Standing 8 Court: Friday Sparring Session

July 16th, 2010

Golden Boy Gets Golden Goosing from the NYSAC: It was widely reported this week that Oscar De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions received a 90-day suspension from the New York State Athletic Commission for failing to timely turn over required paperwork following the May 15, 2010 Amir Khan-Paul Malignaggi show at Madison Square Garden. At issue were the promotional agreements of the Golden Boy boxers who were featured on the card. Golden Boy quickly acknowledged its mistake and provided the NYSAC the required documents. Under 19 N.Y.C.R.R. § 208.16, “[n]o bout shall be held in the State of New York unless, no later than 10 business days prior to the bout, or within such other time as the commission may for good cause establish in a particular case, each promoter of the bout shall file with the commission a true and accurate copy of every contract currently in effect between the promoter and a participant.”

…And Speaking of Malignaggi: Following his lopsided loss to Amir Khan on Golden Boy’s May 15, 2010 card at MSG, it was reported that Paul Malignaggi was looking into continuing his boxing career in his native Italy. While Standing 8 Court wishes him well in this pursuit, a cautionary tale. The author was recently in Rome and had an opportunity to speak with his cab driver about sports in Italy, and about boxing in particular. He just kind of laughed and indicated boxing was pretty much non-existent as far as popularity in Italy. While this one driver’s overview (in fairness, he indicated the basketball was not too big in Italy either, despite Italian talent such as Danilo Gallinari being drafted into the NBA) may ignore the impact such boxers as 2008 Olympic gold medallist Roberto Cammarelle may have on the sport’s popularity in Italy, it did not sound like Malignaggi should expect Italian soccer stadiums to be filling up for him any time soon. And now back to legal and regulatory issues…

MMAdness Continues in New York State: Around the time that Standing 8 Court was listening to a Roman taxi driver guffaw about the state of boxing in Italy, the New York State Senate removed the regulation of mixed martial arts from the state’s budget bill. This means, in short, that New York State will continue to have some of MMA’s parts, but not the sum of its parts, for at least another year. For more on the regulatory gap that continues to keep MMA out of New York State, please see “Some of the Parts, But Not the Sum of the Parts” at http://www.8countnews.com/news/125/ARTICLE/1513/2009-04-02.html.

Inglorious Plasterer Sent Backing by Nevada: Earlier this month, the Nevada State Athletic Commission tabled Antonio Margarito’s application for a boxing license and advised him that he needed to first reapply for his California license, which was revoked following his January 24, 2009 bout with “Sugar” Shane Mosley. For a detailed analysis of the Margarito scandal and where it leaves him in the licensing process, please see “Inglorious Plasterers” at http://www.8countnews.com/news/138/ARTICLE/2275/2010-01-30.html.

Mercante Becomes Foreman in Trial of New York’s Towel Rule: In a now infamous move during the June 5, 2010 WBA junior middleweight bout between former champion Yuri Foreman and Miguel Cotto, referee Arthur Mercante, Jr. rejected the towel thrown in by Foreman’s corner and let Foreman continue until he was finally overwhelmed by Cotto in the ninth round of an exciting bout at Yankee Stadium. While some might have questioned the soundness of Mercante’s continuation of the fight, one thing is indisputable: he was well within his discretion and the rules of the New York State Athletic Commission. 19 N.Y.C.R.R. § 210.17 unambiguously states that “[n]o one shall throw any towel into the ring as a signal of defeat or for any reason.” And as to Mercante’s power to dictate when the fight is over, 19 N.Y.C.R.R. § 211.6 reinforces a referee’s “exclusive authority” to stop a boxing “contest or exhibition” upon the happening of various occurrences including his deciding that “one or both participants are failing to perform according to due standards of effort, ability, or conduct.” That does not mean Mercante was the grand overlord of the Cotto-Foreman fight however; a ringside physician could have also stopped the contest if he or she believed that Foreman’s “health or well-being” would be “significantly jeopardized” by the bout’s continuation, pursuant to 19 N.Y.C.R.R. § 213.6.

Unholy Ghost Sighting at Mares-Perez Fight: Perhaps Standing 8 Court simply has not been playing close attention in recent years and missed her resurgence, but the fact that Eugenia Williams was one of the judges of outstanding May 22, 2010 IBF bantamweight title bout between Abner Mares and Yonnhy Perez jumped out as something that just should not have been in a time when boxing is flirting with mainstream appeal again in the face of a possible Manny Pacquiao-Floyd Mayweather, Jr. bout. For those readers who were born after March 13, 1999, Williams is the judge who achieved infamy and helped spawn a U.S. Senate inquiry into the first bout between Lennox Lewis and Evander Holyfield by scoring it for Holyfield in a bout that had all of the appearance of a lopsided win for Lewis. On the same card as Williams’ unsettling reappearance, Israel Vazquez suffered a sizeable cut in the first round of the last installment of his legendary series with Rafael Marquez as the result of a head butt. In yet another example of the need for instant replay in boxing, however, the referee ruled that the cut was caused by a punch. Although it ended up being moot after Rafael Marquez closed the show in round three, the erroneous call in the first round could have helped spawn controversy had the bout somehow gone to the scorecards and cast a shadow over an otherwise fantastic night of boxing.

King Makes Certain That Mayorga is Not Half Man, Half MMAmazing: In mid-May, Don King successfully put an end to former world champion Ricardo Mayorga’s bid to make his mixed martial arts debut by posting a $1 million dollar bond to secure an emergency injunction against Mayorga and the MMA promotional group Shine Fights. The injunction barred Mayorga, who has a promotional agreement with King, from making his MMA debut on a card in Fayetteville, North Carolina. In Mayorga’s absence, James (Lights Out) Toney makes his bid to become half man, half MMAmazing this coming weekend against the legendary Randy Couture at UFC 118. For more on the issues facing boxers who wish to dabble in MMA, please see, “Half Man, Half MMAmazing?” at http://www.8countnews.com/news/138/ARTICLE/1938/2009-09-21.html.

Sanctioned Offenses Part 5.5: In case anyone was curious why Standing 8 Court has not explored the World Boxing Council’s new “silver” and “diamond” championship belts it is because their patent absurdity pretty much speaks for itself. The “Sanctioned Offenses” line of articles are designed to go behind a given decision or action by a sanctioning body and see if it can be justified by said body’s own rules and by-laws, not to explore their flagrant creation of brand new belts as a transparent pretext to generate additional sanctioning fees.

Incredible Expanding Defense Deadline Finally Deemed Blown: At long last, the World Boxing Association lost its patience with its cruiserweight champion, Guillermo (El Felino) Jones, and sanctioned the July 4, 2010 cruiserweight bout between Steve Herelius and former champion Firat Arslan as a bout for its interm title. Herelius, who won the WBA interim title by 11th round TKO in a well-contested bout, is now the long overdue WBA Interim World Champion. For more on the events leading up to Herelius-Arslan, please see “The Incredible Expanding First Defense Deadline (Sanctioned Offenses Part IV)” at http://www.8countnews.com/news/138/ARTICLE/2248/2010-01-20.html.

MMAine No Longer Venue for Professional Boxing: It was reported back in May that a professional boxing card scheduled to take place in Lewiston, Maine, host of the infamous 1965 rematch between Muhammad Ali and Sonny Liston, was cancelled since boxing has effectively been banned in Maine. In 2007, state lawmakers eliminated the Maine Athletic Commission, the regulatory body that governed professional boxing, which spelled the end of professional boxing in the land of boxing’s most famous phantom punch. Combative sport denizens need not fear, however; the Mixed Martial Arts Authority of Maine was subsequently created in 2009. Rules and regulations for MMA shows are now in development.

Rigondeaux Definitely Does Not Have Luck of the Irish: After an extended legal battle, Ireland-based boxing manager Gary Hyde recently won a judgment in Miami that cleared the way for him to continue managing Cuban legend Guillermo Rigondeaux’s career. For more on this saga, please go to “Standing 8 Court: Tuesday Sparring Session” at http://www.8countnews.com/news/125/ARTICLE/2555/2010-05-11.html.

Toll Road Back to Galaxxy?: Several weeks after his lopsided decision loss to Victor Ortiz, it was revealed that former lightweight Nate (Galaxxy Warrior) Campbell suffers from Right Piriformis Syndrome, a neurological condition that arises when the piriformis muscle in the pelvis becomes inflamed and applies pressure on the sciatic nerve. While Campbell will likely undergo several months of physical therapy in an effort to work through this condition and give his career one more go, the question arises as to what happens to the agreements with his promoter and management team. As discussed at length in “Toll Road Back to Ghost Town?” (http://www.8countnews.com/news/125/ARTICLE/1968/2009-10-05.html), it is quite possible that his management and promoter have tolling provisions in their agreements. These provisions may effectively suspend their agreements until when/ if Campbell feels that he is physically able to return to the ring and is cleared by an athletic commission to do so.

Replay, By Any Way Alert: While hot welterweight contender Mike Jones appeared to have his number as is, Irving Garcia was nonetheless counted out by referee Randy Neumann after sustaining a low blow during their July 9, 2010 Shobox-televised bout. Although a major locale for professional boxing, Atlantic City, along with the rest of New Jersey, does not provide for instant replay in boxing. The result was Garcia was the victim of an erroneous conclusion to an otherwise interesting bout.

MMA Bout Turns Into Mortal Combat in South Carolina: MMA, which is widely regarded as an overall safer sport than boxing, suffered a blow to this theory in late June, when Michael Kirkham, a 30-year-old who was making his professional debut, died from a brain bleed after his bout at the USC Aiken Convocation Center in South Carolina. While he is reportedly only the second mixed martial artist to die from injuries sustained during a sanctioned bout, opponents of the sport in some of the last hold out states, such as New York, will have new ammunition with which to oppose its legalization if there are too many more episodes like Kirkham’s. Rest in peace young warrior.

Paul Stuart Haberman, Esq. is an attorney at the New York law firm of Heidell, Pittoni, Murphy & Bach, LLP. He is also a New York State licensed boxing manager and the Chairman of the Sports Law Committee of the New York County Lawyers Association. Paul can be e-mailed at haberman@8countnews.com.