Original geschrieben von ppsih
Lucas Loss Confirms Fears
of Fighting in Germany
By Jason Abelson
It’s a rule of thumb here on the courageous side of the Atlantic (Great Britain is now officially located off the coast of Newfoundland), that North American boxers never get a fair shake in Germany.
Weigh-in scales seem to be mysteriously inaccurate. Intruders tend to show up uninvited in fighters’ hotel rooms. Referees and ringside doctors blissfully ignore gaping head wounds on German fighters while suddenly turning into Albert Schweitzer at the first sign of Auslander blood.
This stupidity has been going on since time and memoriam.
This past Saturday night just confirmed what we already know about fighting an ubermench in Germany. The fix is in.
He’ll never admit it, but Interbox general manager Yvon Michel had to be thinking that the larceny he witnessed Saturday night in Leipzig, Germany was more than just the doing of three grossly incompetent judges.
Michel’s fighter, Eric Lucas, ventured in to hostile territory to defend his WBC Super Middleweight championship, and in the process seemed to have humbled hometown fighter Markus Beyer.
The decision should have been as anti climatic as the fight itself.
To the objective, uncorrupted eye, Lucas dominated every aspect of the fight, constantly beating Beyer to the punch, and landing the only meaningful combinations thrown all evening, in a relatively easy workman-like performance for the Montreal based fighter.
An overly generous judge looking to give the hometown fighter the benefit of the doubt could’ve scored three rounds for Beyer, at the most.
Unfortunately for Michel, Lucas, and the sport of boxing as a whole, generosity had nothing to do with the farcical decision that made Marcus Beyer a two-time WBC Super Middleweight “champion.”
The best that can be said of any of the three judges, all WBC appointees, seated ringside – Franco Ciminale from Italy, Chuck Hassett from the US, and John Keane from Britain – is that Keane, who scored the fight 115-114 for Lucas, needs his cataracts scraped.
Yes, Keane did score the bout in favor of Lucas, but, unbelievably, gave Beyer five of the twelve rounds. Beyer, who offered nothing other than scant resistance all evening, was merely competitive in five rounds, and definitely not the more effective fighter.
The other two judges should, quite frankly, be suspended pending the results of an investigation.
For instance, what contact did Hassett or Ciminale have with Beyer’s promoter, Wilfried Sauerland, or the WBC supervisor at ringside, prior to, or during the fight? Do they have any connections, either personally or professionally with Sauerland, or a Sauerland associate? Did they receive a 50-pound bag of money from Sauerland?
What other explanation, other than extreme ineptitude or glaucoma breaking out ringside, is there for the 116-113 scorecards that Hassett and Ciminale submitted in favor of Beyer?
If it wants to save some face, and (it’s hard to type while giggling) restore some dignity to boxing, the WBC should, assuming the sanctioning body has a judge or two in it’s ranks capable of scoring a prizefight, conduct a round by round audit of the judges’ scorecards.
Then, after the truth hits them in the face like a rotten tuna, they should order an immediate rematch, with the purse split evenly between Beyer and Lucas.
While defending champions usually receive 75 percent of the total purse, but since the only thing Beyer legitimately won Saturday was the temporary allegiance of two grossly incompetent and possibly corrupt judges, that rule shouldn’t apply.
However, one rule that should apply, now and forever is never bring a fighter over to Germany. It’s a no win situation.
