By Cliff Rold

As far as anyone knew before Friday night, there is no instant replay in Boxing.  Then, suddenly, there was at Ibiza Nightclub in Washington, DC. 

And then there wasn’t.

The end result would be an official TKO victory in six for 33-year old Ishmail Arvin (15-1-4, 7 KO) of Baltimore, Maryland in a fight where he’d gotten off the deck twice in the third against 26-year old Anthony Thompson (23-3, 17 KO) of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania but still managed to land the most significant blow of the fight with his head.

Both fighters came into the bout within the confines of the 154 lb. limited Jr. Middleweight division, Thompson at 152 and Arvin at 154.

Arvin began the fight aggressive and stayed on top of Thompson throughout the round, not necessarily to his benefit.  After defending against Arvin’s array of early hooks, Thompson began to open up with his own offense, clipping Arvin with short shots on the inside.  A counter left hook came close to dropping Arvin to the mat near the thirty second mark but he kept his feet and heard the bell to end the first.

Thompson met Arvin at ring center to begin the second and slowly began working the perimeter winging the left hook to the head and body.  As the round wore one, a pattern emerged with Arvin throwing less often than he had in the first and clinches following landed blows from Thompson. 

A short right hand stunned Arvin halfway through the third as the two men continued to work in close.  Following a quick effort at tying Thompson up, a frantic exchange ended with Arvin on the floor for the first time in the bout.  The Baltimore native rose only to be hurt again in the corner with a punch that looked to land behind his head, wobbling his legs.  Arvin circled away to get his feet beneath him but his equilibrium wasn’t there and a hard left jab dropped him for the second time.

The inside work throughout the first three rounds had resulted in a nasty cut over the left eye of Thompson by way of headbutt but he showed no urgency in the fourth, still Boxing methodically even after the serious trouble he’d created for his foe in the third.  Arvin’s legs stayed rubbery early but he was planting and throwing hard by the end. 

Hard shots increased from Arvin in the fifth as Thompson’s own offense remained sporadic and his cut eye also became a grossly swollen one.  The swelling continued through round six and in the minute between rounds six and seven, it was determined that Thompson could not continue. 

A touch of hell broke loose from there. 

Behind vehement protest from the corner of Thompson, which had assumed that the accidental headbutt would send the fight to the scorecards before being informed otherwise, an unorthodox series of events unfolded.  The referee was shown an instant replay by the television announce crew from ESPN and began to argue with the local commissioners that, while he had initially called the cut as caused by a punch, he felt the replay clearly showed a headbutt.  Local commissioners in DC argued back that the initial call must stand…but then decided to take a look at the replay themselves.

With ESPN’s Joe Tessitore pointing to the screen and walking the commissioner’s through the replay, the reality of the situation was made readily apparent to everyone.  The commissioner’s ultimately stood fast though, concluding that the official call would remain despite pleadings from Thompson who repeated as he followed whoever would listen, “Please don’t do this.”

They did, and did so in following the letter of law it seems.  However, the implication was clear.  Instant replay has been debated before in Boxing for situations like the one Thompson experienced and Friday’s action was a graphic display of why cut fighter situations being eligible for review must be seriously considered by the U.S.-based Association of Boxing Commissions. 

Thompson can be expected to appeal and precedent exists as recently as the rematch between Heavyweights James Toney and Hasim Rahman a few weeks ago for this decision to be overturned into a no-contest.  It would be the fair thing to do. 

In the televised opener, 26-year old Light Heavyweight Alexander Johnson (6-0, 3 KO), 173, of Oxon Hill, Maryland maintained his so far perfect mark as a professional by easily outboxing 31-year old Zeferino Albino (3-7-2, 1 KO), 177 ¾, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  Johnson won all four rounds contested on all three judge’s cards en route to a unanimous decision.

Also on the card, 28-year old London born Cruiserweight Ola Afolabi (13-1-3, 5 KO), 200, of West Hills, California picked up his fifth straight victory and inched a step closer to title contention with a unanimous decision in eight over 37-year DeLeon Tinsley (9-4-1, 5 KO), 196, of Orlando, Florida.  Afolabi scored an awkward knockdown in the first and dominated the majority of the rounds with a relaxed use of loaded counter shots and subtly excellent upper body and head movement that made him often unhittable for the game but outclassed Tinsley.  Official scores came in at 77-74, 78-74 and 79-73 for Afolabi.
 
The card was televised live on ESPN2’s Friday Night Fights, promoted by Duva Boxing.

Cliff Rold is a member of the Ring Magazine Ratings Advisory Panel and the Boxing Writers Association of America.  He can be reached at roldboxing@hotmail.com