By David P. Greisman
Photo © Emily Harney/Fightwireimages.com
Right decisions don’t necessarily make up for the wrong ones that preceded them.
That Joan Guzman did not fight Saturday night in Biloxi, Miss., disappointed many, be they members of the state athletic commission, the fans in attendance and watching at home, or Guzman’s opponent, Nate Campbell.
Campbell is a 36-year-old Floridian who was expecting to make his first defense of the three lightweight titles he took half a year ago from Juan Diaz. Campbell had a wealth of potential opponents, from untested prospects to upcoming contenders. Instead, he would sign to fight Guzman, who had given up his World Boxing Organization 130-pound title in favor of becoming the sanctioning body’s mandatory challenger five pounds north.
One-hundred-thirty-five. Nate Campbell tipped the scales a shade above that lightweight limit mid-day Friday, dropping two-tenths of a pound half-an-hour later. Guzman came in at 138.5. He never came back.
Instead, Guzman apparently was taken to a local hospital where he was treated for dehydration. Both sides came to an agreement, an over-the-limit bout similar to that held in October 2005, when Diego Corrales and Jose Luis Castillo met for their rematch. Corrales made 135. Castillo checked in at 138.5.
Castillo scored a knockout that night, one punch sending the duo toward a rubber match, a third go-round that was called off when Castillo missed the lightweight limit once again, and Corrales, having learned his lesson, refused to go forward.
Corrales made the right decision after a series of wrong decisions on the part of Castillo, Castillo’s camp and a sanctioning body that quickly found the way to pass the buck for lax regulation of its own rules.
Guzman and his team made a series of poor decisions. A former beltholder at 122 and 130 had let his weight balloon to the point where a rapid cut was the only option. Difficulty dropping those final few pounds led to Guzman – with the assistance of those assigned, in part, to protect him – risking his health rather than coming clean with his potential inability to make weight.
That he went to the hospital was wise. The damage boxers, mixed martial artists and amateur wrestlers do to their bodies so as to drop pounds can have consequences long beyond the short-term. That Guzman would end up not fighting would also be a good choice, as safety is a priceless commodity no matter how many millions in revenues are lost.
But doing right doesn’t necessarily make up for the wronged.
In this case, that, first and foremost, would be Nate Campbell.
“I’m disappointed. There’s a lot of disappointment,” a subdued Campbell said in an interview on Showtime’s broadcast. “I really trained hard for this fight. I’m ready to fight right now. I accepted the fight with him over the weight. It didn’t matter to me what he weighed. I just wanted to fight.
“I’d have fought him at 30 pounds overweight. It didn’t matter,” he said. “I just wanted to fight. I fulfilled my end of the bargain. I showed up. I made weight. I was prepared to fight. He pulled out at 6:30, 7 o’clock. I was on my way to fight. I’m for the fighter, but I’m also for fighters doing what they’re supposed to do. As a professional prizefighter in Guzman, 28 pro fights, over 300 amateur fights, he knows better. So for me, I don’t have to say anything. The public sees who did what and that he didn’t want to fight.”
This was not just one wasted night for Campbell, but, rather, several weeks. The countless hours of training, the days spent away from his family, the rounds of sparring and miles of roadwork, the dieting and exercise to make weight and then not get a chance to perform.
“I’m still world champion,” Campbell said. “I still have all my titles intact.”
There is some consolation, but what about the payday? What about the publicity, the potential bounce from winning a big fight in a main event? Campbell is 36. Every month that passes is one less in his career, and every training camp and weight cut is a sacrifice that will never get any easier.
When Jose Luis Castillo failed to make weight for his rubber match with Diego Corrales, a lawsuit followed, with Corrales attempting to recoup that which he felt he deserved. But Castillo ended up under suspension, which in turn made it all the more difficult to pay the fines that had been levied against him.
Castillo moved up to junior welterweight, making 140 three times before coming in above the limit for a bout with Timothy Bradley. He jumped to welterweight, where his lack of size and diminished power combined with the years of wear and tear to essentially bring his career to an end.
Guzman will probably end up on an involuntary sabbatical of his own. From there, it will be a gamble on the part of a promoter, a television network and an opponent to trust that Guzman’s signature on the proverbial dotted line sincerely guarantees him fulfilling the terms of that contract.
In the end, the blame rests first on the fighter. It is his name on the contract, his name holding up one half of the marquee based on his reputation and accomplishments. He must keep similar discipline outside of training camp as when he is back in the gym. But fault also rests with fighters’ teams, sanctioning bodies and athletic commissions.
Trainers and nutritionists must find the right way for their boxers to drop the pounds, and to ensure that the fighters’ peak coincides with their lowest weight. Sanctioning bodies and athletic commissions set when fighters must weigh-in, and on occasion how much weight can be gained before fight night. Yet this sport, as with others, makes advantageous the dramatic dehydration and dieting traditionally followed by the adding on of more than 10 percent of one’s mass between weigh-in and the opening bell.
So many wrong decisions preceded those made by Joan Guzman. How many more will be disappointed until someone makes right?
The 10 Count
1. With Campbell-Guzman canceled and the Showtime card thus consisting solely of Timothy Bradley’s successful 140-pound title defense against Edner Cherry, much of the attention Saturday night turned to the pay-per-view featuring Joel Casamayor’s bout with Juan Manuel Marquez.
A card that started slow and seemed to drag on ended with a highlight knockout, as Marquez scored a stoppage over Casamayor to become the lineal lightweight champion.
The pair of esteemed boxer-punchers had been waging a close tactical battle at a measured pace for nearly 11 rounds when Marquez caught Casamayor with a big right hook that changed everything.
Casamayor, who had been pulling straight back with his hands low, dropped to the canvas. Seconds remained in the 11th round, but Marquez closed in with hooks, crosses and uppercuts, a right hand putting Casamayor down again. Referee Tony Weeks had seen enough, calling a halt to the action with five seconds left in the stanza.
For all the disappointment from the Campbell-Guzman drama, the lightweight division remains one that deserves attention. Marquez picks up the “Ring Magazine” designation as the best fighter at 135. But many believe Campbell earned that honor when he took out Juan Diaz and took three of the four world title belts. Then there is Manny Pacquiao, who holds the fourth alphabet title.
Pacquiao is set to step up to welterweight for a mega-fight with Oscar De La Hoya. Marquez, who has twice come up short against the Filipino Firebomber, followed Pacquiao to 135 seeking a third shot. Instead, Marquez could face the aforementioned Diaz, who also fights under Golden Boy Promotions, with the winner a natural nominee for a meeting with Campbell.
2. On the undercard to Casamayor-Marquez, Vernon Forrest avenged his recent defeat to Sergio Mora, out-boxing the first-season “Contender” champion over 12 rounds to take back a 154-pound title belt.
Forrest had difficulty making weight for that June bout, appearing lethargic over the duration. This time it was Mora who had trouble getting down to 154, and Mora who seemed distant and dejected in the corner and drained in the ring.
Three months ago, Mora had landed 222 of 591 shots, while Forrest was less active and less accurate, throwing 552 and landing 141. On Saturday, Forrest worked off of his jab and landed crisp combinations while Mora seemed to stifle himself with ineffectively awkward offense. Forrest landed 231 of his 634 punches, while Mora sent out 477 shots and only landed 83 of them.
“My better was better than his better,” Forrest said afterward. “That’s the difference between a contender and a champion.
“I just had a bad night. That was the way I was supposed to have fought the first time,” he said. “I was flat, so my body wasn’t reacting to what I wanted to do. He’s a very busy fighter, a very emotional fighter, so the first time I just couldn’t do nothing with him. This time I controlled him with the jab. Basic boxing. This is basic boxing 101. Use the jab. The jab sets up everything.”
Mora would do well to head back up to middleweight. Forrest, should he stay at 154, is by default the big name in a division sorely lacking in star power.
3. Politics and Pugilism: One cliché in political reporting refers to candidates or those already holding office as “dropping their gloves,” a phrase recalling hockey players set for a scuffle. One candidate who recently had donned gloves has dropped them momentarily in favor of another type of battle.
Joe Mesi, who is running for a seat in New York’s state senate, won a three-way primary last week, according to various reports from the Empire State. Mesi received 51 percent of the vote, becoming the Democratic Party’s nominee in his district for this November’s general election.
Mesi’s opponent will be some guy named Mike Ranzenshofer, whom one imagines has not appeared on HBO as many times as Mesi but whom has undoubtedly taken far fewer punches to the head.
Mesi last appeared in the ring last October, taking out Shannon Miller in less than three minutes. At 36-0 (29 knockouts), he has yet to taste defeat. Will that remain true seven weeks from now?
4. Boxers Behaving Badly, part one: Cory Spinks was arrested last week in Missouri, though not for the reason police were initially investigating the former welterweight champion and 154-pound titlist.
Police had been called to a home in St. Charles County for reports of a disturbance, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. A woman there told officers that Spinks had assaulted her. Those officers looked into Spinks’ record and found out he had a pair of outstanding warrants for his arrest – one for driving without a license, the other for driving without insurance.
Police went to Spinks’ home and took him into custody, though he would soon be released on $300 bail.
As for the accusation of assault? Spinks told officers he was elsewhere – and he was. A surveillance videotape showed Spinks at a Babies “R” Us store at the time of the alleged assault, according to the Associated Press. The woman took back her story and is potentially facing charges of filing a false police report.
Spinks, 30, last fought in March, when he lost his junior-middleweight title to Verno Phillips via split decision. He has 36 wins and five defeat, with 11 of his victories coming by way of knockout.
5. Boxers Behaving Badly, part two: Spinks wasn’t the only pugilist felled last week by alleged past wrongdoing behind the wheel. Across the Atlantic Ocean, Herbie Hide made a court appearance in Norwich, England, on charges of not paying 3,767 pounds, or $6,751, in fines levied some three years ago, according to the Norwich Evening News.
Hide, 37, has been given until the end of November to pay for a number of offenses, including driving on a suspended license and driving without insurance. He had completed 60 hours of community service but had never finished the other part of his sentence, even after multiple appearances in court in which he was told to do so.
This time, failing to pay could land him a brief stint in jail.
Hide has a record of 44-4 with 41 knockouts. He twice held a heavyweight world title during the previous decade, losing those belts to Riddick Bowe and Vitali Klitschko. Hide stepped away from the sport in 2004 but returned two years ago as a cruiserweight, winning nine straight, including his last appearance, a unanimous decision July 4 over some dude named Nuri Seferi.
6. Boxers Behaving Badly, part three: Former heavyweight fighter and current boxing trainer Henry Racich was arrested last week and charged with assaulting another man outside of an, ahem, adult-entertainment establishment, according to suburban Philadelphia newspaper The Times Herald.
Racich, according to the article, has been charged with “aggravated assault, simple assault, disorderly conduct and harassment,” for allegedly striking the man in a parking-lot altercation. The man suffered injuries to the back of his head from falling, and had to be taken to the hospital.
Racich, 38, is listed on BoxRec.com as having won his only two professional fights, each coming against foes that were making their pro debut. Those bouts were in 2003 and 2004. Racich is presently the chief second to Harry Joe Yorgey, an unbeaten junior middleweight from suburban Pennsylvania.
7. Boxers Behaving Badly update, part one: So much for the eight-month moratorium on Scott Harrison entries.
Last week we attempted to bid the troubled former featherweight titlist adieu until 2009 after he was sentenced to jail time on charges stemming from two of his many recent brushes with the law.
Harrison, 31, had earned two months behind bars from a May attack on his girlfriend and a police officer, while another six months were the result of his driving drunk for three miles in late August in Glasgow, Scotland.
Add 60 more days.
Harrison was given an additional two months in a jail cell for striking a man in the face on a Glasgow street early last year, apparently hitting the man in a case of mistaken identity, according to the Glasgow Evening Times.
The rest of Harrison’s various legal issues have been chronicled here repeatedly. I’ll spare you this time.
Let’s just say that Harrison lost his license to box after an eventful 2006 that included multiple legal problems and reported struggles with alcohol and depression. He was suspended after failing to get his weight below 133 pounds for a title defense late that year against Nicky Cook. Harrison last appeared in the ring in November 2005, when he outpointed Nedal Hussein.
8. Boxers Behaving Badly update, part two: An Azerbaijani amateur who captured a bronze medal at the 2000 Olympics was released from jail last week after spending nearly four months behind bars on blackmail charges, according to the country’s Trend News Agency.
Vugar Alakbarov had been arrested in May alongside another boxer from his country’s amateur team in an apparent sting operation. Alakbarov, 27, was charged with threatening a man, stealing his car and then asking for a ransom of $10,000.
But three months and 22 days later Alakbarov was free. He said in a statement that he had sold cars to the man he was accused of threatening and was still owed money.
Alakbarov medaled in 2000 as a middleweight, but four years later he had risen all the way to heavyweight. He lost in the quarterfinals. Alakbarov has reportedly not boxed since.
9. Boxing Promoter Behaving Badly: British boxing promoter Michael Dalton and his wife, Christine, were sentenced last week to prison time for a scheme in which they laundered money illegally received from benefit fraud, according to various reports from across the pond.
Michael Dalton, 60, could spend as much as five-and-a-half years behind bars, while Christine Dalton, 53, could be incarcerated for as long as two-and-a-half years.
They took in more than 200,000 pounds, or $358,440, converting the money into bonds, bank accounts and investments in overseas properties.
10. Benefit fraud? Money laundering? Unpaid fines? Blackmail? A single case of assault? Kid stuff. Clearly, there are those who behave badly – and then there’s Scott Harrison.
David P. Greisman is a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. His weekly column, “Fighting Words,” appears every Monday on BoxingScene.com. He may be reached for questions and comments at fightingwords1@gmail.com
