THE SPECTRE OF Gerald McClellan hangs over Saturday's Bernard Hopkins-Roy Jones Jr. light-heavyweight bout like an ominous cloud.
McClellan is the former middleweight and super middleweight champion who suffered serious injuries in his WBC title defense in London against British challenger Nigel Benn in 1995. McClellan, who was stopped in the 10th round, was left blind, confined to a wheelchair and brain-damaged, and he has remained so to this day, a virtual prisoner inside his own body.
Jones, a friend of McClellan's, swore that he would never put himself in a position where he might be so irreparably harmed. Yet there are those who fear that Jones is doing just that after suffering a series of knockout losses that have raised questions as to his fitness to fight on.
Depending upon one's viewpoint, this is a clash of the titans, a notion advanced by Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer, or a couple of aging fighters (Jones is 41, Hopkins 45) attempting to reach back in time to recapture past glories, at the risk of their safety and well-being. Such is the position adopted by a couple of former chief ring physicians of the Nevada State Athletic Commission, which is sanctioning the bout.The furor surrounding the NSAC's role in facilitating Hopkins-Jones II, in fact, almost bears closer scrutiny than the fight itself.
Margaret Goodman and Flip Homansky, former chief ring physicians in Nevada, think the commission approved both this bout and one the following week involving 47-year-old Evander Holyfield and 41-year-old Francois Botha because Las Vegas' casino industry is hurting and in need of tax-revenue dollars from boxing, so much so that safety concerns have been put on the back burner.
Goodman, especially, has been critical of the NSAC, which also granted a boxing license within the last year to 44-year-old Oliver McCall, whose history of drug abuse and mental problems is hardly a secret. The McCall fight fell out because of another incident of emotional disturbance.
"The situation with Roy Jones is obvious," Goodman said. "He shouldn't be competing now, and maybe never again. He has amazing credentials, an amazing history, and has been so good for the sport on so many levels. But his more recent performances have been terrible for someone with those credentials and that history. I don't know how you can turn a blind eye to that.
"You can try to rationalize and say, 'Well, the economy's bad, he deserves another chance to make a living.' But particularly in the case of Roy and Evander, how can a commission supposedly committed to high safety standards say that they're fit to box? Yes, we conduct tests, but the mere act of passing them should not be the sole grounds for the issuance of licenses. We have eyes. We all have seen with those eyes what's happening with these guys recently.
"It would be devastating if something really bad happened to Evander or Roy. Where would boxing be then? I think there's a good chance that, if they continue to box, Evander and Roy will wind up with some kind of chronic brain injury."
Added Homansky: "I saw Jones' stoppage by Danny Green. For a glancing blow to his temporal region sending him down in a heap . . . I can't imagine being able to justify licensing him, especially against Bernard Hopkins."
Keith Kizer, executive director of the Nevada commission, hears what Goodman and Homansky say, as well as their stance that the drug-testing procedures in place in their state are inadequate. His counterargument is that the fighters in question have passed their medicals, and Nevada's drug-testing program is the most rigid in America.
So who's right?
Top Rank founder Bob Arum is not involved in either Hopkins-Jones II or Holyfield-Botha, so he speaks with the voice of someone who doesn't have a horse in either race. He said if the rules and regulations in place have been met, that should be enough to satisfy anyone.
"These are matters for the commission to determine," Arum said. "Roy and Evander, who admittedly are in the late stages of their careers, have taken a lot of punishment. But under the law, you can't - and you shouldn't - discriminate against someone because of age. I promoted George Foreman when he was in his 40s and he was in better condition than a lot of athletes 20 years younger. Every case has to be considered individually.
"Margaret and Flip are disgruntled former affiliates of the commission. Neither is still involved because they were feeding [negative] stuff to the press in an effort to undercut the commission when they were a part of the commission. Since they left, I haven't seen either at any boxing match. They could be right about everything, but you have to consider the circumstances of their departure and how bitter they are."
Goodman realizes she will catch flak as well as she pitches it, and she's fine with that.
"It's reasonable for some people to dispute what I've been saying," she said. "I certainly can accept that. But staying quiet is not my way. I just care too much for the fighters to not point out what I think is wrong. If somebody says that's sour grapes on my part, so be it." *
Send e-mail to fernanb@phillynews.com
Source: philly.com
No comments:
Post a Comment