By Rick Reeno
My old friend Doug Loughrey, the boxing program director for ESPN, is on the attack. Loughrey is upset over the recent withdrawal of Carlos Quintana, who was scheduled to fight Danny Perez on the June 6th edition of ESPN’s Friday Night Fights.
Quintana became ill with flu-like symptoms and was strongly advised by his doctor to withdraw from the bout with Perez. When promoter Lou DiBella received word of Quintana’s illness, he offered Ishe Smith as a suitable replacement. Smith has been training in the gym and was ready to go.
Loughrey alleged that Quintana’s illness was not legitimate and DiBella was trying to pull a “bait and switch.” DiBella [and many others] feels that ESPN is showing a preference to securing Latin fighters for their events.
“The fact that he feels shenanigans were at play is ridiculous. I wasn’t making any money on this fight and this wasn’t my promotion. The promotion belongs to Perez’s people. I was trying to get the kid a fight and was going into my own pocket to contribute to Quintana’s purse. I was losing money on the fight,” DiBella would tell BoxingScene.com. “Quintana was out for months with an ankle injury. He hasn’t fought all year. What possible reason does he have for not taking the fight?
“And what is his problem with Ishe Smith? Is it because he’s black? They keep asking for more Latin fighters, but Smith vs. Perez is a pick’em fight. They should have a civil rights investigation. Instead of Smith, they want to put in some Latin fighter with a 15-4 or 15-5 record, and make him move up from welterweight.”
“The kid [Quintana] was sick for days. The doctor said he was dehydrated, weak, his weight was all screwed up and he wrote a note that Quintana should not be fighting in a week. It would have been irresponsible on my part to force the kid to go through with the fight. If I received a note like that on a fighter, I would have cancelled an HBO date.”
Loughrey took issue with the written note from the doctor, because it was the same doctor who wrote a note for Quintana’s prior ankle injury.
“The kid hasn’t fought all year. He needed this kind of showcase. Loughrey had an issue with the doctor’s note. If you get hurt at home, don’t you go to see your regular physician? I know I do. The kid got sick in Puerto Rico and went to see his doctor. There is a number on the note, Loughrey can call the doctor. And if he’s suggesting that Quintana is falsifying the note, then he should say it so Quintana can sue him for libel,” DiBella said.
“I can understand why he’s upset. I was a TV programmer, but common sense dictates. What is his possible motivation to pull out other than being sick?” Does he really believe the letter was falsified? I feel bad for ESPN but they should have some understanding. What is the problem? Are they punishing me or is it because Ishe is not Latin?”
