DIAZ-MALIGNAGGI RESULT A SHAMEFUL SHAM!
August 23rd, 2009 By Kevin Perry
NO TEXAS HOLD ‘EM, MORE LIKE TEXAS ROB ‘EM
Los Angeles, CA- The accepted notion that a fighter must win convincingly in his opponent’s hometown just to get a close decision victory or a draw is one of the aspects of this sport that turn off current, as well as perspective. The idea that the sport is a business, an ideology used by the majority of fighters in this modern era, in some ways makes the actions of promoters and managers appear acceptable. Other sports however, are businesses as well but the athletes and the game itself are treated with higher levels of integrity.
DISPUTED DECISION A CRY FOR REAL REGULATION
In losing Saturday night to Juan “Baby Bull” Diaz (35-2, 17 KOs) in Diaz’ hometown of Houston by a somewhat lopsided unanimous decision (well lopsided according to judge Gail Van Hoy’s 118-110 or 10-2 in rounds score), Paulie “The Magic Man” Malignaggi (26-3, 5 KOs) had all the right to be upset, livid and just plain disgusted with the decision rendered against him. As we have seen over and over, no matter how many bad decisions or unfair circumstances occur, without a universal body to hold bad judges and officials accountable for their actions, there will never be anything close to a level playing field in the boxing game.
BOXERS GET FOURTH WORLD TREATMENT
In what some may call the world’s most dangerous sport, one would assume there would be more regulations. When someone steps in that ring they are essentially putting their life on the line and these athletes deserve a fair shake for making that sacrifice. Watching Diaz’ hand being raised and the seemingly arrogant expression on his face of relief, knowing that he got a gift from the judges and referee was disheartening. At the end of the fight Malignaggi said in his HBO interview, “Boxing is full of shit.” Under those circumstances you would have to agree with his verbiage.
BROOKLYN’S PAULIE, HE IS WHAT HE IS!
No one mistakes “The Magic Man” for the most exciting pugilist, or for being a big puncher. We know he’s a big talker, but it wasn’t like the guy wasn’t winning rounds. Yes he applied a hit and move strategy against “The Baby Bull,” but at times he controlled the fight with great ring generalship, keeping Diaz on his heels, making his aggression ineffective.
MOST PEOPLE FELT DIAZ RECEIVED GIFT
HBO judge Harold Lederman, notoriously known for favoring the aggressor in close fights scored the match 115-113 for Malignaggi. Bottom line is Paulie fought one of the more spirited performances of his career, and he doesn’t deserve to be relegated to that of a gatekeeper. The difference between winning and losing in this sport can mean thousands of dollars. Unfortunately as the years pass most people will only remember what they see in the win and loss column and forget the circumstances that lead to the insulting if not criminal result. It is a shame that incompetence (or corruption) has become such the norm in boxing.
Kevin Perry
J Diaz is an overhyped fighter who got a gift decision from his hometown. He is one dimensional in-fighter. JMM is going to get his ass kick too with Floyd Jr. Fighters today thought that it’s easy moving up well… FYI, MP makes it look easy because every time he moves up he got something new while bringing up his power. When MP fought D Diaz, MP starts to develop his footwork, when he fought ODLH he improved his footwork and movement, when he fought RH he level-up his right hook which he had already when he fought Morales for the 2nd time. Like I said before JMM wins against grand pa Casa and overhype Diaz is not that great. Hatton can finish off both Casa and J Diaz much faster than Marquez did… I also don’t hear Pachaters bashing J Diaz for the catch weight… Well?
This was no different than the Blatent Gift decision Delahoya got against Felix Sturm. But Delahoya Gladdly accepted the gift as Sturm was shuffled off to the sidelines. We all saw Sturm Box Delahoyas ears off and unlike this fight Sturm Tagged and got to Delahoya all night long. But as Kellerman pointed out, Delahoya was the Marketable fighter so he got the Gift and not a peep from the Commentators or Promoters.
this is the very reason why boxing is dying.. sad part is..there’s nobody is doing to prevent this.. i thought gbp will save boxing… but they put gasoline to the fire.. bye bye boxing… bye bye ring magazine..
A bad call, but don’t get carried away! Bad calls are as old as boxing and as widespread as there are opportunities for people to get away with it–in law, religion, education, the military, politics.
The first live fight I ever saw in the early 1960s–Frankie DePaula vs. Don McAteer (think that was his name)–ended in a draw even though Frankie clearly pounded his foe into one big purple bruise for 7 out of 8 rounds. How could that be? I asked then. I don’t ask any more.
Please, what fight were smuks watching, diaz landed all thehard shots and made the fight. Paulie is a lil douschbag with a big mouth
I thought Malignaggi won by a point or two, but I wouldn’t have fought with someone who said it was a draw. In no way shape or form do I understand or see how anyone could have thought Juan Diaz won. It didn’t even look like a Diaz fight with him coming forward and making it a grueling fight for his opponent. I saw a guy get out smarted and outboxed by a light hitting opponent who deserved the victory. Yes, Diaz landed the harder shots, but he wasn’t as busy and certainly did not control the fight. Boxers get banned/suspended for cheating, but why don’t Judges or Promoters???? Whether you think DIaz won or lost there is no doubt that no judge could have and should scored this fight 108 to 110. This is no different than cheating with handwraps or steroids. A fighter goes into that ring life and death and doesn’t deserved to be cheated. It’s like a guy goes into a fight and dies in the ring and then his family later finds out that he never should have taken the fight because even if it went to decision he wouldn’t have won.
118-110
I had Diaz winning a very close fight. You can easily make a case for Paulie winning, but Diaz getting the nod is by no means robbery. Two of the judges scorecards were however, ridiculous. On another note, Paulie’s post-fight rant was a bit absurd. Did he forget the ridiculous scores he was given in his highly debated win over Herman Ngoudjo.
Malignaggi is a bit of a loudmouth, but you know what? In the ring he is all heart and he fought his heart out and won that fight 115-113 on my card, there was no freaking way, Diaz won that fight, a draw might have been acceptable, but it seems all Diaz had to do was get through the 12th round to win because Hoy had the fight 118-110 Diaz, which is a travesty if I ever saw one. It was a close fight, but whether a fighter wins by one point or 6 he should be awarded the decision, because that is what is right. I hope malignaggi gets another big fight soon, because even though he can’t punch through a paper bag he is very skilled and belongs in the top echelon of the 140 pound division.
Totally agree with the writer, Paulie got robbed. His flashy trunks alone and that new hair dew, ewwww daddy he is the sexiest thing in boxing and needs to be givin the nod in those types of fights, be the next Oscar and be givin a nice free ride in the sport so he can attract the younger audiance
I saw the fight & in my opinion MALIGNAGGI won the fight..Although DIAZ landed some good shots,,,there is no way that a judge will score a huge margin in favor of Diaz because it was a very close fight.I thought MALIGNAGGI was robbed that night….I just hope MALIGNAGGI gets another title shot because he deserves it…I suggests that all the BOXING ASSOCIATIONS review the fight and decides who really won that nigh & things like that should never happen again…..I am a big fan of BOXING and i just hope that who ever is fighting in the ring should be judge FAIR 1 SQUARE no matter who wins…Thank you and more power to Boxing & to the maker of this site…
I’ve followed the Baby Bull from the get-go and I’ve always said the same thing. He’ll never be an elite fighter until he can hit hard enough to put his opponent down. I dig the kid’s story, but he doesn’t belong in the ring with top tier opponents.
How any judge could’ve watched that fight and come up with a 118-110 card is beyond me…
I didn’t know whether Malignaggi would have enough to keep Diaz off him but he did and while live is different than TV it’s just not “118-110″ different. Texas Rob ‘em is right on the $