Connect with us

Asia & Oceania

Southern California: The Soul of Boxing Part 3

Published

on

status

It was the biggest Los Angeles fight in decades when Oscar “The Golden Boy” De La Hoya agreed to meet Sugar Shane Mosley for not only the WBC welterweight world title but for status as the best fighter pound for pound.

Both prizefighters had been born and raised in the city of Angels and had been rivals throughout their amateur boxing years. Their two roads converged at the sparkling new Staples Center on June 17, 2000. It was like a movie premiere but for boxing.

Not since Danny “Little Red” Lopez met Bobby “Schoolboy” Chacon in 1974 at the L.A. Memorial Sports Arena down on Figueroa Street had Los Angeles staged a similar fight between hometown rivals. But the magnitude of this fight was tenfold.

Shiny limousines arrived with diamond studded movie stars emerging one after another. Most of Hollywood showed up as if it were the Academy Awards. From Halle Berry to Ryan O’Neal, the number of celebrities that arrived to see the fight was off the charts as fans cheered the arrivals.

But the biggest roar from fans occurred when Muhammad Ali appeared out of one of the tunnels and walked toward the seats along the boxing ring. Nothing else could compete with the great heavyweight’s appearance.

That night De La Hoya and Mosley erupted into an electric performance with each round topping the next. Their fight set the benchmark for all other prize fights in the future for L.A.

Mosley beat De La Hoya that night. Soon after, the East L.A. boxer decided to form his own boxing promotion company. In 2002, the deal was done and slowly his company Golden Boy Promotions became a major player in a sport that gobbles up promoters like sunflower seeds.

The world title fight between De La Hoya and Mosley snapped the hold that Las Vegas had held over major fights for the past 20 years. The casino capital had staged some of the biggest prize fights in history beginning with Larry Holmes-Muhammad Ali in 1980, Ray Leonard-Tommy Hearns in 1981, to Lennox Lewis-Evander Holyfield in 1999.

When De La Hoya and Mosley fought before more than 18,000 fans it smashed the myth that boxing was dead in Los Angeles. Or did it?

Newspaper Coverage

The arrival of the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1958 and subsequent World Series win in 1959 did not put a hurt on boxing. The Los Angeles Lakers arrived in 1960 and the L.A. Rams had arrived in 1946 but football never took away coverage from boxing by local newspapers. The sport of boxing survived.

Perhaps the most telling blow came when the weekly boxing shows provided at the Olympic Auditorium shut down. Aileen Eaton was the promoter and her run of successful shows at the boxing palace was unrivaled in Los Angeles. But when she passed away in 1987 it basically snapped the run of weekly shows that kept boxing in the news.

“She was the smartest person I ever met,” said Don Chargin, the matchmaker for many of the fight cards at the Olympic Auditorium (pictured). “She was a smart businesswoman who had what was needed to put on successful shows.”

Eaton demanded newspaper coverage and got it.

From 1942 to 1987 the Olympic Auditorium was California’s hot spot for live boxing shows. Eaton had taken over as the promoter when her husband Cal Eaton died in 1966 and created weekly boxing cards that brought crowds in droves for decades. Stars like Manuel Ortiz who held the bantamweight world title for eight years and is considered perhaps the greatest 118-pounder of all time. Or, others like Mando Ramos and Art Aragon, “The Golden Boy.”  Though Aragon never won a world title, his antics and personality attracted thousands to the Olympic Auditorium or wherever he fought.

Most of these boxers trained at the Main Street Gym which one accessed by walking ip a flight of stairs. On the right side would be wooden benches where visitors could sit and watch for a fee, originally 10 cents. When Howie Steindler was in charge he was adamant about collecting that fee.

Inside the Main Street Gym was a set of desks for boxing beat reporters who would regularly visit the gym. They were as visible as the trainers and knew every fighter, good or bad, inside the gym. A set of phones was nearby for the journalists to contact their sports desks.

“You wouldn’t see the reporters every day but they would come enough that you knew who they were,” said Benny Georgino whose fighters Alberto Davila, Danny “Little Red” Lopez and Jaime Garza trained in the second floor gym in Los Angeles. “You knew these guys. They would call you all the time or watch sparring to see how somebody was doing before a big fight. The L.A. Times or the guys from the Herald-Examiner knew everybody at Main Street or at Hoover Street Gym. You don’t get that today from the newspaper guys.”

Even newspaper boys hawking on street corners were familiar with the boxing game. One former newsboy remembers seeing many famous boxers enter and exit from one of the earliest versions of the downtown L.A. boxing gym. Two other gyms preceded the final one that was on Main Street. The others were on Spring Street and another on Main Street but a few blocks south.

“I remember seeing Tiger Flowers get out of a car telling everybody he was a world champion,” said Leonard Castillon, who was a newsboy during the 1920s near the gym located on Spring Street. “People were cheering and shaking his hand. I didn’t know who he was. I just remember the name.”

Flowers had beaten the great Harry Greb twice for the middleweight world championship in 1926. Greb died in 1926 and Flowers died in 1927. Both passed away from complications during surgery.

Boxing was always in the news.

Sporadic Coverage

Today there is beat coverage by newspapers for NBA, MLB, NHL , and NFL with daily reports regardless if local teams are playing significant games or not. Boxing only gets coverage when a major prize fight is being televised on a cable network like HBO, Showtime or ESPN. Otherwise, all other fight cards are ignored.

Recently within the past five years a newspaper group bought 12 newspapers in Southern California. The result has been one boxing reporter represents the newspaper chain and if that reporter does not reveal or talk about a fight card, then readers for those dozen newspapers have no idea boxing is taking place. The same goes for the L.A. Times that also owns the leading San Diego newspaper. If that newspaper does not mention a boxing card, then its readers are not aware of its existence.

Forget about television news, they get their news from the newspapers.

During the last three years downtown L.A. saw regular boxing cards take place in the downtown L.A. area but seldom did major news groups mention it. Could it be pure ignorance or a subtle cultural slight?

As most observers know, boxing in the US is dominated by Latinos and African Americans. In Europe boxing has strong news coverage and that’s also true of Japan and the Philippines. Only in America does news coverage barely exist.

MMA

The emergence of MMA saw immediate interest by local newspapers especially when Ultimate Fighting Championship staged its first card in Anaheim. It brought a rush of reporters by many of the Southern California news outlets. It was April 15, 2006. The state of California had finally legalized MMA and this show, featuring Tito Ortiz vs. Forrest Griffin at the Arrowhead Pond, was the first major card.

It took a while for MMA to gather interest from all the newspapers. Not until Rampage Jackson beat Chuck Liddell by knockout in May 2007 did UFC really hit its stride and convince most newspapers that it had appeal.

One major reason MMA had appeal was that, unlike in boxing, mostly Anglos participated in the combat sport. That was a new phenomenon. When professional boxing had begun in the 1890s it consisted of mostly Anglo fighters like John L. Sullivan of Irish descent, Benny Leonard an American Jew and Tony Canzoneri of Italian heritage. By the 1960s those ethnicities no longer were part of the poor. Boxing is a sport that lures the poorer athletes. MMA arrived and middle class Anglos are a strong part of its roster. It takes money to go to dojos or mixed martial arts studios.

Myth of MMA Takeover

UFC’s Dana White was a major contributor to the myth that boxing was dying. More than once two tables filled with journalists soaked up the fabrications while munching down steaks at Flemings or Morton’s.

“The reason that boxing is dying is because there are no amateur programs,” said White erroneously during one of these meetings. “You need amateur programs to build a base.”

Once, when White introduced Ronda Rousey for the first time to journalists at a steakhouse in Burbank, he discussed why boxing is not as big as UFC. Again he cited the lack of amateur programs for boxing. Immediately I told him there are so many gyms in Southern California that we would not be able to visit them in a month.

But journalists, in particular the Anglo journalists, soaked up the misinformation. The news editors who are mostly Anglo also are convinced MMA or UFC is much more popular than boxing. One newspaper group had daily stories on a recent MMA card for almost an entire week. It was not a UFC card.

They ignored the facts: while the most an MMA fighter has ever made is roughly around $10 million, several boxers have made more than $100 million for a single fight. If MMA is bigger, then why can’t the top fighters make as much as boxers?

When Floyd Mayweather fought Conor McGregor in a boxing match this past summer, they each made more than $100 million in boxing.

White soon after announced he was entering the boxing world.

Most are unaware that UFC tried to export its product first to Japan and was rebuffed. Then it tried Europe and was rebuffed again. American journalists had bought into the myth that MMA was loved all over the world despite failures in Japan, England, and Germany. All those are strongly entrenched in boxing.

Once at a West Hollywood restaurant, light heavyweight world champion Sergey Kovalev was asked if MMA was popular in Russia.

“What’s MMA?” Kovalev asked mockingly. “Nobody knows MMA in Russia. They know boxing.”

Wild Card

When Mike Tyson started training with Freddie Roach for one of his upcoming fights in the early 2000s it sent ripples across the world. Although Tyson had not been a world champion since 1996, his legend had grown internationally. Even in Russia and Ukraine the name Tyson inspired awe.

In Ukraine brothers Vitali and Wladimir Klitschko were inspired to venture to America in pursuit of the heavyweight world title.

Vitali Klitschko made it known that his dream was to fight Mike Tyson. One day he appeared at the Wild Card where he began training to prepare for one of his heavyweight title matches.

Even before Klitschko arrived another prizefighter from the Philippines had arrived, a diminutive southpaw spitfire with blazing speed and power. His name: Manny Pacquiao. Both Pacquiao and Klitschko would add to the aura of the Wild Card Gym in Hollywood.

Decades earlier the Main Street Gym used to lure fighters from other countries and regions. Sugar Ray Robinson trained at Main Street long after his last pro bout. Others like heavyweight great Jack Johnson would visit too. More than a few times Roberto Duran entered the gym and traded blows with anyone willing to take punishment. But after it closed, no other gym in Southern California had the same international appeal.

Freddie Roach was a former fighter from the New England area and had battled some of the best pugilists in his day including Bobby “Schoolboy” Chacon and Hector “Macho” Camacho. When he started the Wild Card Gym in the mid-90s it slowly became the spot to visit for boxing lovers all over the world.

“When I was young my family used to live in California,” said Roach. “One day my father moved us to Culver City. No reason he just did it. My mom didn’t like living here so we just picked up and moved back.”

After his boxing career was finished, the gym he established on Vine Street and Santa Monica Boulevard began attracting leading boxers like James “Lights Out” Toney and others. But when Pacquiao arrived and was soon followed by the Klitschkos the word got out that the Wild Card was a place to be. Soon after fighters from South Africa, Germany, Scotland, Mexico, Australia, Russia, and the Philippines arrived with their gym bags hanging over their shoulders.

It was like a United Nations for boxing.

Part 4: GGG, American fighting, Internet explosion, female boxing and future of the sport.

Check out more boxing news on video at The Boxing Channel.

Don’t forget to check out:

Southern California, the Soul of Boxing: Part I 

Southern California, the Soul of Boxing: Part 2 (How It Came to Be)

To comment on this article at The Fight Forum, CLICK HERE.

Argentina

The BWAA Shames Veteran Referee Laurence Cole and Two Nebraska Judges

Published

on

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).

Check out more boxing news on video at The Boxing Channel

 

Continue Reading

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

Published

on

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.

– – – –

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.

– – – –

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.

– – – –

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.

– – – –

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.

– – – –

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.

Check out more boxing news on video at The Boxing Channel

To comment on this article at The Fight Forum, CLICK HERE.

Continue Reading

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

Published

on

Moonves

“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.

Check out more boxing news on video at The Boxing Channel

To comment on this article at The Fight Forum, CLICK HERE.

Continue Reading
Advertisement
Jake-Paul-KOs-Ryan-Bourland-but-Amanda-Serrano's-Fight-Falls-Out
Featured Articles4 weeks ago

Jake Paul KOs Ryan Bourland but Amanda Serrano’s Fight Falls Out

Twi-Faetherweight-Title-Fights-Top-a-Strong-Bill-at-Turning-Stone-on-Saturday
Featured Articles4 weeks ago

Two Featherweight Title Fights Top a Strong Bill at Turning Stone on Saturday

Jared-Anderson-and-Adam-Kownacki-Heavyweights-on-Worrisome-Paths
Featured Articles3 weeks ago

Jared Anderson and Adam Kownacki: Heavyweights on Worrisome Paths

Avila-Perspective-Chap-274-Ryan-Garcia-and-Devin-Haney-in-Hollywood-Jake-Amanda-and-More
Featured Articles4 weeks ago

Avila Perspective, Chap. 274: Ryan Garcia and Devin Haney in Hollywood, Jake, Amanda and More

AJ's-Emphatic-KO-was-Good-for-Boxing-but-the Circus-Hasn't=Left-Town
Featured Articles3 weeks ago

AJ’s Emphatic KO was Good for Boxing but the Circus Hasn’t Left Town

High-Drama-at-Turning-Stone-where-Ford-Rallied-to-Overcome-Kholmatov
Featured Articles4 weeks ago

High Drama at Turning Stone where Ford Rallied to Overcome Kholmatov

The-Hauser-Report-What's-Going-On-With-Premier-Boxing-Champions?
Featured Articles1 week ago

The Hauser Report: What’s Going On With Premier Boxing Champions?

Joshua-vs-Ngannou-is-the-Main-Dish-but-Don't-Sleep-on-This-Delicious-Undercard
Featured Articles3 weeks ago

Joshua vs Ngannou is the Main Dish, but Don’t Sleep on this Delicious Undercard

Madueno-Upsets-Pauldo-and-Lopez-Overcomes-Escudero-at-Whitesands
Featured Articles4 weeks ago

Madueno Upsets Pauldo and Lopez Overcomes Escudero at Whitesands

Nigerian-Heavyweight-Efe-Ajagba-May-Yet-to-Prove-to-be-As-Good-as-Advertised
Featured Articles2 weeks ago

Nigerian Heavyweight Efe Ajagba May Yet Prove to be As Good As Advertised

Fight-Talk-with-the-Celebrated-Boxing-Writer-and-Author-Don-Stradley
Featured Articles3 weeks ago

Fight Talk With the Celebrated Boxing Writer and Author Don Stradley

Australia's-Nikita-Tszyu-Stands-Poised-to-Escape-the-Long-Shadow-of-His-Brother
Featured Articles3 days ago

Australia’s Nikita Tszyu Stands Poised to Escape the Long Shadow of His Brother

Joshua-Pulverizes-Ngannou-and-Parker-Out-hustles-Zhang-in-Saudi-Arabia
Featured Articles3 weeks ago

Joshua Pulverizes Ngannou and Parker Out-Hustles Zhang in Saudi Arabia

Avila-Perspective-Chap-276-Notes-on-AJ-vs-Ngannou-and-Mike-Tyson-vs-Jake-Paul
Featured Articles3 weeks ago

Avila Perspective, Chap. 276: Notes on AJ vs Ngannou and Mike Tyson vs Jake Paul

Wednesday Recaps: Kalajdzic-and-Goodman-Score-Big-Wins-in-Far-Flung-Places
Featured Articles2 weeks ago

Wednesday Recaps: Kalajdzic and Goodman Score Big Wins in Far-Flung Places

Dillian-Whyte-Returns-from-Purgatory-and-Brushes-Away-a-Wimpy-Opponent-in-Ireland
Featured Articles1 week ago

Dillian Whyte Returns from Purgatory and Brushes Away a Wimpy Opponent in Ireland

Boxing-Notes-and-Nuggets-from-Thomas-Hauser-The-Blue-Corner
Featured Articles2 weeks ago

Boxing Notes and Nuggets from Thomas Hauser: ‘The Blue Corner’

Joe-Joyce-KO-10-Kash-Ali-Heaney-and-Pauls-Fight-to-a-Stalemate-in-a-Thriller
Featured Articles2 weeks ago

Joe Joyce KO 10 Kash Ali; Heaney and Pauls Fight to a Stalemate in a Thriller

RIP-IBF-founder-Bob-Lee-who-was-Banished-from-Boxing-by-the-FBI
Featured Articles3 days ago

R.I.P. IBF founder Bob Lee who was Banished from Boxing by the FBI

William-Zepeda-Demolishes-Maxi-Hughes-on-a-Flimsy-Card-at-the-Cosmo
Featured Articles2 weeks ago

William Zepeda Demolishes Maxi Hughes on a Flimsy Card at the Cosmo

RIP-IBF-founder-Bob-Lee-who-was-Banished-from-Boxing-by-the-FBI
Featured Articles3 days ago

R.I.P. IBF founder Bob Lee who was Banished from Boxing by the FBI

Australia's-Nikita-Tszyu-Stands-Poised-to-Escape-the-Long-Shadow-of-His-Brother
Featured Articles3 days ago

Australia’s Nikita Tszyu Stands Poised to Escape the Long Shadow of His Brother

Dalton-Smith-KOs-Jose-Zepeda-and-Sandy-Ryan-Stops-Terri-Jarper-in-England
Featured Articles5 days ago

Dalton Smith KOs Jose Zepeda and Sandy Ryan Stops Terri Harper in England

Avila-Perspective-Chap-277-Canelo-and-Munguia-and-More-Boxing-News
Featured Articles7 days ago

Avila Perspective, Chap. 277: Canelo and Munguia and More Boxing News

A-Closer-Look-at-Brian-Mendoza-who-Aims-to-Steal-the-Show-on-the-Tszyu-Fundora-Card
Featured Articles7 days ago

A Closer Look at Brian Mendoza who Aims to Steal the Show on the Tszyu-Fundora Card

The-Hauser-Report-What's-Going-On-With-Premier-Boxing-Champions?
Featured Articles1 week ago

The Hauser Report: What’s Going On With Premier Boxing Champions?

Dillian-Whyte-Returns-from-Purgatory-and-Brushes-Away-a-Wimpy-Opponent-in-Ireland
Featured Articles1 week ago

Dillian Whyte Returns from Purgatory and Brushes Away a Wimpy Opponent in Ireland

Boxing-Notes-and-Nuggets-from-Thomas-Hauser-The-Blue-Corner
Featured Articles2 weeks ago

Boxing Notes and Nuggets from Thomas Hauser: ‘The Blue Corner’

William-Zepeda-Demolishes-Maxi-Hughes-on-a-Flimsy-Card-at-the-Cosmo
Featured Articles2 weeks ago

William Zepeda Demolishes Maxi Hughes on a Flimsy Card at the Cosmo

Joe-Joyce-KO-10-Kash-Ali-Heaney-and-Pauls-Fight-to-a-Stalemate-in-a-Thriller
Featured Articles2 weeks ago

Joe Joyce KO 10 Kash Ali; Heaney and Pauls Fight to a Stalemate in a Thriller

Wednesday Recaps: Kalajdzic-and-Goodman-Score-Big-Wins-in-Far-Flung-Places
Featured Articles2 weeks ago

Wednesday Recaps: Kalajdzic and Goodman Score Big Wins in Far-Flung Places

Nigerian-Heavyweight-Efe-Ajagba-May-Yet-to-Prove-to-be-As-Good-as-Advertised
Featured Articles2 weeks ago

Nigerian Heavyweight Efe Ajagba May Yet Prove to be As Good As Advertised

AJ's-Emphatic-KO-was-Good-for-Boxing-but-the Circus-Hasn't=Left-Town
Featured Articles3 weeks ago

AJ’s Emphatic KO was Good for Boxing but the Circus Hasn’t Left Town

Joshua-Pulverizes-Ngannou-and-Parker-Out-hustles-Zhang-in-Saudi-Arabia
Featured Articles3 weeks ago

Joshua Pulverizes Ngannou and Parker Out-Hustles Zhang in Saudi Arabia

Undercard-Notes-from-Riyadh-where-Rey-Vargas-Kept-his-Title-with-an-Unpopular-Draw
Featured Articles3 weeks ago

Undercard Notes from Riyadh where Vargas Retained his Title with an Unpopular Draw

Finding-Value-in-Boxing-Lines
Featured Articles3 weeks ago

Finding Value in Boxing Lines

Avila-Perspective-Chap-276-Notes-on-AJ-vs-Ngannou-and-Mike-Tyson-vs-Jake-Paul
Featured Articles3 weeks ago

Avila Perspective, Chap. 276: Notes on AJ vs Ngannou and Mike Tyson vs Jake Paul

Fight-Talk-with-the-Celebrated-Boxing-Writer-and-Author-Don-Stradley
Featured Articles3 weeks ago

Fight Talk With the Celebrated Boxing Writer and Author Don Stradley

Joshua-vs-Ngannou-is-the-Main-Dish-but-Don't-Sleep-on-This-Delicious-Undercard
Featured Articles3 weeks ago

Joshua vs Ngannou is the Main Dish, but Don’t Sleep on this Delicious Undercard

Jared-Anderson-and-Adam-Kownacki-Heavyweights-on-Worrisome-Paths
Featured Articles3 weeks ago

Jared Anderson and Adam Kownacki: Heavyweights on Worrisome Paths

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

Trending

Advertisement