Boxing Capsules: Boxing's momentum stung by wave of suspect scoring

NEW YORK — Paul Malignaggi said all along that he’d never beat Juan Diaz in Texas if the fight went to the scorecards. It did, and he was right.

The Brooklyn-based junior welterweight lost that bout in August, a back-and-forth brawl that left a huge crowd at the Toyota Center in Houston on its feet. But few believe it was as lopsided as the 118-110 scorecard turned in by Gale Van Hoy, with some accusing the judge of blatantly favoring the hometown fighter.

"Some people thought there was maybe more to it than just a bad decision. Only Gale Van Hoy will ever know that," said Malignaggi, who landed a rematch against Diaz on Saturday night at the UIC Pavilion in Chicago.

"That one scorecard was what made the rematch possible, because it was so out of line."

The return of Floyd Mayweather Jr., the success of Manny Pacquiao, and the anticipation that the two will meet in March has been a boon to boxing. TV ratings are on the rise, consecutive HBO pay-per-views generated more than 1 million buys for the first time in years, and arenas are filling around the world to watch a sport long considered to be in decline.

Which makes the issue of suspect scoring all the more relevant.

"The worst thing is that the public will lose confidence in the sport by believing the very worst, that boxing is again fixed, as it was suspected in the late 1940s and ‘50s," promoter Gary Shaw said Thursday. "That’s the danger we’re in right now."

Last weekend in Atlantic City, N.J., Paul Williams waged a memorable fight against junior middleweight titleholder Sergio Martinez. They stood toe-to-toe for 12 rounds, slugging away at each other with the kind of unabashed fury that often turns casual fans into die-hards.

Julie Lederman scored the bout even, and Lynne Carter had it 115-113 for Williams. But ringside observers were puzzled by the scorecard that Pierre Benoist turned in; his 119-110 gave Williams a virtual shutout.

The head-scratching was even greater the previous week, when Joan Guzman and Ali Funeka fought 12 rounds for a vacant lightweight title in Quebec City.

Funeka appeared to dominate Guzman, landing heavy shots almost at will. The unbeaten Guzman was a bloody mess afterward, and appeared resigned to defeat when the bell sounded and Funeka’s corner poured into the ring. Then announcer Michael Buffer read the scores: Joseph Pasquale had it 116-112 for Funeka, while judges Alan Davis and Benoit Roussel each had it a draw.

Boxing officials rarely discuss their score cards, and even critics acknowledge that the judging is subjective. Still, many think there is a problem.

"There is something radically wrong in boxing. I’m saying it, and I earn my living in it," said Shaw, who promotes Funeka and has called for an investigation into the two Canadian judges. "I think that we’re in a very bad place in professional boxing right now."

Some promoters believe it’s time for a federal commission to oversee judges, with the power to train, select and, if necessary, fine or suspend them. Shaw would rather judges be chosen like a trial jury, with promoters given the opportunity to veto candidates from a list supplied by state athletic commissions.

"That would be the most perfect way. Both camps would have a say, not in picking the official, but excluding officials," Shaw said. "Then if something goes wrong, what can I say? Because the commission will say, ‘But Gary, you OK’d these judges."’

Williams promoter Dan Goossen thinks there should be a school that provides judges with uniform guidelines, so that one doesn’t value defense while another only offense. He also thinks that judges should have to prove themselves at lower levels, much like NFL officials.

"With the fighters’ futures and livelihood at stake, you want the most competent officials doing the fights," Goossen said. "The only way you can make sure it’s consistent and fair and accurate is to have a system where the officials are held accountable."

Former champion Oscar De La Hoya has been between the ropes when questionable scorecards were read, giving him an appreciation for how much power those three judges seated ringside have.

Now as a promoter, De La Hoya is even more concerned that all the positive momentum generated by the sport will be sacrificed if the public loses confidence in the outcomes.

"It’s a significant problem for any sport that has judges deciding who wins, whether it be gymnastics, swimming, diving," he said. "We’re on such a roll with big events, people are not really discussing the topic and are not really paying attention to the so-called shady decisions.

"But still, we have to put a stop to it. We have to do something."

Justice Dept. won’t support Jack Johnson pardon

WASHINGTON — The Justice Department is refusing to back a posthumous pardon for Jack Johnson, the black heavyweight boxing champion who was imprisoned nearly a century ago because of his romantic ties with a white woman.

In a letter obtained Thursday by The Associated Press, the department’s pardon attorney, Ronald L. Rodgers, told Rep. Peter King that the Justice Department’s general policy is not to process posthumous pardon requests. In cases like Johnson’s, given the time that has passed and the historical record that would need to be scoured, the department’s resources for pardon requests are best used on behalf of people "who can truly benefit" from them, Rodgers wrote.

The letter was in response to one that King, R-N.Y., and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., had sent to President Barack Obama in October urging a pardon. In that letter, the two lawmakers noted that both houses of Congress has passed a resolution calling for a presidential pardon and said they hoped the president would be eager to "right this wrong and erase an act of racism that sent an American citizen to prison."

Rodgers wrote that notwithstanding the department policy, Obama still has the authority to pardon whomever he wishes, "guided when he sees fit by the advice of the pardon attorney."

And he did cite two cases of posthumous pardons: President Bill Clinton’s 1999 pardon of Lt. Henry O. Flipper, the Army’s first black commissioned officer, who was drummed out of the military in 1882 after white officers accused him of embezzling $3,800 in commissary funds; and President George W. Bush’s 2008 pardon of Charles Winters, who was convicted of violating the Neutrality Act when he conspired in 1948 to export aircraft to a foreign country in aid of Israel.

In Winters’ case, Rodgers said, the pardon request was not processed by Justice’s Office of the Pardon Attorney, due to the department’s posthumous pardon policy.

King said in a telephone interview that he and McCain probably will continue to urge Obama to issue the pardon.

"What they’re doing here is bucking it back to President Obama," King said. "So I would respectfully urge him to grant the pardon. This is the president’s call."

The White House had no immediate comment on whether Obama would consider the request.

When he unveiled the resolution in April, McCain said he was sure that Obama "will be more than eager" to issue the pardon.

A hundred years before Obama was elected the nation’s first black president, Johnson, a native of Galveston, Texas, became the first black heavyweight champion, on Dec. 26, 1908, after police in Australia stopped his 14-round match against the severely battered Canadian world champion, Tommy Burns.

That victory led to a search for a "Great White Hope" who could beat Johnson. Two years later, Jim Jeffries, the American world titleholder Johnson had tried for years to fight, came out of retirement but lost in a match called "The Battle of the Century," resulting in deadly riots.

In 1913, Johnson was convicted of violating the Mann Act, which made it illegal to transport women across state lines for immoral purposes. After his conviction, he fled the country, but agreed years later to return and serve a 10-month jail sentence.

In 2004, the Committee to Pardon Jack Johnson, which filmmaker Ken Burns helped form, filed a petition with the Justice Department that was never acted on. His 2005 documentary, "Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson," explored the case against the boxer and the sentencing judge’s acknowledged desire to "send a message" to black men about relationships with white women.

-- Frederic J. Frommer