GUEST POST for dmboxing.com
by Adam Pollack
The Lamont Peterson – Amir Khan fight has to be considered fight of the year. Wonderful intense battle by two young elite prime warriors giving it their all. Some brutal blows were landed by both in 12 rounds of excellent high level combat. The speed, footwork, counters, body shots, uppercuts, blazing combinations, were all just wonderful. Kudos to both for showing us what a true championship fight is all about.
But what is all this talk of controversy? I saw no controversial fight. I saw no home cooking. Stop trying to make every big boxing fight out to be controversial or a fix. Stop trying to react emotionally, but instead look at matters in a fair and objective manner. It isn’t good for the sport to cast aspersions on that referee, nor are the criticisms of his point deductions fair. I respectfully disagree with HBO and those who say the referee was unfair.
First of all, neither knockdown of Peterson in the 1st round was a knockdown. The first was correctly called a slip and a trip. The second was a trip and a push. Right there, for the referee to call that a knockdown shows that he had no bias against Khan. In the heat of the moment, though, referees have to make snap judgments, and sometimes they get it wrong. Happens in the NBA, NFL and the like. Part of the sport. But honestly, watching it live, without the benefit of instant replay, I was not sure whether or not it was knockdown. You have to go with the referee’s judgment at that point.
As for the fouling, the referee was perfectly justified in taking points off of Khan. It is a violation of the rules to hold, to pull a man’s head down, and to push. Amir Khan did all three, and did all three of them incessantly, flagrantly, and despite repeated and consistent cautions throughout he bout by the referee to stop doing these things. You don’t need a referee to tell you to stop violating the rules or he’ll take points off. Every boxer is charged with knowledge of the rules, and every boxer knows that if you keep breaking the rules, you can get points taken off. The referee kept cautioning Khan, and yet he did not stop. If a referee does not take points off, then there is no reason for a fighter ever to obey the rules or listen to the cautions. No one whines and moans when a referee in the NFL calls a holding penalty, or illegal contact, etc. If you violate the rules, you get penalized. If you don’t want the penalty, don’t commit the penalty. And when there is a 15-yard penalty for roughing the passer, no one says the official gave the other team the game. They say that player should not have done what he did, that he should modify his behavior in the future lest he might potentially cost his team the game.
Continue reading Fight of the Year and the Bogus Controversy
