Asia & Oceania
Five World Title Fights Jazzed-Up Japan’s Year-End Boxing Swirl
But dozens of Japanese pugilists and their opponents first sweated in saunas then got gloved up and walked into prize rings to perform on the island’s
Boxers around the world ate fancy dinners and cheered with glasses of champagne on the last days of the past year. But dozens of Japanese pugilists and their opponents first sweated in saunas then got gloved up and walked into prize rings to perform on the island’s traditional year-end boxing shows.
A total of five world title fights were staged in two different cards in the last two days of 2017. On December 30, super flyweight WBO champ Naoya Inoue headlined a card in Yokohama with WBC 108-pound titlist Ken Shiro in the co-feature bout with a couple of prospects and contenders also on the card.
The next day at the Ota-City General Gymnasium in the capital of Japan, WBA junior flyweight ruler Ryoichi Taguchi (pictured with referee Marc Nelson) aimed to become his country’s third unified champion when he faced IBF belt holder Milan Melindo with two more world title bouts on the undercard.
Let’s see what happened in Yokohama and Tokyo and which direction the participants are likely headed.
Bunka Gym, Yokohama, Dec. 30:
Former 2012 London Olympic bronze medalist SATOSHI SHIMIZU faced journeyman Eduardo Mancito in his first OPBF title defense at featherweight. The 31-year-old Shimizu (5-0, 5 KOs), who is a tall fighter for his weight class with his 5-foot-10.5-inches height, chose to stay close and brawl with his Filipino rival whom he ultimately stopped in seven one-sided rounds. The performance of the Japanese prospect, however, was a far cry from a statement victory.
Shimizu struggled to settle the distance and pace for his offense and was painfully inaccurate with his blows in the opening third of the bout. Once Mancito (15-8-2, 9 KOs) felt the physical power of his large-framed opponent, he became more of a stationary target and that helped Shimizu land his trademark looping right hooks more effectively. The Yokohama-based titlist dropped Mancito in round one and again in the seventh en route to a TKO win, thus becoming the second fighter who was able to beat the Pinoy boxer inside the scheduled distance.
Shimizu is already rated No. 11 with the WBC and No. 13 with the IBF at 126 pounds, but before taking on world-ranked contenders he had better further polish his defense and accuracy. 2018 could be a year in progress for him to try to be the best of himself while increasing his ranking positions by sanctioning bodies.
22-year-old TAKUMA INOUE won his second straight since his hand injury prevented him from fighting for his first world title in December 2016 against then WBO bantamweight ruler Marlon Tapales. The Japanese contender had a tougher-than-expected bout with countryman Kentaro Masuda (27-9, 15 KOs) but secured a clean unanimous decision after ten fast frames.
Inoue (10-0, 2 KOs) started well using his well-established jabs and straight rights to keep his distance. In the middle rounds, the unbeaten contender had some issues with his focus when he let his willing opponent reach him with power shots. The younger brother of P4P shortlisted Naoya Inoue got a second wind in round eight and finished the fight being the matador. Scores were 98-92, 97-93 and 96-94 all for Inoue.
Takuma is currently ranked No. 11 with the WBC and No. 14 with the WBO at bantamweight while the other two major sanctioning bodies, the WBA and the IBF, rank him at super flyweight No. 11 and 12 respectively. The talented Japanese contender is expected to collect another pair of wins before he will challenge one of the belt holders in the loaded 118-pound class.
After having beaten two top 10 rated athletes in Ganigan Lopez and Pedro Guevara by close decisions in the junior flyweight division, unbeaten WBC champion KEN SHIRO got a softer touch in the second defense of his title reign. The soon-to-be 26-year-old belt holder settled his distance and controlled the bout with his jab over Gilberto Pedroza before landing a left hook-right hook combination that rocked the Panamanian challenger early in the fourth.
Shiro (12-0, 6 KOs) immediately turned up the volume of his aggression and ultimately dropped Pedroza (18-4-2, 8 KOs) with a left hook to the body followed by a right uppercut and a right hook to the head. The wounded fighter rose at two and continued to fight only to get dropped for the second time by a string of massive body blows.
The WBC 108-pound titlist previously told this writer that he would love to face the winner of the anticipated WBA/IBF unification fight between Ryoichi Taguchi and Milan Melindo. With the winner turning out to be Taguchi, that could be as big of a super-fight in Japan as it can be. But first Shiro has to take care of his mandatory in a rematch against former champion and Mexican veteran Lopez in the spring of this year.
In the main event of the Yokohama card, WBO 115-pound belt holder NAOYA INOUE defended his title for the seventh time with a three-round annihilation over Yoann Boyeaux (41-5-0-1, 26 KOs) in a voluntary defense. Inoue (15-0, 13 KOs) knocked his helpless opponent off of his feet with a huge left hook in round one and floored him three more times in the third with brutal and consistent attacks to the body until referee Raul Caiz Jr stopped the slaughter.
This could very well be the last time we saw Naoya competing at super flyweight. “The Monster,” who has been called the most talented Japanese fighter ever by some publicists in the island, desperately tried to secure a title unification at 115 pounds but both IBF titlist Jerwin Ancajas and WBA belt holder Khalid Yafai turned down offers to face the quick-footed knockout-puncher.
If Inoue moves up in weight to the bantamweight division, a fight with current WBO champion Zolani Tete seems to be a natural given the fact that the Japanese also holds the belt of the Puerto Rican-based sanctioning body. Fellow big puncher Tete is scheduled to defend his title on February 10 against mandatory challenger and former Inoue-victim Omar Andres Narvaez at the Copper Box Arena in London, England.
A potential win over Tete could only add to the resume of the fearless Naoya, who is already ranked No. 7 on The Ring’s P4P list.
Ota-City General Gymnasium, Tokyo, Dec. 31:
The narrative of the matchup between WBO flyweight belt holder SHO KIMURA and former lineal 112-pound champ TOSHIYUKI IGARASHI could be a simple question: which Japanese pugilist will repeat the previous successes?
Kimura (16-1-2, 9 KOs) traveled to Shanghai to serve as the opponent on the homecoming event of Chinese superstar Zou Shiming (9-2, 2 KOs) in July of last year. The Japanese challenger, however, decided to take the control of his own destiny when he came from behind to stop the two-time Olympic gold medalist in the 11th round. For Kimura, his first defense served as his second challenge in a row to beat an opponent with better overall skills.
Igarashi (23-3-3, 12 KOs) held the flyweight crown after he had beaten Cinderella man Sonny Boy Jaro by a close split decision in July 2012. The Filipino Jaro came in fresh off a huge upset knockout win over long-time WBC/Lineal 112-pound champ Pongsaklek Wonjongkam. Igarashi lost his reign to Akira Yaegashi the year after. Since the defeat to Yaegashi, Igarashi was on a 6-0-2 run and he was planning to continue his momentum against an ordinary opponent.
Well, the former champ got in trouble early after he had to realize his foe is far from being ordinary. Kimura started to implement his physical power advantage early in the fight with offensive waves based on his wide hooks with both hands. Igarashi had to use his feet to somehow stay away from his opponent while his jabs and occasional straight lefts from his southpaw stance felt like nothing to the defending champion.
Round seven turned to be the best heat of the go. Kimura increased his aggressiveness, marching in with huge shots that he threw and landed without setting it up with jabs or upper body movements. Igarashi felt he had to do something dramatic. He opened up with everything he had. Sho withstood whatever he had and kept coming. The challenger completely burnt out in the next frame. Kimura was hunting and ultimately stopped his foe in round nine when referee Katsuhiko Nakamura halted the carnage.
With his impressive win, Kimura proved he is more than just a fighter who had one lucky night in the past. Given his all-out style, he can fit well in any card in Japan in the future while hardcore fans can hope for a title unification match between Sho and knockout specialist and WBC belt holder Daigo Higa in 2018.
After a brave and honest performance, Toshiyuki Igarashi announced his retirement from the sport.
In the first defense of his IBF 105-pound belt, HIROTO KYOGUCHI faced former title challenger Carlos Buitrago. The 24-year-old Kyoguchi (9-0, 7 KOs) settled the pace of the fight early on with his effective footwork, well-placed jabs and right uppercuts over his flat-footed opponent.
The Nicaraguan Buitrago (30-3-1-1, 17 KOs) tried his best to bring the fight to his younger foe but got outworked in all areas. As the rounds progressed, Kyoguchi’s lead became more and more evident. He doubled up on his combinations once he stepped in, landed hard hooks to the body, then escaped untouched.
Referee Roberto Ramirez Jr had seen enough and stopped the bout in the final minute of round eight. All three judges had the fight 70-63 at the time of the stoppage.
Kyoguchi, who won the title in July of last year against tough Mexican Jose Argumedo by unanimous decision, seems to have what it takes to challenge the other belt holders in the division. It would be exciting to see him against Wanheng Menayothin (WBC), Knockout CP Freshmart (WBA) or his countryman Ryuya Yamanaka (WBO) in 2018.
In the main event of the last meaningful card in 2017, fans were about to witness unfolding history in the junior flyweight class. This was only the third time in the division’s 42-year history that two titlists were brave enough to challenge one another.
Despite the four-inch height advantage enjoyed by Taguchi (27-2-2, 12 KOs), Melindo (37-3, 13 KOs) had a better start using his quick footwork and precise jab to set up his strong hooks to the mid-section of his Japanese foe. The WBA titlist kept up the pace in round three and started to push his Filipino opponent back thanks to his larger frame and physical power.
Melindo abandoned his best weapon in his jabs and tried to adapt to the fight he was forced into by his counterpart. The Pinoy fighter, who got badly cut above both of his eyes in round three and five, had a strong round nine after blood from a gash over the hairline bothered Taguchi.
The Japanese fighter was advised in the corner that he needed to win the championship rounds to secure the win and that is exactly what he did when he came through his mental block caused by his wound and clearly outworked his fading opponent.
Taguchi won by unanimous decision by scores of 117-111, 117-111, and 116-111. The Tokyo-based pugilist has become the third ever Japanese champion who was able to unify titles since the separation of the WBA in the 1960s.
The new WBA/IBF champion will most likely have a mandatory defense in the spring before he can go after another possible historic encounter, a three-belt unification with WBC titlist Ken Shiro.
As always, 2017 came to a noisy and busy end in the Land of the Rising Sun. Let’s hope it sets up an even better 2018.
Editor’s Note: Tamas Pradarics resides in Tihany, Hungary. You can reach him at pradaricst@yahoo.com and follow him on Twitter @TomiPradarics.
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Ruben Olivares and Chucho Castillo Are Forever Linked by Their Great Rivalry
Argentina
The BWAA Shames Veteran Referee Laurence Cole and Two Nebraska Judges
In an unprecedented development, the Boxing Writers Association of America has started a “watch list” to lift the curtain on ring officials who have “screwed up.” Veteran Texas referee Laurence Cole and Nebraska judges Mike Contreras and Jeff Sinnett have the unwelcome distinction of being the first “honorees.”
“Boxing is a sport where judges and referees are rarely held accountable for poor performances that unfairly change the course of a fighter’s career and, in some instances, endanger lives,” says the BWAA in a preamble to the new feature. Hence the watch list, which is designed to “call attention to ‘egregious’ errors in scoring by judges and unacceptable conduct by referees.”
Contreras and Sinnett, residents of Omaha, were singled out for their scorecards in the match between lightweights Thomas Mattice and Zhora Hamazaryan, an eight round contest staged at the WinnaVegas Casino in Sloan, Iowa on July 20. They both scored the fight 76-75 for Mattice, enabling the Ohio fighter to keep his undefeated record intact via a split decision.
Although Mattice vs. Hamazaryan was a supporting bout, it aired live on ShoBox. Analyst Steve Farhood, who was been with ShoBox since the inception of the series in 2001, called it one of the worst decisions he had ever seen. Lead announcer Barry Tompkins went further, calling it the worst decision he has seen in his 40 years of covering the sport.
Laurence Cole (pictured alongside his father) was singled out for his behavior as the third man in the ring for the fight between Regis Prograis and Juan Jose Velasco at the Lakefront Arena in New Orleans on July 14. The bout was televised live on ESPN.
In his rationale for calling out Cole, BWAA prexy Joseph Santoliquito leaned heavily on Thomas Hauser’s critique of Cole’s performance in The Sweet Science. “Velasco fought courageously and as well as he could,” noted Hauser. “But at the end of round seven he was a thoroughly beaten fighter.”
His chief second bullied him into coming out for another round. Forty-five seconds into round eight, after being knocked down for a third time, Velasco spit out his mouthpiece and indicated to Cole that he was finished. But Cole insisted that the match continue and then, after another knockdown that he ruled a slip, let it continue for another 35 seconds before Velasco’s corner mercifully threw in the towel.
Controversy has dogged Laurence Cole for well over a decade.
Cole was the third man in the ring for the Nov. 25, 2006 bout in Hildalgo, Texas, between Juan Manuel Marquez and Jimrex Jaca. In the fifth round, Marquez sustained a cut on his forehead from an accidental head butt. In round eight, another accidental head butt widened and deepened the gash. As Marquez was being examined by the ring doctor, Cole informed Marquez that he was ahead on the scorecards, volunteering this information while holding his hand over his HBO wireless mike. The inference was that Marquez was free to quit right then without tarnishing his record. (Marquez elected to continue and stopped Jaca in the next round.)
This was improper. For this indiscretion, Cole was prohibited from working a significant fight in Texas for the next six months.
More recently, Cole worked the 2014 fight between Vasyl Lomachenko and Orlando Salido at the San Antonio Alamodome. During the fight, Salido made a mockery of the Queensberry rules for which he received no point deductions and only one warning. Cole’s performance, said Matt McGrain, was “astonishingly bad,” an opinion echoed by many other boxing writers. And one could site numerous other incidents where Cole’s performance came under scrutiny.
Laurence Cole is the son of Richard “Dickie” Cole. The elder Cole, now 87 years old, served 21 years as head of the Texas Department of Combat Sports Regulation before stepping down on April 30, 2014. At various times during his tenure, Dickie Cole held high executive posts with the World Boxing Council and North American Boxing Federation. He was the first and only inductee into the inaugural class of the Texas Boxing Hall of Fame, an organization founded by El Paso promoter Lester Bedford in 2015.
From an administrative standpoint, boxing in Texas during the reign of Dickie Cole was frequently described in terms befitting a banana republic. Whenever there was a big fight in the Lone Star State, his son was the favorite to draw the coveted refereeing assignment.
Boxing is a sideline for Laurence Cole who runs an independent insurance agency in Dallas. By law in Texas (and in most other states), a boxing promoter must purchase insurance to cover medical costs in the event that one or more of the fighters on his show is seriously injured. Cole’s agency is purportedly in the top two nationally in writing these policies. Make of that what you will.
Complaints of ineptitude, says the WBAA, will be evaluated by a “rotating committee of select BWAA members and respected boxing experts.” In subsequent years, says the press release, the watch list will be published quarterly in the months of April, August, and December (must be the new math).
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Canada and USA
In Boxing, the Last Weekend of July was Chock Full of Surprises
The first upset of last weekend occurred in an undercard bout on the big show at London’s O2 Arena. David Allen, a journeyman with a 13-4-2 record, knocked out previously undefeated
The first upset of last weekend occurred in an undercard bout on the big show at London’s O2 Arena. David Allen, a journeyman with a 13-4-2 record, knocked out previously undefeated Nick Webb (12-0, 10 KOs) in the fourth round. Allen said that he intended this to be his final fight, but will now hang around awhile.
In hindsight, this was an omen. Before the show was over, upsets – albeit mild upsets – were registered in both featured bouts. Dereck Chisora, trailing on the scorecards, stopped Carlos Takam in the eighth. Dillian Whyte outpointed Joseph Parker. And later that same day, in Kissimmee, Florida, Japanese import Masayuki Ito made a big splash in his U.S. debut, beating up highly touted Christopher Diaz.
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Joseph Parker is quite the gentleman. Following his loss to Dillian Whyte, Parker was gracious in defeat: “I say congratulations to Dillian. I gave it my best. The better man won.”
In case you missed it, Whyte survived a hoary moment in the final round to win a unanimous decision. Most everyone agreed that the decision was fair but there were a few dissenters. Well known U.K. boxing pundit Steve Bunce said, “I thought Parker deserved a draw.” Bunce noted that the scribes sitting near him were in complete accord that the most lopsided score (115-110) was far too wide.
We’ve seen fighters grouse that they were robbed after fights that were far less competitive. Parker’s post-fight amiability was all the more puzzling considering that he had a legitimate beef that referee Ian John Lewis was too lax, enabling Whyte to turn the contest into a street fight.
Parker’s trainer Kevin Barry was all on board with the selection of Lewis. “He’s a very highly qualified guy who I think is the best British referee,” he said. But Barry changed his tune after the fight, saying that there were at least two occasions when Lewis should have deducted a point from Whyte.
Veteran Australian boxing writer Anthony Cocks said that going forward, Parker, a soft spoken, mild mannered man, needs to have more of a mongrel in him. Cocks noted that when Whyte transgressed, Parker’s response was to look at the ref with a bemused expression. The first time that Whyte bent the rules, opined Cocks, Parker should have hit him in the balls.
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Top Rank hasn’t had much luck with their Puerto Rican fighters lately. First there was Felix Verdejo. Hyped as the next Felix Trinidad, the 2012 Olympian was 22-0 when his career was interrupted by a motorcycle accident. He won his first fight back in Puerto Rico, but was then exposed by Tijuana’s unheralded Antonio Lozada Jr. who stopped him in the 10th round at the Theater of Madison Square Garden on St. Patrick’s Day, 2018.
More recently, Top Rank gave a big build-up to Christopher Diaz, but Diaz, the 2016 ESPN Deportes Prospect of The Year, also hit the skids after starting his pro career 23-0. Diaz was upset on Saturday by Masayuki Ito in a match sanctioned for the vacant WBO 130-pound title.
Unlike Verdejo, Diaz was still standing at the final bell, but he was taken to the cleaners by his Japanese opponent who won comfortably on the scorecards.
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Russia’s Vladimir Nikitin made his pro debut on the Diaz-Ito undercard. Nikitin won every round of a 6-round contest.
If the name sounds vaguely familiar, this is the guy who defeated top seed Michael Conlan in a quarterfinal bantamweight match at the Rio Olympics. The decision, which Conlan greeted with a middle finger salute to the judges, was widely seen as a heist.
In signing new prospects, Top Rank honcho Bob Arum likes to gather up fighters who compete in the same weight class as fighters that he already controls. This sets up a scenario where he can double dip, extracting a commission from the purse of both principals.
The cluster is most pronounced in the lower weight classes. These fighters, listed alphabetically, are currently promoted or co-promoted by Top Rank: junior bantamweight Jerwin Ancajas (31-1-1), junior featherweight Michael Conlan (8-0), featherweight Christopher Diaz (23-1), super bantamweight Isaac Dogboe (19-0), super bantamweight Jessie Magdaleno (25-1), super bantamweight Jean Rivera (14-0), featherweight Genesis Servania (31-1), bantamweight Shakur Stevenson (7-0), bantamweight Antonio Vargas (7-0), featherweight Nicholas Walters (26-1-1).
The aforementioned Nikitin launched his pro career as a featherweight.
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In July of 2004, Danny Williams knocked out Mike Tyson in the fourth round at Louisville. Iron Mike had one more fight and then wisely called it quits. Williams had 48 more fights, the most recent coming last weekend in Aberdeen, Scotland.
Williams was stopped in the 10th round by a local man, 35-year-old Lee McAllister, whose last documented fight had come in 2013. In that bout, McAllister, carrying 140 pounds, outpointed a Slovakian slug in a 6-round fight. During his hiatus from boxing, McAllister (that’s him in the red and white trunks), served a 9-month prison sentence for assaulting a patron while working in an Aberdeen kebab shop.
Danny Williams’ weight wasn’t announced, but in his three fights prior to fighting McAllister he came in a tad north of 270 pounds. He reportedly out-weighed McAllister by 4 stone (56 pounds), likely a loose approximation.
Williams is a product of Brixton, the hardscrabble Afro-Caribbean neighborhood in South London that also spawned Dillian Whyte. But he has no intention of going back there. After the McAllister fight, in which he was knocked down three times, he said he was retiring to Nigeria where he had a job waiting for him as a bodyguard.
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The ink was barely dry on the weekend’s events when news arrived that Tyson Fury was close to signing for a December bout with WBC heavyweight titlist Deontay Wilder. On social media, Fury said the deal was almost done and Fury’s promoter Frank Warren confirmed it while saying that it was conditional on Fury looking good when he opposes Francesco Pianeta on Aug. 18 at the Windsor Park soccer stadium in Belfast. Fury vs. Pianeta underpins Carl Frampton’s WBO featherweight title defense against Luke Jackson.
As to whether he would be ready to defeat Wilder after only two comeback fights, Fury, who turns 30 this month, said he was ready to beat Wilder on the day he was born.
Deontay Wilder is disappointed that his dream match with Anthony Joshua won’t happen until next spring at the earliest, but there are plenty of options out there for him and more of them for him to ponder after this past weekend’s events.
Cuban southpaw Luis Ortiz looked good against Razvan Cojanu, dismissing his hapless Romanian adversary in the second round on the Garcia-Easter card in Los Angeles.
After the bout, WBC prexy Mauricio Suliaman gave Wilder his blessing to skirt his mandatory against Dominic Breazeale for a rematch with Ortiz.
Presumably that also applies if Wilder accepts promoter Eddie Hearn’s offer for a match with Dillian Whyte. The WBC now lists Whyte as their “silver” champion and has bumped him ahead of Breazeale into the #1 slot in their rankings. And then there’s Jarrell “Big Baby” Miller who has an Eddie Hearn connection and is a more interesting opponent than Breazeale.
If Wilder vs. Fury is a go, say Fury and Warren, it will be held in December in New York or Las Vegas. We make New York the favorite. The only good date in Las Vegas in December for an event of this magnitude is Dec. 1 and that’s only because Thanksgiving arrives early this year. The National Finals Rodeo, a 10-day event which fills up the town, arrives on Dec. 6, eliminating the next two weekends. And when the rodeo leaves, Christmas is right around the corner. Historically, boxing promoters shy away from putting on a big show right before Christmas on the theory that fight fans have the “shorts,” having exhausted their discretionary income on Christmas gifts.
There are some interesting fighters competing in the upper tier of the heavyweight division and a slew of intriguing prospects coming up the ladder. The division hasn’t been this exciting since the Golden Age of Ali, Frazier, Foreman, et al. Enjoy.
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Asia & Oceania
Les Moonves, Hero of Mayweather-Pacquiao Deal, Now Cast as a Villain
“He refused to take ‘no’ for an answer.”
That comment, offered in praise of Les Moonves for the pivotal role the chairman and CEO of CBS Corporation played in helping make the May 2, 2015, megafight pairing
“He refused to take ‘no’ for an answer.”
That comment, offered in praise of Les Moonves for the pivotal role the chairman and CEO of CBS Corporation played in helping make the May 2, 2015, megafight pairing Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao, has taken on a more sordid connotation in light of the avalanche of accusations of sexual impropriety that have thrust the 68-year-old Moonves into the unwelcome company of such accused high-visibility miscreants as Bill Cosby, Harvey Weinstein, Charlie Rose, Bill O’Reilly and Matt Lauer.
But while the other aforementioned power players have been fired or indicted, their reputations in tatters, Moonves remains on the job as one of the most influential and highest paid (a reported $70 million in 2017) media executives in the United States. Despite a damning article authored by Ronan Farrow in The New Yorker that details numerous instances of bad behavior ranging from merely dubious to criminally actionable, and to which Moonves himself has admitted to some extent, CBS on Monday issued a statement of support that seemed to catch the editors of Variety somewhat off-guard. The entertainment publication’s opening paragraph reads thusly: “In a surprise move, CBS’ board of directors is keeping Leslie Moonves as chairman-CEO even as it launches a probe of sexual assault allegations leveled against him by six women in a New Yorker expose.”
Why should still another story of alleged sexual misconduct by an older man seeking to exert improper control over younger women be of any significance to a fight audience? Well, normally it wouldn’t, except for Moonves’ position, which includes a say in the direction of Showtime’s increasingly important boxing operation if he so chooses. When negotiations for Mayweather-Pacquiao, a pay-per-view event which was to be co-produced by Showtime and HBO, hit a snag, Moonves insinuated himself into the discussion because it made financial and logistic sense for him to do so. CBS/Showtime had entered into a six-bout, $250 million deal with Mayweather, and three of the four fights held to that point had underperformed. Subsequently, the prevailing belief in CBS/Showtime’s executive offices was that Mayweather’s long-delayed showdown with Pacquiao was not only advisable, but absolutely necessary to stanch the flow of red ink.
“Without Les Moonves, this fight wouldn’t have had a prayer of happening,” Top Rank chairman and CEO Bob Arum, a longtime friend of Moonves, said after the last “i” had been dotted and the last “t” crossed. “The real hero in getting this done is Les Moonves.”
And this from Stephen Espinoza, Showtime Sports’ executive vice president and general manager, tossing another verbal bouquet to his boss: “One of the main reasons this deal got done, when maybe other ones didn’t, was having Les Moonves as part of the process. He was deeply committed to making this deal. He is someone that all parties in this negotiation respected. He was really the catalyst for seeing this through. He refused to take `no’ for an answer from any side. He was there making sure that the parties came together in a successful and cooperative manner.”
But while the high-level wheeling and dealing to finalize Mayweather-Pacquiao was done behind closed doors, so too were those instances when Moonves was attempting to arrange a private deal with a female subordinate whose career he could either advance or stymie. One such occasion allegedly involved writer-actress Ileana Douglas, who was summoned to Moonves’ office to discuss matters involving a television project in which she was to have starred. The New Yorker story quotes Douglas’ heightening discomfort as Moonves made coarse and physical advances toward her.
“At that point, you’re a trapped animal,” Douglas said of the incident. “Your life is flashing before your eyes. It has stayed with me the rest of my life, that terror.”
After The New Yorker story came out, Moonves apologized, sort of, to the six women who told Farrow that the CBS bigwig had sexually harassed them. All claimed he became cold and hostile after they rejected his advances, and that they believed their careers suffered as a result.
In a statement, Moonves said, “Throughout my time at CBS, we have promoted a culture of respect and opportunity for all employees, and have consistently found success elevating women to top executive positions across our company. I recognize that there were times decades ago when I may have made some women uncomfortable by making advances. Those were mistakes and I regret them immensely. But I always understood and respected – and abided by the principle – that `no’ means `no,’ and I have never misused my position to harm or hinder anyone’s career … We at CBS are committed to being part of the solution.”
What makes the furor that has suddenly swirled up around Moonves all the more curious is his prominent support for the #MeToo movement and other feminist causes. In December, he helped found the Commission on Eliminating Sexual Harassment and Advancing Equality in the Workplace. A month prior to that, at a conference in November, he said, “I think it’s important that a company’s culture will not allow for (sexual harassment). And that’s the thing that’s far-reaching. There’s a lot we’re learning. There’s a lot we didn’t know.”
There’s a lot we didn’t know? Oh, for sure. We didn’t know for a very long time that TV’s favorite father figure, now-81-year-old Bill Cosby, would be classified as a sexually violent predator by a Pennsylvania court. Cosby is due to be sentenced Sept. 24 on three counts of aggravated indecent assault, and his alma mater, Temple University, rescinded the honorary Ph.D. it conferred upon him in 1991. The Cos resigned his spot on Temple’s Board of Trustees in 2014, after 32 years, amid accusations that he sexually assaulted dozens of women over decades.
We also didn’t know that Harvey Weinstein, 66, the co-founder of Miramax, would be dismissed from the company and be expelled from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences after the New York Times ran a story on Oct, 5, 2017, detailing decades of allegations against him by over 80 women. It would seem that the most important piece of furniture in Weinstein’s office was not his desk, but the proverbial casting couch.
One of the more intriguing developments in the widening scandal involved TV newsmen Bill O’Reilly and Matt Lauer. In September 2017, O’Reilly, fired by Fox News for a series of alleged sexual improprieties, appeared as a guest on NBC’s Today show, where he told host Matt Lauer that his dismissal was “a hit job – a political and financial hit job.” Two months later, Lauer was canned by NBCUniversal after it was found he had an inappropriate sexual relationship with another much more junior NBC employee. Three additional women subsequently made complaints against Lauer.
Boxing is a physical sport, maybe the most physical there is, and in most cases the transgressions committed were by fighters who resorted to brute force, the fastest way to bring cops and attorneys into the equation. Think Tony Ayala Jr. spending 17 years behind bars for rape, a conviction that came on the heels of a previous incident in which he broke a teenage girl’s jaw after he made unwanted advances toward her in the restroom of a drive-in theater. But it might be argued that those who seek to have their way with women by exercising a different kind of power are just as much or even more reprehensible, an affront not only to the females they view as disposable objects but to any man who would not want to see his mother, wife or daughter treated so shabbily.
According to CBS, there have been no misconduct claims and no settlements against Moonves during his 24 years at the network. He deserves, as everyone does under the American system of jurisprudence, the presumption of innocence. But given the current landscape befouled by others who apparently felt that they could do whatever they wanted because they always had gotten away with it, sticking with the status quo might send the wrong message.
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