14.04.06 – By Vanessa McConnell: It’s bad enough Judah got his backside whipped, now who knows when he’s going to get paid. Some say “not bad for his first million dollar fight,” but the way the outcome of this week’s hearing by the State of Nevada Athletic Commission, it may be politics rather than the low blow that stands in his way of receiving his purse for the fight. The board was smart enough to recognize that they were being insulted and praised all in one breath by Don King, who was adamant that Floyd Mayweather Jr. should have been disqualified for his uncle’s, Roger Mayweather, behavior during the fight..
The key people involved in the disruption during the “Sworn Enemies” fight were Roger Mayweather and Zab Judah. The board was not too interested to hear what Judah’s dad had to say for himself. As Chairman Raymond “Skip” Avansino Jr. opened the hearing, he thanked everyone for attending the “special meeting,” he went into a quick roll call and then straight to the point of “new business.”
“We are here to review a very important championship bout” that nearly ended from “marred and disrespectful behavior” and reiterated the fact that he is the chairman of the board and he “with held purses of both boxers Saturday night,” Skip Avansino. “I would like to thank our inspectors for the fine work they did maintaining order, UNLV police for doing a superior job and the referee, Richard Steele (who was asked to stand), has been criticized (for his decision) and he did the best job he could (under the circumstances). The commission has respect for Steele, “for keeping the situation calm.
Both sides had their own edited DVD’s on what happened during the 10th round of the Sworn Enemies fight. Top Rank’s video was watched first. The tapes were viewed in full speed and then ran back and played in slow motion. It’s clear that Mayweather was hurt bad by the low blow to the groin and even more stunned when he was sucker punched in the back of the head while he was stumbling to the ropes. It took Mayweather a while to recuperate from the low blow, but then you see Roger enter the ring. Things were obviously heating up in the hearing because as they described Roger entering the ring, someone yells out aggressively, “he been in the ring.”
You then see Judah push through the middle of two officials and hit Leonard Ellerbe in the back of the head, just before Judah was grabbed by Roger and chocked until separation. The video show shots of Judah collapsing on the rope after being chocked by Roger, but the commission only took note of that and quickly moved to the next subject. As the commission went through the tape take by take, they tried to determine who entered the ring and what was there involvement in the mayhem. Both sides were denying involvement of two particular men who ran in the ring and began swinging on people.
“That’s all Mr. Mayweather’s camp. Those guys are not with us. You see Judah being chocked? We know who that is,” Don King screamed out as they sifted through the people on the tape in the ring. At this point in the hearing, the main focus was identifying exactly who was in the ring during the mayhem. There was complaint from Judah’s camp at the hearing that the video tape (provided by Top Rank) was “edited to make sense like that’s what happened, there was at least a minute edited out,” stated Don King before the commission could advise the public that both sides would have a chance to submit tapes for their side.
There was a guy in the ring in a blue and white-stripped shirt that no one seemed to be able to identify. It was ruled out that he was not an undercover officer and neither sided admitted to know who he is. There was another guy that entered the ring with a red headband on his head that was identified as a member of Mayweather’s camp. As the tape ran on, the ring announcer asked if Judah “had taken such a savage beating for the low blow,” stating that it was an “intentional low blow” and that “Roger triggered the bust.” It was clearly obvious that when all hell broke loose, the only people in the ring were Roger, Yoel and Leonard.
A letter was read that Roger sent to the commission a few days ago that was read by a representative from a promotional company to the board out loud. Roger apologized for his conduct “as a whole” and how he “watched the low blow and was overcome by entering the ring.” He explained to the board in the letter that he thought the round was over and that if he lost his license that would mean he could not work with Floyd as a trainer. He accepted full responsibility and even stated that he is aware that he may be fined also. He volunteered to provide the board with proof that he was to be paid $200,000 for working with Floyd during this fight.
Roger asked the board to accept his apology because his “emotions got the best of” him, he also admitted that he was “embarrassed for himself, his nephew, Nevada and the commission.” The note was very touching and seemed to have an effect on the board, but before being convinced they wanted Roger to approach the board and “articulate” to them what he said in the letter. They commended him for the letter but wanted a verbal response from Roger. Roger waived his rights to an attorney before the board and began to address the board on some serious questions.
“The reason I entered the ring is, I thought the bell sounded. I didn’t go in the ring to confront Zab. I just wanted to ask him why he hit him low. That was it. It turned into something bigger than that,” said Roger and seemed to toss the entire ordeal up as happening “in the heat of the moment.” The commission asked Roger why did he struggle with the referee when asked to return to his corner he stated, “it’s no different from me and Zab’s father. I don’t want him hurt because of boxing. He should live to fight another day, not just that one fight. You’re close to someone your training, whether he’s your son or not.
The commission asked him, in other words, why he did not acknowledge the commission and requests to return to his corner from the referee? He replied again, “I thought the round had ended.” The commission explained to Roger exactly what was at stake first reinforcing the fact that they have the authority to revoke his license for one year and impose a fine of $250,000 or his share of the purses for the fight. The then asked him if he had anything else to say for himself. He stated that he was “sorry for the whole event all together” and gave his word that it would never happen again.
The chairman stated that he admired Rogers’s demonstration of remorse but slapped him on the wrist really hard with a $200,000 fine and suspended his license for a year to make sure he makes a return on his promise, or at least spend plenty of time thinking about his actions. Tony Alamo, M.D. asked Roger what he would do in the event that this happens again and Roger responded saying, “I wouldn’t react like that. I’ve never reacted that way before. This is the first time that I’ve ever reacted like that, and as a former fighter, I know when something is deliberate.” Roger insisted that he wouldn’t react the same way and explained how they used to be friends and how the fight turned out to be a bad thing.
The chairman stressed again that the commission delegates much of the responsibility in the ring to the referee. The commission simply reads the statues and regulations; it is the referee who is the one to enforce them in the ring. After all, that is why they are there. Bottom line, the referee made the call to continue the fight rather than disqualifying either boxers for there behavior and the board is standing by his decision. Dr. Alamo believed that Roger was truly sorry but also he feels that Roger was also very fortunate that no body got hurt and said they “dodged the bullet” on this one. He explained to the public that had the referee not called time out, Mayweather would have been disqualified for Roger’s behavior in the ring. “The ref saved the fight,” concluded Dr. Alamo before the motion was carried to fine Roger and suspend his license.
The remaining $1 million purse withheld by the commission on Mayweather’s behalf was also released. Two days prior the commission had already released $4 million of Mayweather’s purse and felt no reason to withhold the remaining $1 million. After the small break the commission heard from Don King. King started his 30-minute speech by saying he wasn’t there to put Mayweather on trial and praised him for being an excellent fighter. He stated that he was there on the basis of this great commission of the world.
He addressed himself as the representative of Judah and admitted that they thought it was going to be danger from the beginning. He went on to thank the commission for giving him 20 years in the game and brought up a lot of the former commissioners that have paved the way for the commissioners of today. He explained his point, which sounded almost like an insult towards the commission. To me, It was obvious that King was schooling the commission on how to do their jobs as the “superior court of boxing.” King made some comments about the performance of the referee during his speech and it appeared he was almost trying to school him on what his job is in the ring. In my opinion, I don’t think this sat well with the commission.
After the half hour or so speech, the chairman acknowledged their respect for King and stated they like to hear him talk and that is the only reason they let him go on as long as they did. It was almost like King was telling them what they better do. King stated that disqualifying Mayweather is not going to hurt anybody and intimated that the commission would be looked at negative if they do not enforce the rules by “DQ.”
King pleaded his case saying, “I appeal to your conscious today. This is another black eye for boxing. I applaud the police and security that did their best to prevent a lethal disaster. I love you, that’s why I’m speaking to you like this.” He tried to convince the commission that they would make a hero out of Mayweather by disqualifying him, calling it a “majestic sacrifice for Mayweather rather than a tragesty,” not tragedy. He demanded that the commission don’t “white wash this,” they have to deal with it. He insisted that if the commission don’t disqualify the fight that there would be “problems all over the world.”
King explained how Roger had scissors and knives in his pocket and instead of chocking Judah; he could have easily gone “loony” in the ring. King also stated how the media has had a field day with this and promised that it is not going away. King went on to say that Judah was put back in the ring after all that to fight again, calling it a “joke.” King ended his speech by telling the commission to “do what you have to do” and “I love you.” The chairman admitted that he normally would have stopped him 15 minutes earlier but he like to hear him talk and that it is easy to get “pulled into his trance.”
As his public relations representative went on to try and read comments from online boxing sites, the commission quickly shut him down after he accused them of “rubber stamping” the ordeal. King withdrew his colleague’s remarks and regained the attention of the board. King then tried one more attempt to influence of the board, stating that Steele is going to “suffer,” and that he “cannot put himself in this position.” The board quickly changed the subject but King took control of the hearing once again and took the board to church. There were a few “yes” and hums in the room as he broke down to the board how they were in “Passover.”
Before ending his sermon, King told the commission to “take heed” and told them that this was a “spiritual thing.” As if the referee, the commission or race card not disqualifying the fight was not good enough, now God told them so, according to King. Bottom line, the board was not hearing it and moved on to the next subject of Judah’s money. Dr. Alamo said it best when he told King that they can “agree to disagree” and stood on their decision to back the ref’s decision.
It was clear the commission was not going to excuse or make light of the low blow and rabbit punch that has to be answered and reprimanded for. The hearing was clearly not about disqualifications, it was simply to hear, see and reprimand. The remainder of the hearing was spent discussing the withholding of Judah’s purse. The commission was asked several times that if Judah’s father entering the ring would affect the decision concerning his purse or not and each time the commission answered no.
Judah finally had his turn to speak to the commission on his behalf and explain his behavior during the fight. He explained to the commission how he “did not intentionally” hit Mayweather below the belt and justified the rabbit punch as simply an automatic “follow through” from the first hit to the body (groin). He said that he “was not prepared to be attacked” during the fight. His public relations representative who read statements on his behalf said all this to the commission during the hearing. The entire time he read the statements, Judah stared at him and his notepad, instead of the board members gazing him down looking for a sigh of remorse.
Judah explained in the statement that he felt his dad was in jeopardy and had no choice but to react. They kept stressing the fact that he was chocked and harmed by Roger. He also stated that he was embarrassed to be a part of it. Judah also asked the commission not to penalize him for protecting themselves. When asked to speak on his own behalf he told the commission that, “Saturday was a great fight. I’m sorry for the low blow,” naming it “cold.” He went on to say, “If I was (intentionally) throwing a low blow, I would have left it at that. He put my back up against the wall. I wish it would have never happened.”
The commission in the end decided to continue the hold on Judah’s purse until further review of more detail video footage and still clips. The commission was most concern about the rabbit punch Judah threw after the low blow, how he pushed his way through inspectors and how he threw a punch at someone else in the ring. “It is necessary for the commission to fully consider all evidence, Zab’s position and Yoel’s activities. We have no authority to disqualify anyone,” stated Skip in response to the constant insists for DQ by Judah’s camp.
The commission promised to “digitally dissect” more tapes to see the actions of all the people involved in the incident and even mentioned disciplinary action against Judah and his camp. There is a full disciplinary hearing coming up to readdress the holdings of Judah. Judah’s public relations representative was still “confused,” and mentioned to the board how you have to have a foul to hold the purse. He insisted that Judah never committed a foul during the fight, as if the low blow had nothing to do with the hearing at all.
The commission, tired of the disqualification distractions, sited the correct statues and regulations that explained their case to the fullest. After the reading of the statues, Judah’s PR agent was still “confused.” The commission stood firm on it’s decision to continue to withhold Judah’s purse for the fight without “prejudice to further consider facts in the best interest” of the boxer. Judah’s camp wanted to know when this next hearing would take place so Judah can have some idea what his penalties are and how long he would have to wait for his share of the purse. Dr. Alamo brought the motion to the table and all the members of the commission carried it soon after.
Just before the hearing ended, President of the IBF, Marian W. Mohammad, stood up to speak on behalf of the IBF Championship regarding the decision made by the referee. The IBF needed to make a decision as to what to do with the title and needed to know what the commission’s bottom line decision on disqualifications were. The commission explained to her that there is no disqualification with the fight. Considering that the referee decides fouls or not during a fight, they needed (IBF) to know if it was called accidental or a foul before they “go back and decide what to do.” The silence in the room spoke for itself before she returned to her seat, there was no disqualification rendered and the commission will meet again to determine Judah’s actions and penalties.
The commission has no intention to revisit the subject of disqualification; they stand behind the decision of the referee for the fight. Judah’s camp was not happy about the outcome of the hearing and you can believe they will be bringing up the same issues at the next hearing. For their sake, they would learn from the first one, not to upset the commission by insulting their decisions, accept responsibility for their own actions and stop pointing the finger at Mayweather’s camp. Roger stood before the commission and took his punishment like a man, while Judah had one excuse after another. The fact still remains that Judah did not apologize for the low blow and I’m sure the commission has taken notice of that, too.