The Haney-Lomachenko Tempest Smacks of Hagler-Leonard; Dave Moretti Factored in Both

Published

6 months ago

May 22, 2023

The-Haney-Lomachenko-Tempest-Smacks-of-Hagler-Leonard--Dave Moretti-Factored-into-Both

Veteran Las Vegas judge Dave Moretti found himself in the crosshairs once again last Saturday night. Moretti had the widest score in the Haney-Lomachenko fight. He gave Loma only four rounds, one round fewer than each of his cohorts, Tim Cheatham and David Sutherland. To say that the unanimous decision favoring Haney was unpopular would be putting it mildly. “Whoever thinks Loma didn’t win does not know sh** about boxing,” tweeted Oscar De La Hoya from his ringside seat.

A closer look at Moretti’s scorecard revealed that he awarded Round 10 to Devin Haney. This was arguably Vasily Lomachenko’s best round. If Moretti had scored the round for Haney, this wouldn’t have changed the outcome. However, it would have deflected the brickbats. The most caustic charged the 78-year-old arbiter with corruption.

David Moretti, a native of Niagara Falls, NY, moved to Las Vegas in 1975 after losing his job at Carborundum, a company that manufactures semiconductors of the kind used in auto body shops. He started judging fights in 1977 when boxing matches in Nevada were scored on the “five-point must” system. He gradually moved up the ladder to where he came to be regarded as the top boxing judge in the Silver State. In 2019, his name appeared on the ballot for the International Boxing Hall of Fame in the non-participant category. By rule, his name will remain there for 10 years if he isn’t voted in beforehand. If he makes it into the Hall, he would be the second Las Vegas judge to be so honored following the late Jerry Roth who was enshrined in 2017.

This isn’t the first time that Dave Moretti finds himself in the crosshairs. The Nevada State Athletic Commission launched an investigation of him following the “The Super Fight” between Sugar Ray Leonard and Marvin Hagler in 1987.

Five days before this fight, Moretti and Billy Baxter were observed conversing in the waiting area of the airport in Atlanta that would take the name Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. They were awaiting their connecting fight to Las Vegas after spending the previous night in Norfolk, Virginia, where Pernell Whitaker successfully defended his NABF lightweight title with a unanimous decision over Roger Mayweather. Dave Moretti was one of the judges. His scorecard was concordant with the others.

Sugar Ray Leonard, a 3/1 underdog in Las Vegas on the final day of betting, defeated Marvin Hagler, winning a split decision. Dave Moretti scored the fight for Leonard 115-113. Mexican judge Jo Jo Guerra also favored Leonard. His tally, 118-110, was preposterous. The dissenting judge, Lou Filippo, had it 115-113 for Hagler.

Marvin Hagler thought he was robbed and quit the sport in disgust, moving to Italy. Many sympathized with him. Thirty-six years after the fact, the debate continues to rage. Did Marvin Hagler get a raw deal?

About that conversation between Moretti and Baxter in Atlanta, a rumor surfaced that Moretti and Baxter were discussing a business deal. This would have been a conflict of interest for Moretti as Billy Baxter was Roger Mayweather’s manager. The rumor made the rounds after it became known that Baxter, a high stakes gambler, had made a big score on the fight. The rumor had it that Baxter bet $300,000 on Sugar Ray.

The commission conducted a thorough investigation and determined that the allegations were unfounded, that Dave Moretti did nothing that would have compromised his objectivity. Moretti allowed that he had considered starting a series of club fights in Las Vegas and asked Baxter for his feedback (Moretti never did venture into the promotional side of boxing). Billy Baxter testified that his wager on Sugar Ray Leonard was $30,000, not $300,000, and said he made the wager months in advance of the fight when the odds against Leonard were juicier. A survey of Las Vegas sportsbook operators found no irregularities in the pattern of wagering.

Dave Moretti

Unlike that glorious night under the stars at Caesars Palace in 1987, the underdog didn’t prevail this past Saturday night at the MGM Grand. But the similarities are striking. In both cases you had a smaller man who was seemingly past his prime taking on a challenge that was seemingly a bridge too far for him. It was David against Goliath and whenever a David makes headway in a grueling battle against a formidable foe, he picks up rooters along the way. That’s what happened Saturday night. Those in the audience that were neutral and even some that were fans of Devin Haney found themselves liking Lomachenko more and more as the fight progressed.

This reporter had it 7-5 for Lomachenko, a tally that jibed with most of the other scribes in attendance. But this was no robbery. And for those that haven’t yet seen the replay, I reiterate that one cannot objectively judge a fight off the television without muting the sound because the talking heads tend to crank up the decibels whenever the underdog has fine moments.

One bad night by a sports official can spoil an otherwise impressive body of work. No one ever talks about the times when Dave Moretti’s scorecard was the smartest of the three. To take but one example, most folks thought that Gennady Golovkin had done enough to warrant the decision in his first match with Canelo Alvarez. Moretti concurred; he had it 115-113 for GGG. But the bout ended in a draw when Adalaide Byrd channeled Jo Jo Guerra and had Canelo winning lopsidedly.

Although boxing judges are handsomely paid for a big fight (my goodness, this isn’t brain surgery), they need a thick skin and that’s especially true nowadays when any know-it-all with a computer and a mouse can spew venom and have it go viral. And I believe there is something else at work that ratchets up the torrent of abuse whenever a boxing judge or referee has a bad night. On May 14, 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the federal law that gave Nevada a monopoly on sports gambling, opening the floodgates. More folks gamble on boxing nowadays then ever before. I have no doubt that many of those that raged loud on social media when the decision went against Loma had money at risk. To them, Dave Moretti and his two cohorts were more than just warped, they were pickpockets.

Let’s wrap up this story with a quote from the noted boxing historian Lee Groves. Talking to upstate New York sportswriter Ernie Green for a 2019 story, Groves had nothing but good things to say about Dave Moretti. “He’s universally respected for the great job he does,” said Groves. “You’d be hard-pressed to find someone who has a bad word to say about him as either the judge or the man.”

Photo credit: Mikey Williams / Top Rank via Getty Images (Haney is standing on the scale, exaggerating his physical advantage).

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Arne K. Lang’s third boxing book, titled “George Dixon, Terry McGovern and the Culture of Boxing in America, 1890-1910,” rolled off the press in September. Published by McFarland, the book can be ordered directly from the publisher or via Amazon.

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Arne K. Lang

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The Murder of Samuel Teah Calls to Mind Other Boxers Who Were Homicide Victims

Published

2 days ago

November 27, 2023

Arne K. Lang

The-Murder-of-Samuel-Teah-Calls-to-Mind-Other-Boxers-Who-Were-Homicide-Victims

There will be a boxing show this Friday at Philadelphia’s 2300 Arena, a low-budget card featuring the return of former IBF 130-pound world title-holder Tevin Farmer. During the event, there will assuredly be a somber moment when those in attendance stand and silently pay homage to Samuel Teah as the timekeeper tolls the traditional 10-bell farewell. Teah passed away last week on Black Friday, Nov. 24, another victim of America’s epidemic of gun violence. He was 36 years old.

Teah was shot in the mid-afternoon during an altercation that spilled onto the sidewalk of a street in Wilmington, Delaware, and died at a Wilmington hospital. As of this writing, there’s been no arrest, but the shooting was apparently not random. A bus driver for the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transit Authority, Teah was purportedly in Wilmington (roughly 35 miles from his home in Philadelphia) to visit the mother of his child.

Samuel Teah fought as recently as this past May when he suffered a shocking defeat at the hands of journeyman Andrew Rodgers at a show in Pennsylvania’s Newton Township, reducing his record to 19-5-1. Two months earlier he had spoiled the undefeated record of Enriko Gogokhia, an Egis Klimas fighter (think Oleksandr Usyk and Vasily Lomachenko) on a card in Ontario, California. This embellished his reputation as a spoiler. Earlier in his career, he had spoiled the undefeated record of O’Shaquie Foster, winning an 8-round unanimous decision over the man that currently reigns as the WBC world super featherweight champion.

What made Teah’s death more tragic, if that were possible, were all the tragedies that he had overcome. He was born in Liberia when that country was embroiled in a civil war. The family escaped to a refugee camp in Ghana and eventually reached the United States, settling first in New York and then Philadelphia. On the day after Christmas in 2008, when Teah was 21 and working at a Home Depot, he lost six members of his family in a fire that swept his mother’s West Philadelphia duplex after a kerosene heater exploded.

For some, Teah’s violent death may call to mind the murder of another Philadelphia boxer, Tyrone Everett.

That’s an awkward comparison.

Tyrone Everett was a world-class fighter. Six months before he was shot dead by his girlfriend in May of 1977, Everett, then 34-0, lost a 15-round split decision to Puerto Rico’s Alfredo Escalera in a failed bid to win Escalera’s WBC junior lightweight title, a decision so rancid that it stands among the worst decisions of all time. Moreover, the circumstances of Everett’s murder were sordid. His girlfriend, no stranger to the police, fatally shot him after finding him with a transvestite and there was heroin in the apartment they shared. (Editor’s note: For more on this incident, check out the new book by TSS contributor Sean Nam: “Murder on Federal Street: Tyrone Everett, the Black Mafia, Fixed Fights, and the Last Golden Age of Philadelphia Boxing” available on Amazon).

Samuel Teah was no Tyrone Everett. A man of deep faith, Sam’s positive attitude, despite all his tribulations, was infectious. “Everyone liked Teah,” said prominent Philadelphia sports journalist Joe Santoliquito who, upon hearing of Teah’s death, tweeted, “he will always have a special place in my heart.”

While the circumstances are different in every case, Teah joins a long list of boxers who met a violent death. If we limit the list to fighters who were still active at the time of their passing, here are four that jump immediately to mind.

Stanley Ketchel

The fabled Michigan Assassin, Ketchel met his maker on Oct. 15, 1910, at a ranch in Conway, Missouri. In the immortal words of John Lardner, “Stanley Ketchel was twenty-four years old when he was fatally shot in the back by the common-law husband of the lady who was cooking his breakfast.”

Battling Siki

Famed for knocking out Georges Carpentier when the “Orchid Man” held the world light heavyweight title, Siki was only 28 years old when he was gunned down in the Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood of Manhattan on Dec. 15, 1925, but by then the Senegal-born Frenchman had already degenerated into a trial horse. Siki’s body was found in the middle of the street with two bullets in his back fired at close range by an assailant, never identified, who was thought to be avenging a beating he suffered at one of the speakeasies that Siki was known to frequent.

Oscar Bonavena

At age 33, Oscar Bonavena was still an active boxer when he was gunned down on May 22, 1976, on the outskirts of Reno, Nevada, at the front gate of the infamous Mustang Ranch, a legal brothel. Bonavena had come up short in his biggest fights, losing a 15-round decision to Joe Frazier and losing by TKO in the 15^th round to Muhammad Ali, but the rugged Argentine was still a major player in the heavyweight division.

The shooter was a bodyguard for the brothel’s owner Joe Conforte, and rumor has that Conforte was the de facto triggerman, having Bonavena assassinated because the boxer was having an affair with Conforte’s 59-year-old wife Sally who was also Bonavena’s manager of record at this point in the boxer’s career. The story about it spawned “Love Shack,” a 2010 movie that despite a seemingly can’t-miss storyline and a formidable cast (Joe Pesci played Joe and Helen Mirren played Sally) proved to be a box-office dud.

Vernon Forrest

While all homicides are tragic, some are more distressing than others and the death of Vernon Forrest on July 25, 2009, was particularly gut-wrenching. Forrest was shot twice in the back by would-be robbers with whom he exchanged gunfire on July 25, 2009 at a gas station in Atlanta.

Forget the fact that Forrest was a two-division title-holder who had regained the WBC world super welterweight title in his most recent fight with a lopsided decision over Sergio Mora. Few in the sport were as widely admired. His philanthropic work included establishing group homes in Atlanta for the mentally disabled. His death came just two weeks after the death of Arturo Gatti who left the sport following a loss by TKO to Alfonso Gomez in July of 2007 and died under suspicious circumstances at age 37 at a hotel in Brazil.

We here at The Sweet Science send our condolences to Samuel Teah’s family and loved ones. May he rest in peace.

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Benavidez Dismantles Andrade: Will Canelo Be Next?

Published

4 days ago

November 25, 2023

Arne K. Lang

Benavidez-Dismantles-Andrade-Will-Canelo-Be-Next?

SHOWTIME aired its final pay-per-view event tonight with a show that aired from Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. The four-fight PPV card included world title fights in the 140 and 130-pound divisions, plus an interim title fight at 168 and the return of former two-division title-holder Jarmall Charlo. The interim title fight was a battle of unbeatens between David Benavidez and Demetrius “Boo Boo” Andrade and that was the featured attraction.

Benavidez, 26, is big for the weight class and lived up to his new nickname, “El Monstro.” He had too much firepower for the 35-year-old Andrade, a 2008 Beijing Olympian who began his pro career at 154 and had won world titles in two lower weight classes. His big moment came in the waning seconds of round four when he knocked Andrade to his knees with a sweeping right hand. The fight turned brutally one-sided at that point although one of the judges had Benavidez ahead by only one point when the sixth round ended. But there would be no seventh round. Andrade’s corner wisely stopped the fight.

A consensus 7/2 favorite in man-to-man betting, Benavidez (28-0, 24 KOs) began his pro career in Mexico at age 16. In his post-fight interview, he called out Canelo Alvarez while brashly predicting that he would be a legend before he left the sport (and you’ll get no argument from this corner). It was the first pro loss for Andrade (32-1).

Co-Feature

Jermall Charlo returned to the ring after a 29-month absence and scored a lopsided 10-round decision over Jose Benavidez Jr. The judges had it 100-90, 99-91, and 98-92.

This bout was slated for the catch-weight of 163 pounds. Charlo came in overweight (166.4) but the match went ahead. Benavides Jr, a world title challenger during his days as a welterweight, had his moments, but was outclassed by Charlo who advanced his record to 33-0 (22). Benavidez falls to 28-3-1.

Matias-Ergashev

In what shaped up as the most action-packed fight of the night, 31-year-old Puerto Rican Subriel Matias retained his IBF 140-pound title, battering Shohjahon Ergashev into submission in a match that was halted by Ergashev’s corner two seconds into the sixth round. The heavy-handed Ergashev, who was undefeated heading in, dominated the first round-and-a-half, but Matias (20-1, 20 KOs) gradually wore him down.

Matias, who avenged his lone defeat to Petros Ananyan with a dominant showing in the rematch, had become something of a forgotten man in the talent-rich 140-pound weight class, but tonight he showed that he belongs among the elite in the division. It was the first pro loss for Egrashev (23-1, 20 KOs), a southpaw from Uzbekistan who fights out of Detroit and had SugarHill Steward (formally Javan “Sugar” Hill) in his corner.

Garcia-Roach

In the pay-per-view opener, Lamont Roach (24-1-1, 9 KOs) wrested the WBA 130-pound title from Hector Garcia (16-2) with a well-earned split decision. The judges had it 116-111 and 144-113 for Roach with the dissenter favoring Garcia 114-113.

A 32-year-old Dominican southpaw, Garcia was making the first defense of the title he won from Roger Gutierrez, a belt he was allowed to keep after moving up to lightweight to challenge Gervonta Davis, a bout he lost on a ninth-round stoppage. Roach, an underdog in the betting making his first start in 16 months, had come up short in a previous world title fight, losing a decision to Jamel Herring in 2019.

Roach was trailing on two of the scorecards through 10 rounds in what had been a ho-hum fight. But he cranked up the juice in the homestretch, rocking Garcia in the 11^th and flooring him with a right hook in the final stanza. Take away that knockdown (an illegal punch as it landed behind Roach’s head), and Garcia would have retained his belt with a draw.

Non-PPV

In his first start at 140 pounds, Puerto Rico’s Michel Rivera rebounded from his first pro loss (a wide decision at the hands of Frank Martin) with a unanimous 10-round decision over Sergey Lipinets. The judges had it 96-94 and 97-93 twice. Rivera, who improved to 25-1 (14) patterns his style and his persona after Muhammad Ali with whom he bears a strong facial resemblance.

It was the first fight in 16 months for the 34-year-old Lipinets (17-3-1), from SoCal via Kazakhstan. He rarely took a backward step but it wasn’t effective aggression.

In the opener on Showtime’s YouTube channel. 21-year-old super welterweight Vito Mielnicki Jr, now trained by Ronnie Shields, scored the best win of his career, advancing to 16-1 (11 KOs). The pride of Vineland, NJ, Mielnicki had Alexis Salazar on the canvas three times before the match was halted at the 2:27 mark of the opening stanza. Guadalajara’s Salazar (25-6) had been stopped only once previously.

Photo credit: Amanda Westcott / SHOWTIME

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Katie Taylor Turns the Tables on Chantelle Cameron in a Dublin Blockbuster

Published

4 days ago

November 25, 2023

David A. Avila

Katie Taylor Turns the Tables on Chantelle Cameron in a Dublin Blockbuster

Underdogs win too.

Katie Taylor changed tactics and changed the outcome to defeat her conqueror Chantelle Cameron by majority decision and become undisputed super lightweight champion on Saturday.

“Two weight undisputed champion, that sounds great,” said Taylor.

It took six months but the sold-out crowd in Dublin, Ireland saw Taylor (23-1) avenge a loss to Cameron (18-1) and re-assume her position as one of the leaders of the female fight world.

It was a different Taylor who returned to Ireland and this time she brought changes against the younger, stronger Cameron that proved effective.

At first it looked grim for Taylor who resumed her style of speed combinations and was met with jolting left jabs from Cameron. One jab actually delivered Taylor to the canvas but a slip of the foot was caught by the referee.

In the second round Taylor showed her cards.

Using her speed and agility, Taylor used her own jabs and movement to score and then would suddenly clinch both arms. And in between clinches, quick uppercuts and rights scored.

It was the recipe used by the Irish fighter for the remainder of the fight.

The change in tactics by Taylor took away Cameron’s most effective weapon, her strong left jab. Unable to use that weapon, she dove in looking to use her strength and was butted by Taylor in the third round. A deep bloody gash on the forehead of Cameron formed quickly.

Cameron never quit attacking and finally found success in the fourth and fifth rounds with pounding body shots. It seemed to slow her opponent down, who had been busier until the body attack slowed her volume.

Both tried their best to control the rounds. Taylor used her hit-and-clinch recipe while Cameron pounded the body and used her strength inside. The best round erupted in the seventh as both unleashed wicked combinations and uppercuts.

The crowd roared its approval.

All that furious action seemed to drain Taylor and allowed Cameron to overpower her with body shots in the eighth. It also forced Taylor to grab Cameron every time she got close. It became so obvious that the referee warned Taylor to stop holding.

A tired Taylor seemed ready to be taken over, but somehow she mustered enough energy to sling quick combos and clinch. Cameron tried avoiding the clinches but was not able to find a solution.

Taylor closed out the fight with speed combinations as Cameron looked to end the fight with one big blow that never arrived. A spent Taylor looked relieved at the final bell as Cameron could not land the big one.

After 10 rounds one judge scored it 95-95 while two others saw it 98-92 and 96-94 for Taylor who becomes undisputed super lightweight champion.

“Whoever wrote me off you don’t know me very well,” said Taylor. “Tonight, you saw the real me. When I’m boxing no one can beat me.”

The win by Taylor sets up a trilogy with Cameron.

“I don’t think there has ever been a trilogy in women’s boxing. This would be the first,” said Taylor.

2024 look out.

Nicolson Wins

Australia’s Skye Nicolson (9-0) controlled every round over Sweden’s Lucy Wildheart (10-3) by hitting and moving against the slow-moving fighter and eventually won by stoppage in the ninth round to retain an interim featherweight title.

Nicolson proved too fast and agile for Wildheart who seemed a second slower and was punished by counter shots. Eventually a bloody nose forced Wildheart’s corner to stop the fight at 1:11 of the ninth round.

The speedy featherweight Nicolson is the number one contender for undisputed champion Amanda Serrano.

Other Bouts

Ireland’s Gary Cully (17-1, 10 KOs) won by split decision over Reece Mould (18-2, 6 KOs) to return to the victory column after suffering a knockout loss six months ago in the same arena.

Cully, a tall lightweight, started slowly but soon found his rhythm and used uppercuts and movement to offset the hard-charging Mould. There were no knockdowns in the back-and-forth battle with two judges favoring Cully 97-93, 96-93 and one for Mould 97-93.

“I’m back baby and it feels good,” said Cully who was stopped by Mexico’s Jose Felix six months ago.

Speed southpaw Paddy Donovan (12-0, 9 KOs) knocked out Danny Ball (13-2-1) in their welterweight clash with a left to the body in the fourth round. He first dropped Ball with an overhand left during an exchange.

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