Category Archives: sports

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Paquiao Bradley promoter Bob Arum calls for investigation–just to make it look good

News that boxing promoter Bob Arum is calling for an investigation on the Paquiao-Bradley split decision, and refusing to grant a rematch until the Nevada Attorney General’s office makes an inquiry, should come as no surprise.

You’d be calling for an investigation too if you had a record of bribery and suspected corruption like Arum that goes back to 1995. 

Arum’s record, of course, is old news. But the shocking results of the Pacquiao-Bradley fight, where such an obvious winner is declared a loser, makes the past suddenly relevant again, if only to let everyone realize who we are dealing with and the kind of “sport” professional boxing has become.

A call for an investigation merely takes a little heat off Arum and lets the world know he appears to be just as outraged over the  controversial split decision as any sane unbiased observer of the fight. .

Never mind that Arum’s still likely to make millions no matter what happens in the aftermath.  As the promoter of  both Pacquiao and Bradley, he’s no different from a bookie or a hedge fund manager, who balances his books and profits either way. He can’t lose.

Conflict of interest is just part of the professional game. Boxing promotion is as close to a monopoly as it gets. And if it wasn’t, what do you get? Don King? If  the state of boxing  didn’t bother us before the weekend, maybe it shouldn’t bother us now.  

That only works if you can separate the seamy business side of boxing from the actual sport, the fight between two opponents going at each other.

Some of us really are interested not in the betting and the money side, but in the “sweet science,” the sport of boxing.  And that’s where some of us finally realized this weekend it really can’t be done.

We saw the fight.  So did the judges,  who scored it 115-113.

Judge Jerry Roth called it for Pacquiao.

Duane Ford and C.J. Ross called it for Bradley.

I’ve watched fights and studied boxing. I know a jab from a hook.  Incompetence in athletic judging is nothing new. I’ve mentioned the French Olympic skating judges. It comes up even in legitimate sports. In the PacBradley fight, three of the judges were over 70. No age discrimination from me. But this is where subjectivity appears, and where generational  differences come into play as to boxing judging standards. New computer stats that show actual punches thrown and landed are supposed to smooth out the subjectivity and take away the guess work. By those numbers, Pacquiao landed at least 100 more punches than Bradley.  Pacquiao’s display in the fourth and fifth rounds were enough to give him the decision. Bradley never came close to performing at that level.

Those who bring up Pacquaio’s victorious fights with Juan Manuel Marquez and say Marquez should have won them are comparing apples to oranges. Those were actual close fights and really could have gone either way. No complaint from me. Those were razor close.

The Pacquiao Bradley fight was not 115-113 close. Not in Bradley’s favor.

Before the fight, there was some talk about why these three judges in particular were called in for this fight. Just their luck? Commentators were surprised that more experienced judges weren’t called in.

Still, any calls for some kind of investigation on the judges and the judging process seem all for show at this point.

I don’t expect anything to happen to change a thing. In a few weeks, all this will be conveniently forgotten and more pay-per-view matches will be scheduled.

Just not with my hard-earned money.

Will they take yours?

See also previous posts on SFgate.com and on the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund blog.

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The Pacquiao-Bradley debacle: Boxing’s shame

You don’t really have to know boxing to understand that Timothy Bradley, Jr. did not win that fight against WBO welterweight champ Manny Pacquiao.

If you were one of the millions who plunked down their hard-earned cash to watch a “fight,” you could see it with your own eyes. Bradley was handed the championship belt, as if it were a pre-scripted fantasy. Or maybe the New Wrestling.

Before the decision was handed, it was a decent enough show. Pacquiao, the more experienced champ landed more punches and completely outclassed the younger Bradley, who tried to keep up with Pacquiao, but rarely got to him. Bradley did get in some body punches, especially while holding Pacquiao, but there was nothing from Bradley that appeared to stagger or even pose a threat to Pacquiao.  Indeed, throughout the fight, Bradley’s trainer, by his use of the “F” word, seemed frustrated by his fighter’s inability to take the fight to Pacquiao.  Bradley threw a lot of punches, but he also missed a lot. Meanwhile, Pacquiao was able to land his straight left against Bradley that staggered him again and again.

In my most charitable assessment, I didn’t see Bradley win one round. Bradley did nothing to Pacquiao that was close to the pounding Pacquiao put on Bradley in the fourth and fifth rounds.

But the judges saw it differently and gave the fight to Bradley.

Maybe this was boxing’s “affirmative action.”

Athletic judging is after all, subjective. We  know this from watching Olympic skating judges from France.

There’s always the plausibility of an implausible result. Injustice happens.

Still, there are enough real injustices in the world to care about instead of this one, where Pacquiao reportedly got over $20 million for this fight to Bradley’s $5. (Nevermind what the judges might or might not get. All I can think of is the odds must have been so good on Bradley, and all the money bet on Pacquiao, that certain gambling interests just couldn’t resist a massive score.)

In a previous column on the fight, I had suggested that this be Manny Pacquiao’s last fight. Considering what boxing does to your brain, and with all the other interests Pacquiao has in politics, religion, and show business, leaving the ring now just sounded like a good exit strategy—before anyone gets hurt.

For Pacquiao’s sake, I wanted this fight to be his last. I just didn’t think it would be my last fight.

They’re already talking about Pacquiao Bradley II, to correct the injustice, and to, of course, enrich a few boxing promoters. (Ever wonder how Bob Arum has a piece of both fighters?  It makes his claim of being ashamed for the sport ring very, very  hollow.) 

Sorry, boxing.  As Roberto Duran would say,  “No mas.”

I’ll be back when the game gets a massive infusion of integrity.

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On Trayvon Martin/George Zimmerman, Marion Barry, and Ralph Barbieri

The Trayvon Martin case shows how society still struggles in the old Black and White paradigm.

The ultimate arrest of George Zimmerman is just the beginning. Now the  real argument can begin about what happened on the night of Martin’s death.  That couldn’t happen until there was an arrest and a charge, and now we have that. The month-and-a-half delay we’ve  had was caused by a racist mindset.  In a game of “Who’s the Perp,” Zimmerman or Martin, the knee-jerk reaction ruled the day. Of course, the perp is…

Law enforcement stood its ground as long as it could. 

But, of course we don’t know who the perp is really.

We only knew the stereotype. Maybe now we have a chance at the truth. But given the burden of proof and the availability of evidence, getting justice will not be easy.

 BARRY

In spite of all this diversity we have in our society, America is still stuck in that oldblack/white paradigm. Throw in a little Asian into the mix, and see how hard it is to get justice. Make the perp of the racism a black leader of some prominence in the nation’s capital, and guess what you get? Certainly, no relief for Asian Americans. 

The case of Marion Barry  http://aaldef.org/blog/fighting-barrys-racist-eruption.html shows how difficult it still is for Asian Americans to get the respect they deserve. If such an obviously racist comment as Barry’s gets barely a wrist slap, we certainly aren’t as far in this race thing  as we think.Sure, there have been rebukes from D.C. politicians, but Barry is still in his job as responsible, credible, respectable D.C. councilman.

If any of us had indicated a desire to run members of a specific race out of our neighborhoods, blacks, whites, Asians or Latinos, we would be slapped so hard we wouldn’t know what hit us. But Barry, who has survived FBI crack stings, drug convictions, jail time, remains standing as a public official. This Asian race flap? Just a “2,” he says, on a scale of one through ten. Racism? Against Asian Americans? Are you kidding?

http://blog.sfgate.com/eguillermo/2012/04/11/getting-away-with-racism-in-our-nations-capital/

RALPH BARBIERI

I don’t really know Ralph personally, but how can you not say you “know” him after he spent most of his adult life letting you know what he thought?

That’s the life of the talk show host. Did I listen? Well, I’m a Giants fan and had the radio on in the afternoon.  So let’s see, I know Ralph worked at Sport Magazine, was in adverstising, lived in Hawaii, grew up in Northern California, went to USF, had some alcohol and driving issues, worked at KNBR, adopted a son, liked long winded questions, worked at KNBR, tangled a lot with Brian Sabean, liked thin crust pizza, worked at KNBR, picked up Tolbert as a partner, liked Sean Estes, worked at KNBR, revealed his Parkinson’s, worked at KNBR, worked at KNBR, worked at KNBR.

Something stands out in that litany.  His longevity at KNBR. As a guy who has worked in TV and Radio and know what a revolving door it can be, I admire the fact that he endured so long. And yet, I also know that when you’re behind the mike and you think it’s such an intimate thing, it is. But only between the listener and you. The corporation is no family, and despite what the Supreme Court says, is not a real person. Corporations sign the checks. And then they don’t.

I wish Ralph well. I didn’t realize his age, but KNBR getting rid of a 66-year-old? They probably know what that will cost them. From the reports I’ve seen, Ralph was apparently well compensated.

And I know he was a vegetarian. Coming from a PETA household as I do, I know you can save a lot of money not eating meat.

Good luck Ralph. And go Sharks.

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Update: Farewell to HBO’s “Luck”

They won the race, but they lost the baby. And the show.

The first two are fake. But the show is real, as are the three  horse deaths sustained during the production of HBO’s “Luck.”

And that’s why last night’s “Luck” was far more than a “season” finale. It was the final final. it’s theme song was a dirge signalling the end of “Luck.”

Too bad. The show is really about the human interaction. The racing scenes were incidental. They could have easily been done in a way to prevent harm to the animals. The scenes that are more poignant are back at the stable anyway.  Yet pProducers were so quick to cancel  after PETA exposed the horse deaths. To satisfy PETA, the producers didn’t have to cancel. They merely had to assure that the animals would be safe.

Why couldn’t David Milch and Michael Mann do that? Instead, they went straight to the cancellation option.

If you saw the credits last night,  you may have noticed the disclaimer at the end was different.  It didn’t say “no animals were harmed.”

It simply said the American Humane Association “monitored” the production.

Exactly what this means isn’t clear, but whatever monitoring was done clearly wasn’t enough to assure safety for the horses on the show.

What’s amazing is that the horse racing industry continues to think “Luck” was good for business and continues to criticize PETA.

The organization that deserves the scrutiny is AHA.

But let’s not get hung up about the fake races in fictional drama.

As the New York Times reported yesterday, there are many more deaths and drama with real horses in real races.

The industry has found a way to bring cash to the races by bringing in casino-style gambling and slot machines to the tracks. But being flush with cash has not brought out the humane side of the horsemen. Instead, the race purses are so rich, even for the lowest quality horses, that greedy horsemen keep sending out their unfit stock to race for the money.

Unfit horses? Well, if not for the drugs.