The German Myth

By Marty Mulcahey - MaxBoxing.com

18.12 - Quick, name the last boxer to be blatantly robbed of a decision in Germany?

I couldn't think of one off the top of my head either. Yet Roy Jones, a host of others, and now Max Kellerman, act as if this is a weekly occurrence. Kellerman stated on last Friday's show that, "If (Eric) Harding goes over to Germany and fights Michalczewski he'll get robbed. He'll probably eek out a decision, and get robbed. Or win comfortably even, and get robbed."

As a student of boxing, Kellerman should think twice before making statements like that to a national audience. I understand that he can not check facts as they come out of his mouth, but those comments, seemingly, have no basis in reality. Where did the notion of crooked judging in Germany find its genesis? Roy Jones and other boxers have a personal agenda for not wanting to travel to Germany. I can understand that. They can use a potential judging controversy as a bargaining chip to fatten up their end of the purse. Unfortunately, a media created perception, even when false, has a way of becoming reality in the USA. Imagine the horror of German boxers, if the only thing they knew about American boxing was the apparently corrupt judging going on in Las Vegas or New York City.

Perhaps Kellerman should ask his friend and colleague, Teddy Atlas, about fair scoring in Germany. As a trainer, Teddy Atlas took Michael Moorer to Germany, and won a close fight (The Ring magazine scored 116-112 for Moorer) against hometown favorite Axel Schulz for the IBF title. Frans Botha also got a decision win over the popular Schulz in Germany, in a fight that many believe (The Ring magazine voted 116-114 for Schulz) Axel should have won on the scorecards. Those bouts were for the heavyweight championship of the world, which, I would think, is worth stealing more than any title Roy Jones holds. If Moorer and Botha can get fair judging with boxing's most prized possession hanging in the balance, why couldn't others? Why didn't those wicked Germans find a way for Schulz to win the heavyweight title on the scorecards? How could those power mad Germans allow average boxers like Tyrone Booze, Nestor Giovannini and Glen Catley to walk into their country and win titles from German boxers?

Henry Maske, the most popular boxer in Germany since Max Schmeling, lost a 12 round decision to Virgil Hill for the IBF & WBA light heavyweight titles. Yet, Roy Jones, and others want us to believe that Dariusz Michalczewski, who does not enjoy the popularity of a Maske, is going win no matter what 'Super Jones' does? I would even venture to say that in a stadium of 30,000, up to 30 percent would be rooting for Roy Jones. The same way the Germans rooted for Chris Byrd when he defeated Vitali Klitschko for the WBO heavyweight title. Even if, by some miracle, Roy Jones is robbed of an obvious victory, he can use it to his advantage the way he did the Seoul Olympics. Gold Medal winners Kenedy McKinney, Andrew Maynard and Ray Mercer did not receive as much exposure as Roy Jones, because of the way he was robbed.

The following is a list of foreign boxers which have won a world title in Germany since 1990. I chose 1990 because it coincides with the current renaissance of boxing in Germany.

Frans Botha W 12 Axel Schulz IBF heavyweight 1995
Michael Moorer W 12 Axel Schulz IBF heavyweight 1996
Chris Byrd TKO 10 Vitali Klitschko WBO heavyweight 2000

Tyrone Booze W 12 Ralf Rocchigiani WBO cruiserweight 1992
Nestor Giovannini W 12 Markus Bott WBO cruiserweight 1993
Nestor Giovannini W 12 Markus Bott WBO cruiserweight 1993
Carl Thompson W 12 Ralf Rocchigiani WBO cruiserweight 1997

Virgil Hill W 12 Henry Maske IBF/WBA light heavyweight 1996

Chris Eubank W 12 Graciano Rocchigiani WBO super middleweight 1994
Glen Catley TKO 12 Markus Beyer WBC super middleweight 2000

Armand Kranjc TKO 6 Bert Schenk WBO middleweight 2000
(both Kranjc and Schenk are based in Germany but Schenk is the German boxer)

Artur Grigorian KO 6 Marco Rudolph WBO lightweight 1998
(both Grigorian and Rudolph are based in Germany but Rudolph is the German
boxer)

Can anyone come up with a similar list of bad decisions rendered in Germany since 1990? I am not naïve enough to think that there is no home turf, or promotional, advantage for German boxers. Undoubtedly, there is, just as there is for the hometown fighters in the USA. The Thomas Tate loss to Sven Ottke was, by various accounts, questionable. Some observers believed the cut that forced the stoppage was caused by a punch, not a headbutt, as the Italian referee ruled. I can name five circumstances in the USA where it was equally difficult to tell if a cut was caused by a punch or headbutt. Referees tend to rule cuts the result of headbutts, since it is the most common cause of lacerations. Other than that incident, which was not judging related, I have a hard time finding obviously bad decisions, such as, Oscar Larios vs. Willie Jorrin, Ivan Alvarez vs. Bones Adams, or Hugo Dianzo vs. Paulie Ayala, all of which took place in America, on ESPN2. Maybe, Latin American boxers should refuse to come to America and fight on ESPN2. It seems obvious that they are getting robbed every time they venture across the Rio Grande. An assumption which seems to have more basis in fact than this German thesis making the rounds.