Beyer Awarded Gift Decision Over Lucas!

By Ed Ludwig

06.04 - Eric Lucas’ first venture into Germany for his title defence against Markus Beyer turned out to be a disaster. The bottom line is that it was a disgrace and why anyone will want to fight over there is beyond me. It was blatant highway robbery. Lucas dominated Beyer in every aspect and the judges saw fit to award the WBC Super Middleweight title to the challenger.

The champion did what he had to do other than scoring a knockout. Beyer was very passive for the most part and did not want to initiate any exchanges. For every punch he threw Lucas would counter with a large number of punches and he did that throughout the balance of the fight. Beyer was rocked in the third round and lost it big.

I scored it 117 to 111 for Lucas. Beyer’s best round was the eleventh when he decided to show some guts and engage the champion. This was the only convincing round for him. Beyer’s corner was screaming at him many times to step it up and not let Lucas impose his will. Many of the fans in attendance were chanting Lucas name almost in appreciation for his work and Beyer’s lack of it.

Lucas out threw and out landed Beyer although the punch stats were unavailable on both the English and French telecasts that were broadcast in Canada. Whenever Beyer landed the crowd would erupt and cheer even though many of his shots were blocked. The judges must have let the German crowd influence the decision because a blind man could have made the correct one.

My report of this fight is based on what I watched and it had nothing to do with my Canadian and German heritage. I call it like I see it and what happened in Leipzig is an outrage. When Beyer was announced the winner, referee Laurence Cole appeared to be in shock that he had to raise the “Losers” hand in victory.

I should mention that Cole did an excellent job officiating as he let both men fight.

Russ Anber who was one of the analysts during the English broadcast was in disbelief and said the WBC should investigate. Personally I doubt it will solve anything as the damage has been done but Lucas should be given an immediate rematch in Montreal or on neutral ground. The English and French telecasts in Canada had Lucas winning convincingly and that was to be expected. Regardless of their ties to Lucas they were right.

Why on earth would anyone want to fight in Germany? My shock and anger has yet to subside. The only way anyone will win in Germany is to score a knockout and that is the sad truth. Props to Lucas and Byron Mitchell for taking the chance that ultimately backfired for them. The champions in Germany should break away from the hometown feeling and travel abroad to showcase their skills. Vitali and Wladimir Klitschko have no problem doing it so why not Beyer, Sven Ottke and Dariusz Michalczewski?

During the post fight interview Eric Lucas was very gracious in his defeat. He was smiling as the questions were being asked. Manager Yvon Michel and trainer Stephane Larouche were furious and filed an immediate protest to the WBC representative that was in attendance. Hopefully a rematch will be granted and if not then Beyer is free to do what he wants. When asked about a unification bout against IBF/WBA champion Sven Ottke, Beyer said it would never happen. They are good friends and they share the same trainer and manager.

It will be interesting to see what develops over the next few weeks and I hope we will see Lucas vs. Beyer II. I have only seen the new champion fight a few times and he is without a doubt one of the least talented champions in the world today. This is not a personal knock against him but the fact is he is too tentative and afraid to be hit. I believe his knockout loss to Glenn Catley will haunt him for the rest of his career.

With the victory Markus Beyer improves his record to 27-1 11 KO’s and Eric Lucas falls to 35-5-3 13 KO’s. Lucas earned $1.4 million Canadian and Beyer $484.000 Canadian. For viewers in Canada you can catch the French replay on Sunday April 6th at 11:25 pm pacific time on the TVA network and the English replay on April 13th at 11:00 am pacific on TSN.

Official Scoring: Beyer 116-113, Beyer 116-113, Lucas 115-114