Weekend Wrap-up in Boxing (December 21-22)

Surely the hope of passionate boxing fans around the world and, of course, all involved in the business of boxing, is to bring fans back to the sport. That possibility got a boost with television’s NBC network broadcasting their first live event since 2004 this past Saturday with their renewed “Fight Night” series featuring two heavyweight bouts. The fights took place at the Sands Casino Resort in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, in a telecast that began at four in the afternoon (EST). Unfortunately, fans watched their beloved sport appearing to take yet another black eye when the main event was marred in controversy over the decision. Former cruiserweight champion Steve Cunningham of Pennsylvania fought 12 tough rounds with highly ranked Tomasz Adamek. Most observers and boxing writers reporting their views—and one of the three judges—clearly witnessed Cunningham having been the better of the two, yet two judges gave it to Adamek for a split decision win. During the post-fight press conference (not televised) an emotional and teary-eyed Cunningham expressed disgust at officiating in boxing today and stated that the only way to prove yourself is to knock the opponent out to keep it out of the hands of the judges. “That’s not boxing,” he roared out. “That’s slugging. And if that’s what they want, then they need to change the name of the sport from boxing to slugging.” Cunningham’s trainer further added that if that’s the kind of sport we are to have, then we should be gathering around two roosters at a cockfight.” In the undercard, the once-promising Tor Hamer, who was also the 2008 National Golden Gloves winner, was defeated by undefeated heavyweight Vyacheslav Glazkov of the Ukraine. Glazkov clearly dominated the fight, causing Hamer to retire in his corner at the end of the 4th round.

P. Rivera, GAR1680 Boxing Talk
Twitter: @GAR1680