saw Roberto Florentino [3-3, 3 KOs] of Indianapolis, Indiana knock out Jason “J.P.” Peterson [2-2, KO] of San Francisco, California in the third round. Both fighters came out quickly with Florentino setting the pace for this fight by throwing lots of punches, all with bad intentions on them. Peterson was happy to oblige Florentino and willingly entered into a slugfest. Florentino was the quicker fighter and landed at will for the most part. Florentino also did not fail to offer openings to Peterson who dropped some good right hands on the southpaw that Florentino took very well. Peterson did not take the punches quite as well and got hit by a huge shot that staggered him against the ropes and prompted the referee to issue a count. Peterson boldly rose to his feet but when he arose the referee asked him vital questions that Peterson did not respond to. The time of the stoppage was 1:48 in the third round. This will be Peterson’s last fight before he goes to prison for five years stemming from a drug charge from years ago.
In a circus-like attraction, five-foot-six Karim Mayfield [7-0-1, 5 KOs] of Daly City, California shut out the six-foot-fight Trenton Titsworth [2-6-1, 2 KOs] of Omaha, Nebraska in a four round welterweight bout. Although the fight was not very pleasing to watch, much of it can be hung on the huge size disparage between the two fighters and the fact that one fighter did not come to fight. Titsworth held for much of the fight, and at one point failed to launch a punch for over three and a half minutes. Mayfield had to try and land punches and his nearly foot taller opponent, which would give anyone some trouble. When Mayfield was able to land, he was effective and had Titsworth in trouble multiple times. Mayfield was originally slated to take on Abel Perry [9-2] in a six rounder, but an injury forced a new opponent and for the fight to only be a four rounder. This was Mayfield’s first bout back since his exciting March victory over Francisco Santana at a Fight Night at the Tank. The official scores of the bout were 40-36 across the board. UBR also scored the bout 40-36 in favor of Mayfield.
Welterweight Eric Garcia [3-0-1, KO] of Salinas, California scored a four round unanimous decision over Pueblo, Colorado’s Geoffrey Spruiell [7-7, 2 KOs]. The first round was fought pretty evenly with Garcia pressing the action. In the second, Garcia threw an accurate right hand that dropped Spruiell brutally. Spruiell somehow recovered from the shot and made it out of the round despite his opponent going for the kill. Garcia was not able to finish his opponent and had to settle for a unanimous decision victory in which all the judges scored the bout 39-36. UBR scored it a shutout, 40-35, for Garcia.
In a heavyweight four rounder, Yohan Banks [2-1-1, KO] of San Jose, California scored a brutal knockout over San Francisco, California’s Bernard Gray [2-3] in the second round. A pretty uneventful fight took a sharp turn when Banks threw a wild right hand uppercut that dropped Gray and prompted the referee to not even issue a count.
In the card’s opening bout, hometown girl Melissa McCorrow scored a four round unanimous decision over Gloria Salas of Cathedral City, California. McCorrow was very well received and had her own cheering section, but the rest of the crowd joined in when they saw what was happening in the ring. There was a lot of back and forth action over the course of all four rounds, with McCorrow throwing a great jab and landing good shots to the body that slowed her opponent down. Salas had her moments, backing McCorrow up a few times, but she was not the busier fighter. The official scoring of the bout was 40-36, 40-36, and 39-37.
This was the first Fight Night at the Tank promoted by Sycuan Ringside Promotions and 3,453 people attended the show. The Fight Night at the Tank will return to San Jose in 2009.
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Quezada shuts Greeley out!
Quezada shuts Greeley out!
Mark Ortega
UltimateBoxingResults.com
August 21, 2008
On Thursday, August 21st, the Tachi Palace Casino in Lemoore , California saw Manuel Quezada win a ten-round unanimous decision over Andrew Greeley to headline an eight-bout boxing card promoted by Goossen-Tutor Promotions. The card also featured four MMA bouts following the night’s boxing action.
Quezada [24-4-0 , 15 KOs] was the more active fighter for the duration of the bout while Greeley [14-23-2, 8 KOs] fought in spurts. Quezada did his best work when he had his opponent against the ropes, ripping combinations of hooks to the body and head. Greeley was effective when he threw punches, but never did enough work to warrant winning a round. All three judges scored the bout, 100-90. Ultimate Boxing Results also scored the bout, 100-90.
Quezada hopes to now step up in competition and fight against someone in the top twenty or twenty-five in the heavyweight division. Names that Quezada mentioned following his victory included Chazz Witherspoon, Derrick Rossy, Teke Oruh, and Alonzo Butler. Oruh was named as Quezada’s opponent for this card, but has twice pulled out of fighting him. Greeley, who was a late substitution, defeated Joey Abell by knockout. Abell is the man who handed Oruh his lone professional loss in November of 2007.
In the co-featured bout, WBC Minimumweight champion Carino Moreno of Watsonville, California dominated Yahaira Martinez of Puerto Rico in a ten-round bout. Moreno [19-1-0 , 5 KOs] was just a class above in every aspect over her opponent, using her superior boxing skills and smarts to win a wide decision. The three judges scored the bout 100-90, 100-90, and 97-93. UBR scored the bout, 100-90. The fight was originally planned to be for Moreno ’s title as well as a vacant belt, but Martinez [7-3-0 , 4 KOs] came in over weight and was not interested in dropping the necessary weight to fight for the title. Moreno will likely fight next on October 23rd at the Tachi Palace Casino.
Las Vegas , Nevada’s Dewey Cooper [17-1-3 , 11 KOs] went ten rounds for the first time in his career, winning an uneventful unanimous decision over Galen Brown [30-9-1 , 19 KOs] of St. Joseph, Missouri . Brown seemed content with clowning around for most of the bout, keeping his hands low and egging Cooper on. Cooper was the far superior athlete but seemed tentative in pressing the action, doing enough to just win rounds instead of trying to hurt his opponent. The tenth round was the most exciting of the bout, with Cooper hurting Brown and nearly putting him down before the final bell rang. All three judges scored the bout, 99-91.
Aaron Alafa [2-0-0, KO] of Visalia, California picked up his second professional win to begin his career when he beat Greg McDowell [0-1-0] via nineteen second destruction. Alafa finished McDowell with the first right hook he threw, and as soon as he went down the referee stopped the bout as McDowell had no idea where he was.
Junior welterweight prospect Mike Dallas, Jr. [5-0-0, KO] of Bakersfield, California scored the first knockout of his professional career in emphatic fashion when he disposed of Cincinnati, Ohio’s James Helmes [6-2-0, 2 KOs] in 1:45 seconds of the opening stanza. Dallas was patient in looking for openings, and even threw his opponent off with a bolo punch before landing a devastating right hook that put Helmes down. The hook came immediately after Dallas had rolled one of Helmes’ punches, and he then came forward with all of his power to knock Helmes out. Dallas has three fights on the horizon in the next few months, starting with a September 11th bout in San Jose at the HP Pavilion. Dallas was also making his debut as a Goossen-Tutor promoted fighter, having just signed a contract with the promotion days before the fight.
In a bout for the vacant WBC International Super Bantamweight title, Dominga Olivo [7-4-1] of Monticello, New York upset former amateur star Ana Julaton [4-1-1, KO] of Daly City, California in an exciting bout via eight-round split decision. The first round was a close one that saw Julaton’s superior boxing skills meet Olivo’s rough brawling tactics. Olivo built a lead by bullying Julaton on the inside, Julaton did her best work using her boxing ability and working from the outside with her jab, but too many times she allowed herself to fall into a trap and try and outwork her opponent from close range. Olivo slowed down a bit in the sixth and seventh rounds which allowed Julaton back into the fight, but then she won the eighth round wide to claim a victory. The judges scored the bout 79-73 and 77-75 for Olivo while one judge scored the bout 77-75 for Julaton. Julaton trainer Freddie Roach expressed that although he thought the decision was fair, he would like to see Ana get a rematch with Oliva as soon as possible.
Madera , California ’s Joaquin Marquez [4-0-1, 3 KOs ] scored a four-round majority decision over Loren Myers [ 6-4-0 , 2 KOs ] of Fresno , California in a super middleweight contest. Marquez was the bigger puncher, landing numerous bombs that had Myers hurt. An uppercut in the second round rocked Myers, who responded by clowning around.. The judges scored the bout 40-36 and 39-37 for Marquez while one judge had it a draw at 38-38. UBR scored the bout, 39- 37 in favor of Marquez.
In the card’s opening bout, Carlos Nevarez [14-16-1, 5 KOs] of Denver , Colorado scored a minor upset over James Ventry [ 6-5-1 , 4 KOs ] of Niagara Falls , New York via six-round majority decision in a junior welterweight bout.
Boxing returns to the Tachi Palace , October 23rd in a Goossen-Tutor Promotions event.
Mark Ortega
UltimateBoxingResults.com
August 21, 2008
On Thursday, August 21st, the Tachi Palace Casino in Lemoore , California saw Manuel Quezada win a ten-round unanimous decision over Andrew Greeley to headline an eight-bout boxing card promoted by Goossen-Tutor Promotions. The card also featured four MMA bouts following the night’s boxing action.
Quezada [24-4-0 , 15 KOs] was the more active fighter for the duration of the bout while Greeley [14-23-2, 8 KOs] fought in spurts. Quezada did his best work when he had his opponent against the ropes, ripping combinations of hooks to the body and head. Greeley was effective when he threw punches, but never did enough work to warrant winning a round. All three judges scored the bout, 100-90. Ultimate Boxing Results also scored the bout, 100-90.
Quezada hopes to now step up in competition and fight against someone in the top twenty or twenty-five in the heavyweight division. Names that Quezada mentioned following his victory included Chazz Witherspoon, Derrick Rossy, Teke Oruh, and Alonzo Butler. Oruh was named as Quezada’s opponent for this card, but has twice pulled out of fighting him. Greeley, who was a late substitution, defeated Joey Abell by knockout. Abell is the man who handed Oruh his lone professional loss in November of 2007.
In the co-featured bout, WBC Minimumweight champion Carino Moreno of Watsonville, California dominated Yahaira Martinez of Puerto Rico in a ten-round bout. Moreno [19-1-0 , 5 KOs] was just a class above in every aspect over her opponent, using her superior boxing skills and smarts to win a wide decision. The three judges scored the bout 100-90, 100-90, and 97-93. UBR scored the bout, 100-90. The fight was originally planned to be for Moreno ’s title as well as a vacant belt, but Martinez [7-3-0 , 4 KOs] came in over weight and was not interested in dropping the necessary weight to fight for the title. Moreno will likely fight next on October 23rd at the Tachi Palace Casino.
Las Vegas , Nevada’s Dewey Cooper [17-1-3 , 11 KOs] went ten rounds for the first time in his career, winning an uneventful unanimous decision over Galen Brown [30-9-1 , 19 KOs] of St. Joseph, Missouri . Brown seemed content with clowning around for most of the bout, keeping his hands low and egging Cooper on. Cooper was the far superior athlete but seemed tentative in pressing the action, doing enough to just win rounds instead of trying to hurt his opponent. The tenth round was the most exciting of the bout, with Cooper hurting Brown and nearly putting him down before the final bell rang. All three judges scored the bout, 99-91.
Aaron Alafa [2-0-0, KO] of Visalia, California picked up his second professional win to begin his career when he beat Greg McDowell [0-1-0] via nineteen second destruction. Alafa finished McDowell with the first right hook he threw, and as soon as he went down the referee stopped the bout as McDowell had no idea where he was.
Junior welterweight prospect Mike Dallas, Jr. [5-0-0, KO] of Bakersfield, California scored the first knockout of his professional career in emphatic fashion when he disposed of Cincinnati, Ohio’s James Helmes [6-2-0, 2 KOs] in 1:45 seconds of the opening stanza. Dallas was patient in looking for openings, and even threw his opponent off with a bolo punch before landing a devastating right hook that put Helmes down. The hook came immediately after Dallas had rolled one of Helmes’ punches, and he then came forward with all of his power to knock Helmes out. Dallas has three fights on the horizon in the next few months, starting with a September 11th bout in San Jose at the HP Pavilion. Dallas was also making his debut as a Goossen-Tutor promoted fighter, having just signed a contract with the promotion days before the fight.
In a bout for the vacant WBC International Super Bantamweight title, Dominga Olivo [7-4-1] of Monticello, New York upset former amateur star Ana Julaton [4-1-1, KO] of Daly City, California in an exciting bout via eight-round split decision. The first round was a close one that saw Julaton’s superior boxing skills meet Olivo’s rough brawling tactics. Olivo built a lead by bullying Julaton on the inside, Julaton did her best work using her boxing ability and working from the outside with her jab, but too many times she allowed herself to fall into a trap and try and outwork her opponent from close range. Olivo slowed down a bit in the sixth and seventh rounds which allowed Julaton back into the fight, but then she won the eighth round wide to claim a victory. The judges scored the bout 79-73 and 77-75 for Olivo while one judge scored the bout 77-75 for Julaton. Julaton trainer Freddie Roach expressed that although he thought the decision was fair, he would like to see Ana get a rematch with Oliva as soon as possible.
Madera , California ’s Joaquin Marquez [4-0-1, 3 KOs ] scored a four-round majority decision over Loren Myers [ 6-4-0 , 2 KOs ] of Fresno , California in a super middleweight contest. Marquez was the bigger puncher, landing numerous bombs that had Myers hurt. An uppercut in the second round rocked Myers, who responded by clowning around.. The judges scored the bout 40-36 and 39-37 for Marquez while one judge had it a draw at 38-38. UBR scored the bout, 39- 37 in favor of Marquez.
In the card’s opening bout, Carlos Nevarez [14-16-1, 5 KOs] of Denver , Colorado scored a minor upset over James Ventry [ 6-5-1 , 4 KOs ] of Niagara Falls , New York via six-round majority decision in a junior welterweight bout.
Boxing returns to the Tachi Palace , October 23rd in a Goossen-Tutor Promotions event.
Monday, June 2, 2008
Disgrace gone unpunished
Disgrace gone unpunished
Mark E. Ortega
Ultimateboxingresults.com
June 2, 2008
On May 30th, something truly disgraceful happened in the boxing world that has gone largely unnoticed.
The bout in which so much corruption and incompetency occurred was a heavyweight bout between Konstantin Airich and Danny Williams in Pais Vasco, Spain.
To start, Williams was deducted two points for a second low blow in the second round. The referee initially issued a standing eight count for the second low blow, but then took away two points from Williams. He couldn’t make up his mind whether it was a knockdown or a low blow, but then deducted points. If it were a low blow, normally a fighter would be deducted one point or even issued a second warning before points were taken away.
In the third round, Williams was given two standing eight counts. Williams was hit by a hard shot against the ropes that staggered him, and since he was against the ropes I can see how a standing count was fair in that instance. Also in the third round, the tape comes severely loose from Williams’ glove, but the referee does nothing about it. Williams is stunned by a punch and finds his balance but is quickly issued another standing eight count. It is during this time that Williams himself had to remove the tape from his glove.
In the fourth round, Williams was issued a count after throwing a right hand that missed and falling. This means a third “knockdown” was awarded to Airich.
In the fifth round, Williams knocked Airich down legitimately, and the referee gave Airich nearly thirty seconds to recover.
In the sixth round, the most disgusting thing I have seen happen in a bout in a long time occurred when Airich was badly hurt by Williams a minute or so into the round. At this juncture, Airich’s PROMOTER Ahmet Oner of ArenaBox Promotions, went and rung the bell, and the round was declared over.
In the seventh round, Williams swarmed a badly hurt Airich and the towel was thrown in by Oner, probably to try and save face for the debacle that happened in the previous round. Oner also had no right to throw in the towel, as he was not part of Airich’s corner.
The sixth round in particular just mesmerized me in terms of what happened. It was almost comical how badly they were trying to save their fighter from a loss. Oner should be at the very least be fined a large amount of money, if not barred from the sport altogether.
Another thing that I have yet to conclude is why the boxing media has failed to report most of this, or even mention how corrupt this fight was. No website I have browsed has even a mention of Oner being the one who rang the bell about a minute and a half early. ArenaBox Promotion’s website fails to even mention that the sixth round was halted early. This was obviously omitted for a reason.
Not only should Oner be seriously penalized, but the referee of the bout, Alfedo Garcia Perez, should never be allowed to officiate a professional bout ever again. In the fifth round, Perez was yelling at Williams in Spanish. Danny Williams does not speak Spanish, so he obviously had no idea what Perez was saying. The only way the referee was able to show Williams he was doing wrong was by waving his finger at him and shouting “No, no,” as if Williams was a young child who had done something wrong. The referee failing to stop the action to remove loose tape from Williams’ gloves was also vastly overlooked without reason. The fact that the fighter himself had to remove loose tape from his gloves is more than ridiculous.
What happened during this fight that is even more disappointing is that it was an otherwise exciting fight, especially by today’s heavyweight standards. Both fighters were throwing hurtful bombs with bad intentions, but it will forever be overshadowed by the fact that the fight was riddled with corruption and incompetence.
Arena Promotions have since replied to Mark Ortega with this statement:
Dear Mr. Ortega,
First of all I want to thank you for asking for our side of this story. I understand your anger but before you blame Ahmet Öner and ARENA Box-Promotion please keep in mind that it was Mr. Öner personally who threw in the towel to end the fight IN FAVOUR OF DANNY WILLIAMS. If he had in mind to cheat on Danny or steal the victory from him that would have been the stupidest thing to do – especially considering that Konstantin Airich was way ahead on all scorecards.
To clarify the situation below you find the official statement of Mr. Öner.
Ahmet Öner on Konstantin Airich vs. Danny Williams on May 30th in Bilbao : “First of all I want to apologize for all the confusion in this fight. And I want to point out that I never meant to cheat on Danny ion any way. If it would have been my goal to steal the victory from him I wouldn’t have thrown in the towel at a point were Konstantin was leading on all scorecards.
To me the first couple of rounds between Konstantin Airich and Danny Williams have been the most entertaining I’ve seen in a while in heavyweight boxing. Konstantin showed a great performance and impressed Danny with his enormous power and very hard hands and sent him to the canvas a couple of times. The way Danny recovered from that and came back to win the fight with all his experience was very impressive as well. The main problem of the fight, however, was very poor refereeing and the officials of the local commission.
Regarding this I want to make clear that the show was only co-promoted by ARENA and we didn’t bring German officials to Spain but worked with the local commission in Bilbao . I didn’t know anybody of the officials before the fight and to me they really turned this great bout into a farce. The referee was at no point in control of the action inside the ring. When Danny’s tape loosened from his glove the ref wouldn’t stop the bout to have it fixed. At one point the ref even tried to wrap the tape around the glove himself which looked really stupid to me after that he even ripped it off completely. In addition to that he warned Danny and deducted points in strange situations, he gave him a standing eight-count which wouldn’t have happened in Germany and he saw knockdowns where the fighters obviously slipped. The supervisor did nothing to correct the referee and what the timekeepers did was the biggest disgrace. They stopped the breaks prematurely and had one round – I think it was the 5th – going for 3:30..
Because the fight was very exciting but disturbed by poor refereeing I got very angry and started to argue with the officials. Additionally I had heard after the 3rd round that Konstantin had problems with his left hand and seemed to be seriously injured. So when Danny started to attack Konstantin in the 6th I shouted at the officials to stop the fight. Actually Konstantin’s trainer didn’t think that his fighter was in danger so he didn’t throw in the towel what would have been the best at this point of time. I thought Konstantin might get knocked out hard as I know that Danny can do some damage. So I kept on shouting ‘Stop the fight!’ and meant that it should have been a tko for Danny at this point. This situation led to the ringing of the bell with 1:30 to go in the round. As the officials acted as if nothing had happened and just started the 7th round after a break I threw in the towel to end all discussions. I never meant to cheat on Danny or to steal the victory from him. Otherwise I wouldn’t have thrown the towel in.
Unlike other (German) promoters I stand for boxing as a sport. I want to see interesting fights and great action inside the ring. That’s why I do the aggressive matchmaking I’m known for. No other promoter in the world would have let a guy with only 10 pro-fights take on a world class fighter like Danny Williams. In addition to that I didn’t do the fight on German soil or with German officials like other German promoters do it to control the judging. We went to neutral soil which proofed to be a mistake as this local commission really did a bad job. I think the first half of the fight showed that it was a good match-up. That this was ruined by poor refereeing teaches me not to work with inexperienced referees and officials again. And I regret the mistake I made in choosing Bilbao as place for the fight to happen.
I hope that Danny understands my motives and what happened in Bilbao . And I hope that he didn’t mean to accuse me personally but point on a problem we have in professional boxing in general: Promoters impinging on officials to have their fighters win. This might be a typical German problem but I am not a typical German promoter – I am Turkish; I work internationally; and I am a boxing fan as well which means I want to see great fights with fair decisions. Everybody who accuses me personally should not forget that it was me who ended the fight in favour of Danny and that I saw Sinan Samil Sam losing to Oliver McCall in Ankara one year ago which wouldn’t have happened one of the other ‘typical German promoters’.
After all I hope that Danny gives Konstantin a rematch one day after he recovers from his broken hand because I think Konstantin deserves it as he really showed a hack of a fight which shouldn’t be forgotten besides all the anger and confusion.”
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