Lone Star Injustice: Help Wanted

By Eric Roman: The year was 1993, the venue was the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. It was one of the first occasions in which I felt just as robbed as the Combatant in the ring. The fighter was Hall of Famer Pernell Whitaker. He outboxed and outclassed an 87-0 undisputed Jr. Welterweight Champion in Julio Caesar Chavez. At the time, Chavez was considered by a majority of the sport as the recognized pound for pound king, “Sweet Pea” frustrated the Mexican, boxing circles around him en route to what was thought by many at ringside to be a masterful work of art, and an easy unanimous decision victory for the Welterweight Champ. Instead, what we got, was a taste of Texas scoring for the first time.

What happened in the Molina-Kirkland bout last weekend was a peek into whats been going on in the “Lone Star State” for quite some time. Paulie Malignaggi said it best in his 2009 post fight interview with Max Kellerman, the night he got jobbed by boxing’s version of “Public Enemy #1” Gale Van Hoy and the Golden Boy cronies, Raul Caiz Sr. and Donald Sutherland, he said “this state never gives a fair shake to anybody coming to fight their hometown fighters”. This was three years ago, and here we are once again, asking for Van Hoy’s head on a silver platter. When will this type of behavior from these biased officials be held accountable?

Controversy in Boxing is obviously never going to go away, and Texas isn’t the only place that’s been guilty of it either, just ask Richard Steele, but this year alone there have been 2 other questionable scorecards, both in the state of Texas. Donaire’s split nod over Vasquez Jr., and Tavoris Cloud’s victory over Gabriel Campillo, and we’re only in March !

The need for a Nationwide Boxing Commission has never been this essential, nor has it been this wanted by the fighter’s as well as the fans. How long are they going to allow the inmates to run the asylum? Our Boxer’s career’s are at risk, I’ve seen one too many friends lives crumble in this sport because a decision did not go their way, and they have to take on the role as the “opponent” or the “stepping stone” instead of being groomed the way they should have. Hey listen, I get it, it’s a dirty game, promoter’s are in everyone’s pockets and rules are easily broken, I’m just saying, congress stepped up for Baseball when they were in need, how much more misery does the Boxing community have to take before we see some major changes?