Did WBA/WBC conspire against Sweet Pea?

[Anthony342]

I disagree with this comment. A refs first duty is to keep the fighters safe, not to keep track of time left in a round...........Rockin'

Also it's a fighter's duty to pay attention the the ref when he's asking him if he's alright and then respond, which Taylor didn't do when I just watched it again. He was distracted by his corner and looked over towards them instead of the ref, a huge mistake on Meldrick's part. If he had just nodded or said yes and then either walked toward Steele or gave him his gloves, he probably wins a decision, according to the scores.

[Rockin']

Also it's a fighter's duty to pay attention the the ref when he's asking him if he's alright and then respond, which Taylor didn't do when I just watched it again. He was distracted by his corner and looked over towards them instead of the ref, a huge mistake on Meldrick's part. If he had just nodded or said yes and then either walked toward Steele or gave him his gloves, he probably wins a decision, according to the scores.

Good point........Rockin'

[_Rexy_]

That first title fight in his career, I know there had to be plenty of y'all old enough to be paying attention back then.

From what I've gathered it seems like Pernell was put into a title fight he was not allowed to win because the WBC and WBA wanted an all Mexican unification bout between Jose Ramirez and Julio Chavez. Well, win a decision anyway.

Then Chavez gets gifted the WBC belt on a headbutt in said uni.

Then Chavez gets gifted a draw with Pernell even though Whitaker had outboxed that fool.

JCC a bit of a hypejob?

Pernell a bit of an under appreciated talent thrown under the buss by racist sanctioning body heads? I don't think I'd call the Sullies anti-black or anything, but, did the WBC's pro-Mexican heads force a great Mexican who wasn't actually as great as they needed him to be?

Who here can take me back to the 80s and explain why judges and sanctioning bodies gave JCC every benefit they could?

I wouldn’t call it racism. Don King had both the WBA and WBC in his pocket back then. Corruption, yes. Racism, no.

[billeau2]

My opinions:


[1] Did Pernell deserve the win against Ramirez? Yeah, but I went back and watched that fight and it was more competitive than I had been led to believe.


[2] Did Chavez get a gift against Ramirez? No. The ending might have been somewhat controversial but Chavez was winning that fight.


[3] Did Chavez get a gift draw against Whitaker? Yes, absolutely. He lost and quite handily too.


[4] JCC a bit of a hypejob? Naw. The guy was a legitimate bad ass in his prime. If you look in the dictionary under "Mexican-style" his picture should be in it. He was a great, Pernell Whitaker simply happened to be even greater.


[5] Were the sanctioning bodies dirty and biased in favor of Chavez? I certainly wouldn't put it past those crooks. But don't overlook the fact that Julio was promoted by biggest crook of them all, Don King.

Exactly. Well said!

[Marchegiano]

I wouldn’t call it racism. Don King had both the WBA and WBC in his pocket back then. Corruption, yes. Racism, no.

Funny how a storyteller can just forget to mention pretty big stuff like that.

[_Rexy_]

Funny how a storyteller can just forget to mention pretty big stuff like that.

Lot of people forget Don promoting anyone outside of Heavyweight lol. I'm guilty of it myself

[Willie Pep 229]

That first title fight in his career, I know there had to be plenty of y'all old enough to be paying attention back then.

From what I've gathered it seems like Pernell was put into a title fight he was not allowed to win because the WBC and WBA wanted an all Mexican unification bout between Jose Ramirez and Julio Chavez. Well, win a decision anyway.

Then Chavez gets gifted the WBC belt on a headbutt in said uni.

Then Chavez gets gifted a draw with Pernell even though Whitaker had outboxed that fool.

JCC a bit of a hypejob?

Pernell a bit of an under appreciated talent thrown under the buss by racist sanctioning body heads? I don't think I'd call the Sullies anti-black or anything, but, did the WBC's pro-Mexican heads force a great Mexican who wasn't actually as great as they needed him to be?

Who here can take me back to the 80s and explain why judges and sanctioning bodies gave JCC every benefit they could?

Instead of focusing on the usual suspects or the usual corruption why not first look closely at the judges - maybe see how often they are at odds with other judges; how many Mexican fighters have they judged; does their scoring slant to a particular style; are there other controversies in their past; level of experience, ETC.

In boxing it doesn't take corruption for a decision to leave a sour taste in the mouth.

[ShoulderRoll]

I disagree with this comment. A refs first duty is to keep the fighters safe, not to keep track of time left in a round...........Rockin'

That's fine. This is one of those boxing debate topics that everyone seems to feel strongly about on both sides. I go back and forth on it myself.

But as a fighter wouldn't you want to be given the benefit of the doubt and allowed to go out on your shield?

[Rockin']

That's fine. This is one of those boxing debate topics that everyone seems to feel strongly about on both sides. I go back and forth on it myself.

But as a fighter wouldn't you want to be given the benefit of the doubt and allowed to go out on your shield?

And as a former referee I knew to keep the fighters safe. As a timekeeper I knew to watch the stop watch and when to ring the bell. Steele, as the ref, is not concerned about the time left in a round. Unless the bell rings, ofcourse..........Rockin'

[Willie Pep 229]

That's fine. This is one of those boxing debate topics that everyone seems to feel strongly about on both sides. I go back and forth on it myself.

But as a fighter wouldn't you want to be given the benefit of the doubt and allowed to go out on your shield?

The true championship distance is 15 rounds - how do you think Talyor fares come the 13th round, never mind the 14th and 15th rounds?

Chavez beat Talyor a slow death like a professional - Taylor ran up score cards with meaningless pitty pat armature punches. Taylor was wining the boxing match Chavez the prize fight.

Besides it is not the referee's place to decide to stop a fight based on who is winning nor how much time is left on the clock.

What if there had been ten seconds left instead of two was Steele suppose to say to himself "well this kid is in danger but he's winning so I'll let the fight continue." Should he do that for two seconds, or ten seconds, 30 seconds left?

The answer is he should never do that - first because he puts a fighter in danger and second he is now making himself an affect on the outcome of the fight and that is not his place.

Steele did the correct thing, not only does Taylor not answer him, Taylor also never takes his left hand off the ropes needing to steady himself. Taylor was stopped.

And if15 rounds isn't the true championship distance thenwe would never have heard of Rocky Marcinao.