Dr. Wu, Russian Hit Men and the Clean-up of AIBA

Published

10 years ago

November 15, 2014

JEJU, South Korea — There probably never will be a movie made about political turmoil within the International Boxing Association (AIBA), the global governing body for Olympic-style boxing. But there ought to be, because there was genuine behind-the-scenes drama within the organization in the late 1990s and into the first few years of the 21^st century. It’s a compelling tale of corruption, coercion, bribery and violence, with Russian thugs even lurking in the background.

And if Dr. Ching-Kuo Wu, since 2006 the reform-minded president of AIBA, is to be believed, the continued existence of boxing as part of the huge quadrennial Olympic festival hung in the balance. Yes, there was boxing in the 2012 London Olympics, and there will be boxing in the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics, but rumblings about the long-term health of the one of the sports under the auspices of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) have been heard for the better part of 20 years. One more confidence-eroding scandal, one more verifiable incident of fixed fights, of bought-and-paid for officials, of charlatans in high places and … well, who knows? Dynasties have been toppled for far less.

“I’ve been hearing for the last three Olympics that we (boxing) might be on the chopping block,” Mike Martino, interim executive director of USA Boxing, said here at the 2014 AIBA Congress, a gathering of 50 national federations (oops, make that 47; representatives of three West African countries were advised not to come because of fears the Ebola virus might have tagged along with them) that is notable if only for the fact that this is the first such event in which members of the worldwide media were invited to attend. For AIBA, which for 25 years under the late Dr. Anwar Chowdhry of Pakistan regarded reporters as enemies, this new era of relative transparency is akin to the tearing down of the Berlin Wall.

Those of us who have caught a glimpse of what is behind the formerly closed curtains are seeing is the implementation of many policy changes, not the least of which is a transition into professional boxing. The tinkering is still not universally welcomed or accepted, but if change is coming, at least let it be above-board and made with the purest of intentions.

“Any reform is not easy,” said Dr. Wu, 68, a soft-spoken and conservatively dressed individual who seems an unlikely candidate for the role of crusading firebrand. “But you have to show your determination in the face of any threat. When you are strong, they become weak.

“I insist on change. I say (to supporters of Chowdhry, who was voted out of office in 2006), `If you do not agree, you can leave. If you break the rules, you will face disciplinary action.’”

Chowdhry loyalists who didn’t agree with the new president depicted him as something more dangerous than his deposed predecessor, who had come to regard AIBA as his personal fiefdom and ATM. The most hard-line faction of the opposition filed multiple lawsuits against Dr. Wu in Lausanne, Switzerland, headquarters of the IOC, in the hopes of killing or at least stalling his initiatives.

“They went to the courts, accusing AIBA, accusing me,” he said. “I went to see the judge in the Swiss court. He said I did not need to come back. All of the complaints against me were dismissed.”

So Dr. Wu – sort of sounds like a character from a James Bond movie, doesn’t it? – triumphs in the closing reel of that movie that probably never will get made. But along the way there was intrigue, turmoil and even a corpse, which are plot elements with which the late Ian Fleming, creator of superspy 007, would have had a field day.

That the new-look AIBA is meeting on this resort island, a few hundred miles from the South Korean capital of Seoul, site of the 1988 Summer Olympics, is somewhat curious. It was in Seoul that America’s Roy Jones Jr. was involved in the most blatant ripoff in the history of Olympic boxing. But the “loss” by Jones – by a 3-2 margin, after he had thoroughly outclassed South Korea’s Park Si-Hu – was hardly an aberration. Lousy decisions have been endemic in Olympic boxing, although steps are being taken to reduce and, hopefully, even eliminate outright thievery.

“I have been a member of the IOC since 1988,” said Dr. Wu, who is familiar with the stench emanating from the Jones shafting. “I gave my commitment to the sports of the Olympic movement. That is my mission. I have to do everything I can to make sure the Olympic spirit and values are maintained.

“I also have been a member of the AIBA executive committee since 1982. There was so much manipulation of the competition under m predecessor, with the cheating, the selling of gold medals. That is totally against my principles. In 1998, I said to my predecessor, `I’m sorry, but I have to challenge you. I am going to run for president.’ He was shocked. Many people were shocked. They said my getting elected would be nearly impossible. But I wanted them to know I at least offered the possibility for change.

“Chowdhry said, `C.K. Wu, you will not get more than 12 votes.’ I got 39 (to Chowdhry’s 79). It totally surprised him because he paid many national federations that did not vote for him. It was driving him crazy. He said, `They take my money and don’t vote for me? What is that?’ But from that moment, I know there is a possibility for change.

“After I lost the election, I give my speech to the delegates and thanked them for their support. And I said, `I will return.’”

Dr. Wu did not run for the AIBA presidency in 2002, since he was advised he did not yet have enough backing to oust Chowdhry. But he tossed his hat into the ring again in 2006, and this time he emerged victorious by a vote of 83-79. His election apparently came none too soon, either.

“I was told,” Dr. Wu said, “that if I did not win when I did, boxing would be out of the Olympic movement. “Some of the delegates were reluctant to even talk to me because they are afraid of revenge from (Chowdhry).”

A pro-Chowdhry Russian delegate is said to have brought in outsiders who were members of the “Russian Mafia” to intimidate other delegates into voting for the incumbent. Perhaps it is just coincidence, but one pro-change delegate was found murdered. If that didn’t scare the bejeezus out of the electorate, nothing could.

“Very dramatic,” Dr. Wu said of most consequential election in AIBA history. “You could make a film of it, easily. But I won, by four votes. That changed everything. If I had lost, boxing is out of the 2012 Olympics, maybe even out of the 2008 Olympics.”

Chowdhry, who was 86 when he died on June 19, 2010, is not around to give his side of the story, but there no doubt are those who would say that if he were, his recollections would cast him in a more favorable light. In any case, in 2007, Chowdhry was barred for life from AIBA for mismanagement of federation funds. That fact alone would seem to substantiate Dr. Wu’s allegations.

As part of his program for nudging AIBA to a place where chicanery eventually becomes a hazy part of the past, Dr. Wu has initiated the World Series of Boxing and AIBA Pro Boxing, in which elite fighters can maintain their Olympic eligibility and also get paid. It is a concept that is embraced by numerous nations, with the chief pocket of resistance predictably coming from powerhouse American promotional companies that object to certain restrictions of movement placed upon AIBA-signed boxers.

Where does the United States fit into the ever-shifting picture? Not as prominently as it once did, and that is something that greatly concerns Dr. Wu. The lion’s share of funding in any Olympiad comes from the sale of American television rights, and boxing has been relegated to also-ran status on the Olympic TV schedule as fewer and fewer U.S. Olympians advance deep, if at all, into the medal rounds. Although the U.S. has amassed 108 total boxing medals since the modern Olympics were introduced in 1896, the most of any nation, American men were shut out in London for the first time ever.

“We have become the little guys,” conceded Tom Virgets of the United States Naval Academy, who serves as the AIBA disciplinary commission chairman as well as a member of the APB executive board.

“Of this problem we are fully aware,” Dr. Wu said of USA Boxing’s transformation into a beggar at the Olympic banquet. “We are involved in trying to make things change. United States boxing is unlike other national federations. There are so many (state and regional subsets) and they are totally divided. There needs to be a strong central body to lead U.S. boxing movement. Kazakhstan, very strong boxing federation. China, very strong boxing federation. Japan, the same. But United States? Very loose organization. Unless there is complete change with strong leadership, there can be no (improvement).”

The crux of the problem is that other nations, hungry for Olympic medals, are financially supporting their centralized boxing federations in a substantial way. The U.S., by comparison, is like the Boy Scout troop whose moms are forever conducting bake sales so their kids can go on their next woodlands outing.

“(The USOC’s) allocation (to USA Boxing) is $300,000,” Dr. Wu said. “For such a big country, that is impossible. With so little money, it only goes to administration. No development. The structure is totally wrong.

“AIBA pay the money to support (the U.S. WSB) franchise, from our budget. But our support did not get USOC’s attention. I say, `You have to support your boxing, to bring back your glory.’ You used to get five gold medals (at the 1976 Montreal Olympics), nine gold medals (1984, Los Angeles). Now you have zero, except for women. Why? Because nobody pay attention. Nobody cares.

“If somebody really cares, then put money in. Bring in the best boxers. Bring in the best coaches. Centralize. USA is 50 states. Everyone independent. Boxing federation is only symbolic. What power they got? No money. Bad cycle. Worst of the worst.”

Maybe, if the next Sugar Ray Leonard or Oscar De La Hoya were to emerge in Rio in 2016, the bleak landscape might brighten for the U.S. Dr. Wu said the WSP and APB will create Olympic boxers with star power, at least for other countries, and America badly needs someone who can jab and hook his way into the spotlight and make it his own.

“You have no brilliant boxer. No star,” Dr. Wu told two visiting reporters from the Philadelphia area. “Difficult to get marketing, sponsorship. But (the U.S. has) many good boxers. Just need intensive training.

“Once you have one gold medal, two gold medals, everything change. That is my experience.”

And if anyone knows how to bring about change, as difficult as the process sometimes is, it is the guy who took a scrub brush to a soiled AIBA. Then again …

“In the end, the bureaucracy wins out. You can’t beat City Hall,” Teddy Atlas, who called the bouts for NBC-TV at the London Olympics, earlier this year said of his doubts that the situation has changed all that much. “The same old crap goes on and on and on. Olympic boxing has become a joke. It’s not even relevant any more. The scoring is ludicrous. You see a guy from Japan drop a guy from Azerbaijan seven times and he still loses the fight … I mean, come on.”

Dr. Wu hears the complaints and he acknowledges that much work still needs to be done. In the 2016 Olympics, three of the five assigned judges for any bout will be randomly selected by a computer and their only their scores will be tabulated. It’s not a perfect system, but it’s better than what had been in place. And judges and referees whose work is suspect can expect to be weeded out.

Virgets said there always will be controversial decisions in Olympic boxing, because opinions will differ on the outcome of any match that is subjectively scored. But he pointed out to the enthusiasm he witnessed during the first women’s boxing competition as proof that the sport remains alive and relatively well at the Olympic level.

“Every single session sold out, in a venue with 5,400 seats,” Virgets recalled. “it was one of the toughest tickets to get. During the finals, the decibel level was, like, 10 times that of a jet plane taking off. An incredible atmosphere.”

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Bernard Fernandez

Lucas Bahdi Forged the TSS 2024 Knockout of the Year

Published

4 hours ago

December 23, 2024

Arne K. Lang

Lucas-Bahdi-Forged-he-RSS-2024-Knockout-of-the-Year

A Knockout of the Year doesn’t have to be a one-punch knockout, but it must arrive with the suddenness of a thunderclap on a clear day and the punch or punches must be so harsh as to obviate the need for a “10-count.” And, if rendered by an underdog, that makes the KO resonate more loudly.

Within these parameters, Lucas Bahdi’s knockout of Ashton “H2O” Sylva still jumped off the page. The thunderclap happened on July 20 in Tampa, Florida, on a show promoted by Jake Paul with Paul and the great Amanda Serrano sharing the bill against soft opponents in the featured bouts.

The 30-year-old Bahdi (16-0, 14 KOs) and the 20-year-old Sylva (11-0, 9 KOs) were both undefeated, but Bahdi was accorded scant chance of defeating Jake Paul’s house fighter.

Sylva was 18 years old and had seven pro fights under his belt, winning all inside the distance, when he signed with Paul’s company, Most Valuable Promotions, in 2022. “We believe that Ashton has that talent, that flashiness, that style, that knockout power, that charisma to really be a massive, massive, superstar…” said the “Problem Child” when announcing that Sylva had signed with his company.

Jake Paul was so confident that his protege would accomplish big things that he matched Sylva with Floyd “Kid Austin” Schofield. Currently 18-0 and ranked #2 by the WBA, Schofield was further along than Sylva in the pantheon of hot lightweight prospects. But Schofield backed out, alleging an injury, opening the door to a substitute.

Enter Lucas Bahdi who despite his eye-catching record was a virtual unknown. This would be his first outing on U.S. soil. All of his previous bouts were staged in Mexico or in Canada, mostly in his native Ontario province. “My opponent may have changed,” said Sylva who hails from Long Beach, California, “but the result will be the same, I will get the W and continue my path to greatness.”

The first five rounds were all Sylva. The Canadian had no antidote for Sylva’s speed and quickness. He was outclassed.

Then, in round six, it all came unglued for the precocious California. Out of the blue, Bahdi stiffened him with a hard right hand. Another right quickly followed, knocking Sylva unconscious. A third punch, a sweeping left, was superfluous. Jake Paul’s phenom was already out cold.

Sylva landed face-first on the canvas. He lay still as his handlers and medics rushed to his aid. It was scarifying. “May God restore him,” said ring announcer Joe Martinez as he was being stretchered out of the ring.

The good news is that Ashton “H2O” Silva will be able to resume his career. He is expected back in the ring as early as February. As for Lucas Bahdi, architect of the Knockout of the Year, he has added one more win to his ledger, winning a 10-round decision on the undercard of the Paul vs Tyson spectacle, and we will presumably be hearing a lot more about him.

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Usyk Outpoints Fury and Itauma has the “Wow Factor” in Riyadh

Published

2 days ago

December 21, 2024

Arne K. Lang

Usyk Outpoints Fury and Itauma has the “Wow Factor” in Riyadh

Oleksandr Usyk left no doubt that he is the best heavyweight of his generation and one of the greatest boxers of all time with a unanimous decision over Tyson Fury tonight at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. But although the Ukrainian won eight rounds on all three scorecards, this was no runaway. To pirate a line from one of the DAZN talking heads, Fury had his moments in every round but Usyk had more moments.

The early rounds were fought at a faster pace than the first meeting back in May. At the mid-point, the fight was even. The next three rounds – the next five to some observers – were all Usyk who threw more punches and landed the cleaner shots.

Fury won the final round in the eyes of this reporter scoring at home, but by then he needed a knockout to pull the match out of the fire.

The last round was an outstanding climax to an entertaining chess match during which both fighters took turns being the pursuer and the pursued.

An Olympic gold medalist and a unified world champion at cruiserweight and heavyweight, the amazing Usyk improved his ledger to 23-0 (14). His next fight, more than likely, will come against the winner of the Feb. 22 match in Ridayh between Daniel Dubois and Joseph Parker which will share the bill with the rematch between Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol.

Fury (34-2-1) may fight Anthony Joshua next. Regardless, no one wants a piece of Moses Itauma right now although the kid is only 19 years old.

Moses Itauma

Raised in London by a Nigerian father and a Slovakian mother, Itauma turned heads once again with another “wow” performance. None of his last seven opponents lasted beyond the second round.

His opponent tonight, 34-year-old Australian Demsey McKean, lasted less than two minutes. Itauma, a southpaw with blazing fast hands, had the Aussie on the deck twice during the 117-second skirmish. The first knockdown was the result of a cuffing punch that landed high on the head; the second knockdown was produced by an overhand left. McKean went down hard as his chief cornerman bounded on to the ring apron to halt the massacre.

Photo (c): Mark Robinson

Itauma (12-0, 10 KOs after going 20-0 as an amateur) is the real deal. It was the second straight loss for McKean (22-2) who lasted into the 10^th round against Filip Hrgovic in his last start.

Bohachuk-Davis

In a fight billed as the co-main although it preceded Itauma-McKean, Serhii Bohachuk, an LA-based Ukrainian, stopped Ishmael Davis whose corner pulled him out after six frames.

Both fighters were coming off a loss in fights that were close on the scorecards, Bohachuk falling to Vergil Ortiz Jr in a Las Vegas barnburner and Davis losing to Josh Kelly.

Davis, who took the fight on short notice, subbing for Ismail Madrimov, declined to 13-2. He landed a few good shots but was on the canvas in the second round, compliments of a short left hook, and the relentless Bohachuk (25-2, 24 KOs) eventually wore him down.

Fisher-Allen

In a messy, 10-round bar brawl masquerading as a boxing match, Johnny Fisher, the Romford Bull, won a split decision over British countryman David Allen. Two judges favored Fisher by 95-94 tallies with the dissenter favoring Allen 96-93. When the scores were announced, there was a chorus of boos and those watching at home were outraged.

Allen was a step up in class for Fisher. The Doncaster man had a decent record (23-5-2 heading in) and had been routinely matched tough (his former opponents included Dillian Whyte, Luis “King Kong” Ortiz and three former Olympians). But Allen was fairly considered no more than a journeyman and Fisher (12-0 with 11 KOs, eight in the opening round) was a huge favorite.

In round five, Allen had Fisher on the canvas twice although only one was ruled a true knockdown. From that point, he landed the harder shots and, at the final bell, he fell to canvas shedding tears of joy, convinced that he had won.

He did not win, but he exposed Johnny Fisher as a fighter too slow to compete with elite heavyweights, a British version of the ponderous Russian-Canadian campaigner Arslanbek Makhmudov.

Other Bouts of Note

In a spirited 10-round featherweight match, Scotland’s Lee McGregor, a former European bantamweight champion and stablemate of former unified 140-pound title-holder Josh Taylor, advanced to 15-1-1 (11) with a unanimous decision over Isaac Lowe (25-3-3). The judges had it 96-92 and 97-91 twice.

A cousin and regular houseguest of Tyson Fury, Lowe fought most of the fight with cuts around both eyes and was twice deducted a point for losing his gumshield.

In a fight between super featherweights that could have gone either way, Liverpool southpaw Peter McGrail improved to 11-1 (6) with a 10-round unanimous decision over late sub Rhys Edwards. The judges had it 96-95 and 96-94 twice.

McGrail, a Tokyo Olympian and 2018 Commonwealth Games gold medalist, fought from the third round on with a cut above his right eye, the result of an accidental clash of heads. It was the first loss for Edwards (16-1), a 24-year-old Welshman who has another fight booked in three weeks.

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Fury-Usyk Reignited: Can the Gypsy King Avenge his Lone Defeat?

Published

3 days ago

December 20, 2024

Arne K. Lang

Fury-Usyk-Reignated-Can-the-Gypsy-King-Avenge-His-Londe-Defeat?

Fury-Usyk Reignited: Can the Gypsy King Avenge his Lone Defeat?

In professional boxing, the heavyweight division, going back to the days of John L. Sullivan, is the straw that stirs the drink. By this measure, the fight on May 18 of this year at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, was the biggest prizefight in decades. The winner would emerge as the first undisputed heavyweight champion since 1999 when Lennox Lewis out-pointed Evander Holyfield in their second meeting.

The match did not disappoint. It had several twists and turns.

Usyk did well in the early rounds, but the Gypsy King rattled Usyk with a harsh right hand in the fifth stanza and won rounds five through seven on all three cards. In the ninth, the match turned sharply in favor of the Ukrainian. Fury was saved by the bell after taking a barrage of unanswered punches, the last of which dictated a standing 8-count from referee Mark Nelson. But Fury weathered the storm and with his amazing powers of recuperation had a shade the best of it in the final stanza.

The decision was split: 115-112 and 114-113 for Usyk who became a unified champion in a second weight class; 114-113 for Fury.

That brings us to tomorrow (Saturday, Dec. 21) where Usyk and Fury will renew acquaintances in the same ring where they had their May 18 showdown.

The first fight was a near “pick-‘em” affair with Fury closing a very short favorite at most of the major bookmaking establishments. The Gypsy King would have been a somewhat higher favorite if not for the fact that he was coming off a poor showing against MMA star Francis Ngannou and had a worrisome propensity for getting cut. (A cut above Fury’s right eye in sparring pushed back the fight from its original Feb. 11 date.)

Tomorrow’s sequel, bearing the tagline “Reignited,” finds Usyk a consensus 7/5 favorite although those odds could shorten by post time. (There was no discernible activity after today’s weigh-in where Fury, fully clothed, topped the scales at 281, an increase of 19 pounds over their first meeting.)

Given the politics of boxing, anything “undisputed” is fragile. In June, Usyk abandoned his IBF belt and the organization anointed Daniel Dubois their heavyweight champion based upon Dubois’s eighth-round stoppage of Filip Hrgovic in a bout billed for the IBF interim title. The malodorous WBA, a festering boil on the backside of boxing, now recognizes 43-year-old Kubrat Pulev as its “regular” heavyweight champion.

Another difference between tomorrow’s fight card and the first installment is that the May 18 affair had a much stronger undercard. Two strong pairings were the rematch between cruiserweights Jai Opetaia and Maris Briedis (Opetaia UD 12) and the heavyweight contest between unbeatens Agit Kabayal and Frank Sanchez (Kabayel KO 7).

Tomorrow’s semi-wind-up between Serhii Bohachuk and Ismail Madrimov lost luster when Madrimov came down with bronchitis and had to withdraw. The featherweight contest between Peter McGrail and Dennis McCann fell out when McCann’s VADA test returned an adverse finding. Bohachuk and McGrail remain on the card but against late-sub opponents in matches that are less intriguing.

The focal points of tomorrow’s undercard are the bouts involving undefeated British heavyweights Moses Itauma (10-0, 8 KOs) and Johnny Fisher (12-0, 11 KOs). Both are heavy favorites over their respective opponents but bear watching because they represent the next generation of heavyweight standouts. Fury and Usyk are getting long in the tooth. The Gypsy King is 36; Usyk turns 38 next month.

Bob Arum once said that nobody purchases a pay-per-view for the undercard and, years from now, no one will remember which sanctioning bodies had their fingers in the pie. So, Fury-Usyk II remains a very big deal, although a wee bit less compelling than their first go-around.

Will Tyson Fury avenge his lone defeat? Turki Alalshikh, the Chairman of Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority and the unofficial czar of “major league” boxing, certainly hopes so. His Excellency has made known that he stands poised to manufacture a rubber match if Tyson prevails.

We could have already figured this out, but Alalshikh violated one of the protocols of boxing when he came flat out and said so. He effectively made Tyson Fury the “A-side,” no small potatoes considering that the most relevant variable on the checklist when handicapping a fight is, “Who does the promoter need?”

The Uzyk-Fury II fight card will air on DAZN with a suggested list price of $39.99 for U.S. fight fans. The main event is expected to start about 5:45 pm ET / 2:45 pm PT.

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