COMMISSIONER’S CORNER: On Judging Missteps, Algieri’s Deep Cut, More

Published

10 years ago

July 23, 2014

Let’s get one thing straight: The decision rendered on the Canelo Alvarez-Erislandy Lara fight was not fixed or pre-ordained, as so many of you have told me through your calls, your texts, your e-mails, your messages and your tweets.

Canelo Alvarez-Erislandy Lara. This is the perfect example of why it’s so hard, so difficult, to score a fight. Read each post here on TSS in reaction to the fight. Read ’em carefully. Some of you thought Lara won convincingly (as did I & judge Dave Moretti). Some of you thought Canelo won (as did judges Levi Martinez & Jerry Roth).

Some of you were so turned off by Lara’s fight plan that you’ve placed him on your “Don’t Watch” list, along with Richar Abril and Guillermo Rigondeaux (quite possibly the world’s most-gifted boxer!).

This was a bit like Chris Algieri v Ruslan Provodnikov. A boxer/mover/elusive competitor vs the constantly coming in, power-punching foe.

Half of us saw the aggressive power-puncher winning in both fights–Provodnikov/Alvarez. Some saw the elusive boxer winning (Algieri/Lara).

That’s boxing. That’s why the scores of the three officials read the way they did. They weren’t like that because of incompetence or dishonesty, which a few of my e-mails & texts claimed (“Well, looks like Golden Boy got to two of the judges” read one of my texts). That just wasn’t the case.

At the final bell, I was thinking Lara won by split decision, but really felt it should be unanimous. I saw him land the greater frequency of shots, while Alvarez’ hardest punches landed on nothing but the MGM Grand Ballroom’s air. Several of his body hooks got in. Many more were blocked. Sure, Lara was landing what many of you saw as “pitty-pat” punches, but Alvarez didn’t come into the ring with that swelling under his right eye.

I don’t agree with the decision.

But I am not going to go crazy and holler robbery or fix.

That’s boxing and that’s scoring.

You want to talk about controversial endings? Try a few of these bouts:

Tyrone Everett vs. Alfredo Escalera…

Pernell Whitaker vs. Jose Luis Ramirez…

Pernell Whitaker vs. Julio Cesar Chavez…

Those were three of the biggest robberies I have seen in boxing. How about Timothy Bradley vs Manny Pacquiao I? They still haven’t cleared the stench from the Las Vegas air from that one.

But that first one on my list–Everett-Escalera…that may be the WORST decision in the history of boxing. I was there that night. My card had it 12-3 for the undefeated southpaw slickster from Philadelphia. Boxing writer Jack “KO-JO” Obermayer, who has been to more boxing events than perhaps anyone else, said, “I believe I had it 12-1-2 for TE. He may have even won all 15 rounds.”

You saw it your way. The judges saw it their way.

I saw it my way.

***

Speaking of Chris Algieri, the red-hot Huntington, L.I. jr. welter has signed to face Manny Pacquiao on November 22 in Macau, China. Opening lines have Pacquiao an overwhelming favorite, much in the way of how heavily-favored Mike Tyson was going into his title defense against Buster Douglas in 1990. Manny is not getting and younger or any better. A prospective, mind-boggling super fight between Pacquiao and $$$May is yesterday’s news and no longer a reality, no matter how much many of us still want to see it. So, now it’s Pacquiao vs. Algieri. Unless I see something along the way which will change my mind, I think Algieri stands on the precipice of his second straight major upset–his first being against Ruslan Provodnikov a few months ago. A victory in Macau will unquestionably make him 2014’s “Fighter of the Year.” You’re not gonna’ buy the fight, you say? You may regret that move the next morning! I know. Most of you–I would say 95%–are reading this and saying “Commish, you’re nuts to tthink Algieri even has a miniscule chance of beating Pacquiao.” Algieri showed his fighting heart and courage against Provodnikov. Pacquiao is going to see nothing less.

A HUGE CUT–Cutmen are a dime a dozen, but top-notch ones are rare. Big George Mitchell, who, at 6’10” is the tallest cutman in the world, is also regarded as one of the best. He is one of the top-notch guys. Mitchell, a former NYC police officer, trained for years under one of the finest, most-respected cutmen of all time, Al Gavin. Fighters train to win championships. Trainers dream of working with and training a world champion. Managers clamor to work with a world champ. Cutmen ply their trade in the hope that one day they’ll be able to work the corner of a champion. Mitchell got his dream in May, when he worked the corner of Chris Algieri, whom he had been working with for a long time. As you may recall, Algieri was dropped in the first round by a powerful left hook. When he arose from the knockdown, a puffiness was already under Algieri’s eye. Later, a cut opened above the eye. Mitchell did his best to stem the flow of blood and control the swelling. It was something he needed to do from the end of the first round until the final bell. From press row, it looked as if Mitchell did a super job. His handiwork was examined by the extremely squeamish NYSAC doctors and approved. They allowed the fight to continue. Algieri showed tremendous heart by hanging in and winning a split decision. Now, as the announcement has come that Algieri has been rewarded with a fight against Manny Pacquiao for over $1 million, he has elected to let Big George go. It is not known the reason for Mitchell’s dismissal. Perhaps he asked for a lot more money from Algieri. Perhaps Algieri was unhappy with the work Mitchell did in the Provodnikov fight, although we can’t understand what there was to be unhappy about. In any event, Mitchell has been cut by Algieri. It’s a shame, because, while Algieri and his team get to earn their greatest payday, the man so responsible for helping Algieri get there won’t be there to earn his own payday. Somebody else will. It’s certainly the largest cut–even larger than the one which Algieri suffered against Provodnikov and the one which Mitchell kept under control–that Big George has ever had to face.

***

WHO WILL REF?: As of this writing, there has been no announcement from the NYSAC who will be the officials for Saturday’s WBO Middleweight Title fight between Gennady Golovkin and Daniel Geale. In recent years, the NYSAC has moved away from exclusively using New York State officials. Chairperson Melvina Lathan has been doing that for years, and now, new Executive Director David Berlin, has begun his time in office by using non-NY residents. For the Miguel Cotto-Sergio Martinez fight, his first major show, Berlin brought in Canadian Michael Griffin. This did not sit well with many New York State referees, who began whispering, “Why didn’t Berlin use a New York State ref?” There are plenty of world-class ones to choose from. Charlie Fitch is one (although we hear he will be working on a Showtime card from the Turning Stone Casino the night before)…Ron Lipton is another. There’s also Eddie Claudio. And Steve Willis. There are more. My guess is that for the two feature fights this weekend at MSG–GGG-Geale and Jennings-Perez–Berlin will select Benji Esteves and Harvey Dock. While both are residents of New Jersey, each has found a home in New York rings and each does excellent work. Hopefully, Berlin refrains from using another particular out-of-state ref, but that’s an issue which will be addressed if and when Berlin gives him a call for GGG-Geale or Jennings-Perez

THE HARDER THEY FALL: Until 2011, El Paso heavyweight David Rodriguez was cruising along, slowly but surely, in his boxing career. He was 34 and unbeaten in 36 fights. He, his handlers and his fans believed he had the power and skills to win at least a portion of the heavyweight title. Then, he was slashed on the fight by a knife in a street fight. It took him two years to recover and return to the ring.

“I was in the wrong place at the wrong time,” Rodriguez had told me about the knife attack on my SiriusXM show last December, one week before his comeback fight against veteran Darnell Boone. The veteran brought a very opponent-like record of 24-17-3 into the fight against Rodriguez’ 36-0 (34 KO’s). The veteran battered and stopped Rodriguez in the sixth round.

Rodriguez licked his wounds, rested for awhile, the headed back to the gym. This past weekend, he launched yet another comeback, against another veteran. Ironically, this veteran–Raymond Ochieng–had the identical record of Rodriguez’ last opponent, Darnell Boone. Their knockout totals virtually matched, too. Boone came in with 20 knockouts. Ochieng came in with 19. It was eerily similar. Perhaps it was an omen of things to come. The only thing is, Ochieng didn’t stop Rodriguez in the sixth round. He stopped him midway through the first.

For David Rodriguez, his dream of winning the heavyweight title ended in the fight against Ochieng. Perhaps it ended last December, against Boone. Perhaps it ended two years earlier, when the knife slashed across Rodriguez’ face. In any case, it ended.

David Rodriguez announced his retirement after the fight.

***

TIME FOR THE CALL: It’s time to put the name Al Gavin on the ballot for selection into the International Boxing Hall of Fame. Al Gavin was a cutman/cornerman/trainer par excellence who was visible in so many corners during the 70’s, 80’s 90’s and into the new millennium. Gavin worked the corner of amateurs, pro and celebrities. He worked with the best (Lennox Lewis), the busiest (Micky Ward) and the worst (me). He treated everybody like a champ. Gavin passed away in 2009. Ralph Citro, also a great cutman, was inducted in 2001. It’s time to put Al Gavin’s name on the ballot and put his selection into boxing immortality in the hands of lthe Boxing Writer’s Association. It really is time.

***

NEXT FOR MIGUEL COTTO: Winning the middleweight title from Sergio Martinez was merely another step towards Canastota for Miguel Cotto. Chances are, no matter what he does between now and his eventual induction will not affect his selection into the IBHOF. Two names being tossed around as possibly opponents for Cotto are Canelo Alvarez and Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. With Alvarez possibly going in the direction of James Kirkland and Julio Sr. saying his son will gladly make 160 to face Cotto, expect to see a middleweight title clash between Cotto and Chavez. Does this one head to New York or Las Vegas? I say it winds up in Cotto’s adopted home of New York City.

***

HE’S COMING BACK: He was battered and overpowered by Miguel Cotto on June 7 at Madison Square Garden. A bum knee and a surgically-repaired shoulder left Sergio Martinez looking like anything but a champion, and he was stopped in 10 one-sided rounds. Now, only a month later comes news from Spain–Martinez’ home–that the ex-middleweight king intends to fight on.

“He is 100% healthy and will resume his career with the intention of regaining the title,” said Sampson Lewkowicz, Martinez’ adviser.

One hundred percent healthy? How can that be? Only one month ago, Martinez looked like a cripple. He looked frail and weak and was treated as such by Cotto, who dropped him four times on the way to taking his title. How can he be 100% just a little over a month later?

“He said he feels fine,” said Martinez’ promoter Lou DiBella. “He’ll be coming into New York for a battery of physical exams and we will take it from there. My guess is he’ll be fighting in the early part of 2015 against a tough, top-15, top-20 opponent. We’ll take it from there.”

Martinez will be 40 in February.

***

VAST IMPROVEMENT: After watching Zou Shiming thoroughly outbox veteran Luis De la Rosa on Saturday night, you can see his hard work with Freddie Roach paying off. Shiming is planting his feet a lot more when he throws his blistering combinations and his movement is much more fluid with less wasted energy. Shiming won nine of the 10 rounds against De la Rosa to go 5-0 in a fight for the vacant WBO International Flyweight Title. There will probably be one more fight for Shiming before the 33-year-old Shiming–a hero throughout China–is put into a world title fight…On the same card as Shiming, Guillermo Rigondeaux moved to 14-0 with a second-round stoppage of Thailand’s Sod Kokietgym. It’s too bad the fight ended the way it did, on a cheap–but legal–punch by Rigondeaux. Kokietgym had come into the fight with a 63-2-1 record, with his only two losses coming to Daniel “Ponce” De Leon, the last one in 2006…Patrick Day, the sensational middleweight prospect from Long Island, will see action this Wednesday at B. B. King’s in NYC on a Lou DiBella card. Day is currently 7-0-1 with four knockouts.

A CHANGE IN THE RATINGS: With Top-10 PxP fighter GGG in action this weekend, I am wondering how he will look and if his performance will raise him, keep him the same or drop him in our PxP ratings. Guess we’ll find out on Saturday. My pick is GGG by late round stoppage.

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Randy Gordon

Avila Perspective, Chap. 282: Ryan’s Song, Golden Boy in Fresno and More

Published

2 hours ago

April 26, 2024

David A. Avila

Avila-Perspective-Chap-282-Ryan's-Song-Golden-Boy-in-Fresno-and-More

Don’t call it an upset.

Days after Ryan Garcia proved the experts wrong, those same experts are re-tooling their evaluation processes.

It’s mind-boggling to me that 95 percent thought Garcia had no chance. Hear me out.

First, Garcia and Haney fought six times as amateurs with each winning three. But this time with no head gear and smaller gloves, Garcia had to have at least a 50/50 chance of winning. He is faster and a more powerful puncher.

Facts.

Haney is a wonderful boxer with smooth, almost artistic movements. But history has taught us power and speed like Garcia’s can’t be discounted. Think way back to legendary fighters like Willie Pep and Sandy Sadler. All that excellent defensive skill could not prevent Sadler from beating Pep in three of their four meetings.

Power has always been an equalizer against boxing skill.

Ben Lira, one of the wisest and most experienced trainers in Southern California, always professed knockout power was the greatest equalizer in a fight. “You can be behind for nine rounds and one punch can change the outcome,” he said.

Another weird theory spreading before the fight was that Garcia would quit in the fight. That was a puzzling one. Getting stopped by a perfect body shot is not quitting. And that punch came from Gervonta “Tank” Davis who can really crack.

So how did Garcia do it?

In the opening round Ryan Garcia timed Devin Haney’s jab and countered with a snapping left hook that rattled and wobbled the super lightweight champion. After that, Garcia forced Haney to find another game plan.

Garcia and trainer Derrick James must have worked hours on that move.

I must confess that I first saw Garcia’s ability many years ago when he was around 11 or 12. So I do have an advantage regarding his talent. A few things I noticed even back then were his speed and power. Also, that others resented his talent but respected him. He was the guy with everything: talent and looks.

And that brings resentment.

Recently I saw him and his crew rapping a song on social media. Now he’s got a song. Next thing you know Hollywood will be calling and he’ll be in the movies. It’s happened before with fighters such as Art Aragon, the first Golden Boy in the 50s. He was dating movie stars and getting involved with starlets all over Hollywood.

Is history repeating itself or is Garcia creating a new era for boxing?

Since 2016 people claimed he was just a social media creation. Now, after his win over Devin Haney a former undisputed lightweight champion and the WBC super lightweight titleholder, the boxer from the high desert area of Victorville has become one of the highest paid fighters in the world.

Ryan Garcia has entered a new dimension.

Golden Boy Season

After several down years the Los Angeles-based company Golden Boy Promotions suddenly is cracking the whip in 2024.

Avila

Vergil Ortiz Jr. (20-0, 20 KOs) returns to the ring and faces Puerto Rico’s Thomas Dulorme (26-6-1, 17 KOs) a welterweight gatekeeper who lost to Jaron “Boots” Ennis and Eimantas Stanionis. They meet as super welterweights in the co-main event at Save Mart Arena in Fresno, Calif. on Saturday, April 27. DAZN will stream the Golden Boy Promotions card live.

It’s a quick return to action for Ortiz who is still adjusting to the new weight division. His last fight three months ago ended in less than one round in Las Vegas. It was cut short by an antsy referee and left Ortiz wanting more after more than a year of inactivity in the prize ring.

Ortiz has all the weapons.

Also, Northern California’s Jose Carlos Ramirez (28-1, 18 KOs) meets Cuba’s Rances Barthelemy (30-2-1, 15 KOs) in a welterweight affair set for 12 rounds.

It’s difficult to believe that former super lightweight titlist Ramirez has been written off by fans after only one loss. That was several years ago against Scotland’s Josh Taylor. One loss does not mean the end of a career.

“My goal is to get back on top and to get all those belts back. I still feel like I am one of the best 140-pounders in the division,” said Ramirez who lives in nearby Avenal, Calif.

An added major attraction features Marlen Esparza in a unification rematch against Gabriela “La Chucky” Alaniz for the WBA, WBC, WBO flyweight titles. Their first fight was

a controversial win by Esparza that saw one judge give her nine of 10 rounds in a very close fight. Those Texas judges.

In a match that could steal the show, Oscar Duarte (26-2-1, 21 KOs) faces former world champion Jojo Diaz (33-5-1, 15 KOs) in a lightweight match.

Munguia and Canelo

Don’t sleep on this match.

Its current Golden Boy fighter Jaime Munguia facing former Golden Boy fighter Saul “Canelo” Alvarez in a battle between Mexico’s greatest sluggers next week at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on May 4.

“I think Jaime Munguia is going to do something special in the ring,” said Oscar De La Hoya, the CEO for Golden Boy.

Tijuana’s Munguia showed up at the Wild Card Boxing gym in Hollywood where a throng of media from Mexico and the US met him.

Munguia looked confident and happy about his opportunity to fight great Canelo.

“It’s a hard fight,” said Munguia. “Truth is, its big for Mexico and not only for Mexicans but for boxing.”

Fights to Watch

Fri. DAZN 6 p.m. Yoeniz Tellez (7-0) vs Joseph Jackson (19-0).

Sat. DAZN 9:30 a.m. Peter McGrail (8-1) vs Marc Leach (18-3-1); Beatriz Ferreira (4-0) vs Yanina Del Carmen 14-3).

Sat. DAZN 5 p.m. Vergil Ortiz (20-0) vs Thomas Dulorme (26-6-1); Jose Carlos Ramirez (28-1) vs Rances Barthelemy (30-2-1); Marlen Esparza (14-1) vs Gabriela Alaniz (14-1).

Photo credit: Cris Esqueda / Golden Boy Promotions

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Ramon Cardenas Channels Micky Ward and KOs Eduardo Ramirez on ProBox

Published

2 days ago

April 24, 2024

Arne K. Lang

Ramon-Cardenas-Channels-Micky-Ward-and-KOs-Eduardo-Ramirez-on-ProBox

The Wednesday night bi-monthly series of fights on the ProBox TV platform is the best deal in boxing; the livestream is free with no strings attached! Tonight’s episode was headlined by a super bantamweight match between San Antonio’s Ramon Cardenas and Eduardo Ramirez who brought a caravan of rooters from his hometown in Guaymas, Sonora, Mexico.

Cardenas, coached by Joel Diaz, entered the contest ranked #4 by the WBA. He was expected to handle Ramirez with little difficulty, but this was a close, tactical fight through eight frames when lightning struck in the form of a left hook to the liver from Cardenas. Ramirez went down on one knee and wasn’t able to beat the count. It was as if Cardenas summoned the ghost of Micky Ward who had a penchant for terminating fights with the same punch that arrived out of the blue.

The official time was 1:37 of round nine. Cardenas improved to 25-1 with his14th win inside the distance. Ramirez, who was stopped in the opening round by Nick “Wrecking” Ball in London in his lone previous fight outside Mexico, falls to 23-3-3.

Co-Feature

In an upset, Tijuana super welterweight Damian Sosa won a split decision over previously undefeated Marques Valle, a local area fighter who was stepping up in class in his first 10-round go. Sosa was the aggressor, repeatedly backing his taller opponent into the ropes where Valle was unable to get good leverage behind his punches.

The 25-year-old Valle, managed by the influential David McWater, was the house fighter. This was his 10^th appearance in this building. He brought a 10-0 (7) record and was hoping to emulate the success of his younger brother Dominic Valle who scored a second-round stoppage of his opponent in this ring two weeks ago, improving to 9-0. But Sosa, who brought a 24-2 record, proved to be a bridge too high.

The judges had it 97-93 and 96-94 for the Tijuana invader and a disgraceful 98-92 for the house fighter.

Also

In a fight whose abrupt ending would be echoed by the main event, 34-year-old SoCal featherweight Ronny Rios, now training in Las Vegas, returned to the ring after a 22-month hiatus and scored a fifth-round stoppage over Nicolas Polanco of the Dominican Republic.

A three-punch combo climaxed by a left hook to the liver took the breath out of Polanco who slumped to his knees and was counted out. A two-time world title challenger, Rios advanced to 34-4 (17 KOs). Polanco, 34, declined to 21-6-1. The official time was 0:54 of round five.

—

The next ProBox show (Wednesday, May 8) will have an international cast with fighters from Kazakhstan, Japan, Mongolia, and the United Kingdom. In the main event, Liverpool’s Robbie Davies Jr will make his U.S. debut against the California-based Kazakh Sergey Lipinets.

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Haney-Garcia Redux with the Focus on Harvey Dock

Published

4 days ago

April 22, 2024

Arne K. Lang

Haney-Garcia-Redux-with-the-Focus-on-Harvey-Dock

Saturday’s skirmish between Ryan Garcia and WBC super lightweight champion Devin Haney was a messy affair, and yet a hugely entertaining fight fused with great drama. In the aftermath, Garcia and Haney were celebrated – the former for fooling all the experts and the latter for his gallant performance in a losing effort – but there were only brickbats for the third man in the ring, referee Harvey Dock.

Devin Haney was plainly ahead heading into the seventh frame when there was a sudden turnabout when Garcia put him on the canvas with his vaunted left hook. Moments later, Dock deducted a point from Garcia for a late punch coming out of a break. The deduction forced a temporary cease-fire that gave Haney a few precious seconds to regain his faculties. Before the round was over, Haney was on the deck twice more but these were ruled slips.

The deduction, which effectively negated the knockdown, struck many as too heavy-handed as Dock hadn’t previously issued a warning for this infraction. Moreover, many thought he could have taken a point away from Haney for excessive clinching. As for Haney’s second and third trips to the canvas in round seven, they struck this reporter – watching at home – as borderline, sufficient to give referee Dock the benefit of the doubt.

In a post-fight interview, Ryan Garcia faulted the referee for denying him the satisfaction of a TKO. “At the end of the day, Harvey Dock, I think he was tripping,” said Garcia. “He could have stopped that fight.”

Those that played the rounds proposition, placing their coin on the “under,” undoubtedly felt the same way.

The internet lit up with comments assailing Dock’s competence and/or his character. Some of the ponderings were whimsical, but they were swamped by the scurrilous screeching of dolts who find a conspiracy under every rock.

Stephen A. Smith, reputedly America’s highest-paid TV sports personality, was among those that felt a need to weigh-in: “This referee is absolutely terrible….Unreal! Horrible officiating,” tweeted Stephen A whose primary area of expertise is basketball.

Harvey Dock

Dock fought as an amateur and had one professional fight, winning a four-round decision over a fellow novice on a show at a non-gaming resort in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania. He says that as an amateur he was merely average, but he was better than that, a New Jersey and regional amateur champion in 1993 and 1994 while a student New Jersey’s Essex County Community College where he majored in journalism.

A passionate fan of Sugar Ray Leonard, he started officiating amateur fights in 1998 and six years later, at age 32, had his first documented action at the professional level, working low-level cards in New Jersey. The top boxing referees, to a far greater extent than the top judges, had long apprenticeships, having worked their way up from the boonies and Dock is no exception.

Per boxrec, Haney vs Garcia was Harvey Dock’s 364^th assignment in the pros and his forty-second world title fight. Some of those title fights were title in name only, they weren’t even main events, but, bit by bit, more lucrative offerings started coming his way.

On May 13, 2023, Dock worked his first fights in Nevada, a 4-rounder and then a 12-rounder on a card at the Cosmopolitan topped by the 140-pound title fight between Rolly Romero and Ismael Barroso. It was the first time that this reporter got to watch Dock in the flesh.

Ironically (in hindsight), the card would be remembered for the actions of a referee, in this case Tony Weeks who handled the main event. Barroso was winning the fight on all three cards when Weeks stepped in and waived it off in the ninth round after Romero cornered Barroso against the ropes and let loose a barrage of punches, none of which landed cleanly. Few “premature stoppages” were ever as garishly, nay ghoulishly, premature.

With all the brickbats raining down on Weeks, I felt a need to tamp down the noise by diverting attention away from Tony Weeks and toward Harvey Dock and took to the TSS Forum to share my thoughts. Referencing the 12-rounder, a robust junior welterweight affair between Batyr Akhmedov and Kenneth Sims Jr, I noted that Dock’s Las Vegas debut went smoothly. He glided effortlessly around the ring, making him inconspicuous, the mark of a good referee. (This post ran on May 15, two days after the fight.)

Folks at the Nevada State Athletic Commission were also paying attention. Dock was back in Las Vegas the following week to referee the lightweight title fight between Devin Haney and Vasyl Lomachenko and before the year was out, he would be tabbed to referee the biggest non-heavyweight fight of the year, the July 29 match in Las Vegas between Terence Crawford and Errol Spence Jr.

The Haney-Garcia fight wasn’t Harvey Dock’s best hour, I’ll concede that, but a closer look at his full body of work informs us that he is an outstanding referee.

—

While the Haney-Garcia bout was in progress, WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman threw everyone a curve ball, tweeting on “X” that Devin Haney would keep his title if he lost the fight. Everyone, including the TV commentators, was under the impression that the title would become vacant in the event that Haney lost.

Sulaiman cited the precedent of Corrales-Castillo II.

FYI: The Corrales-Castillo rematch, originally scheduled for June 3, 2005 and aborted on the day prior when Castillo failed to make weight, finally came off on Oct. 8 of that year, notwithstanding the fact that Castillo failed to make weight once again, scaling three-and-a-half pounds above the lightweight limit. He knocked out Corrales in the fourth round with a left hook that Las Vegas Review-Journal boxing writer Kevin Iole, alluding to the movie “Blazing Saddles,” described as Mongo-esque (translation: the punch would have knocked out a horse). After initially insisting on a rubber match, which had scant chance of happening, WBC president Jose Sulaiman, Mauricio’s late father, ruled that Corrales could keep his title.

Whether or not you agree with Mauricio Sulaiman’s rationale, the timing of his announcement was certainly awkward.

Haney’s mandatory is Spanish southpaw Sandor Martin (42-3, 15 KOs), a cutie best known for his 2021 upset of Mikey Garcia. A bout between Haney and Martin has the earmarks of a dull fight.

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