Houston, We have rip-off

by dafs117

Earlier in the week, Paulie Malignaggi wasn’t happy. He had a gut feeling that he was going to be on the bad end of a poor decision against hometown favourite Juan Diaz. What he didn’t know was how much controversy was going to follow the fight.

Middleweight prospect Daniel Jacobs stated his claim as a contender with a comfortable unanimous decision over Ishe Smith. Kicking off the broadcast on HBO Boxing After Dark, Jacobs showed his potential in a messy scrap with scores of 96-93, 96-93 and 100-89. 100-89? How did that happen? How did Jacobs win every round against a determined Smith? Smith made it a much more competitive contest than was expected and he gets a score like that from Raul Caiz. This is something that has to change in boxing.

Junior Lightweight Robert Gurrero won the IBF Junior Lightweight belt with an impressive victory over Malcolm Klassen. Klassen showed no authority in the fight as was expected as he failed to cut down the ring and tee off his punches. Gurrero looked slick in a victory that propels Gurrero up the pecking order at 130 lbs. The scores were respectable and accurate as Gurrero won by unanimous decision with scores of 117-111, 116-112 and 116-113.

Then the main event included hometown favourite Juan Diaz in his first fight over 135 lbs against Paulie Malignaggi. Many expected Diaz to walk through Malignaggi and punish the ‘Magic Man’ and stop him late in the fashion Ricky Hatton did last year. But Malignaggi had other ideas.

Malignaggi started strong throwing the jab to keep Diaz at bay and off balance. Diaz took time to adjust to the tactics and couldn’t maul Malignaggi down. Diaz won the middle rounds in competitive rounds that could have gone either way. But Malignaggi finished the fight with style winning three of the last four rounds comfortably in my opinion. It looked to be a close decision which could go either way and I don’t think anyone bar Malignaggi would complain about a close decision that goes to Diaz. For the record, I scored it 115-114 to Malignaggi.

As the scores were read out, Malignaggi’s face was already in disgust. He knew that the judges had been swayed by the crowd. Raul Caiz scored it 115-113, David Sutherland scored it 116-112 and Gale Van Hoy scored the bout 118-110 all in favour of the ‘Baby Bull’ Juan Diaz.

As Max Kellerman did another lousy interview he read the panel’s scores. Harold Lederman scored it 115-113 to Malignaggi. “At least somebody scored the fight right. Raul Caiz had the closest scorecard and he’s golden boy’s gopher. Of course I’m not going to get a rematch. Boxing is full of sh*t. Diaz can call out Marquez again and I have to take anything that will come my way. Boxing is full of sh*t.”

The villain here is not Juan Diaz. He deserves more credit than he will get as he outpointed the Brash Brooklyn Malignaggi. He won the fight because he kept plodding forward when Malignaggi took a breather. His relentless pressure wins him rounds. It wasn’t his best showing but it was effective.

The villain isn’t Paulie Malignaggi either. The New Yorker put on an excellent display of courage against one of the toughest boxers in the sport. Mostly everyone on the forum scored the bout to Malignaggi. He has fallen out of love with the sport and wants to walk away from it. After that performance, he is still a top contender at 140 lbs.

The crook is Gale Van Hoy. We excuse Raul Caiz and David Sutherland because we respect that others can see close rounds go another way. But 118-110?? Are you serious? Did you have dogsh*t in your eyes when you watched that? Maliganggi gave everything he had and the Texan gives an awful score which is an insult to the sport, to his profession, to Malignaggi and to Diaz as it takes the limelight off a stunningly competitive match-up. The worst thing is Malignaggi knew it was going to happen. He complained about the weight, location, size of the ring and judges. He said “Raul Caiz practically works for Golden Boy and Gale Van Hoy is a Texan”.

Nobody can defend a score like that. Van Hoy needs to be thrown out of the top contests and he can’t be Texas’ #1 judge. As NASA prepare to send another space shuttle up in the sky, they might get a report: Houston, we have a problem with the scoring.

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HBO BAD Recap: Golden Boy Strikes Back

The Toyota Center in Houston, Texas was the site of a big triple-header last night and it actually was playing out to be one of those rare, recent boxing events that didn't get bogged down in controversy...until the main event.

On the undercard, "The Golden Child" Daniel Jacobs beat Ishe Smith via UD in a bout that clearly highlighted Jacobs' rising stock against a solid second-tier fighter despite being stunned briefly in the fifth.

However, one got the feeling that had Smith been a little busier and more intent on consistantly causing harm instead of just looking like he wanted to cause harm, the 22-year old prospect may have struggled mightily. (scores: 96-93, 96-93, 100-89. The BTBC had it 97-92, also for Jacobs) Smith was penalized a point in the 9th round for hitting after the bell.

The second televised bout saw Fernando "The Ghost" Guerrero take South African Malcolm Klassen's title away via another UD.

With exactly 1,200 punches thrown over 12, Guerrero was way too busy for Klassen, who was highly effective whenever he actually threw punches...which wasn't too often.(scores: 117-111, 116-113, 116-112. The BTBC had it 117-111, also for Guerrero)

In the main event, Juan Diaz won a controversial UD over Paulie Malignaggi in a very close bout that could've gone either way.

Diaz came out strong, but eventually Malignaggi caught his rhythm and was winning the late rounds by boxing on the outside. Diaz suffered 2 cuts over his left eye and Malignaggi had a minor cut over his own left eye.

The controversy of the evening came as the scores were read: 116-112, 115-113 and 118-110 from Texas judge Gale Van Hoy. The BTBC had it 114-114.

After the bout, Malignaggi praised Diaz and the Houston crowd, but said that boxing "is full of sh*t...the only reason I do this is because it gives me a good payday."

Paulie may not have to worry about doing something he "cannot stand" for those paydays anymore...

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Shocking Upset: Chris Henry TKO'd by Houston Police

From the Houston Chronicle:

A man who Orange police arrested Tuesday for public intoxication and resisting arrest is Orange native and current Houston-based boxer Chris Henry, according to Maj. Mike Broussard with the Orange Police Department.

Police used a Taser to subdue Henry.

Henry, 28, is an Ozen High School graduate who in February was on ESPN2 in a championship light-heavyweight boxing match.

At the time, the 6-foot Henry had knocked out 18 boxers and won 23 times in 24 professional bouts in four years. His lone loss came on a judge's decision against a Romanian boxer in Romania, according to a February Beaumont Enterprise article.

Henry was arrested about 1:15 a.m. Tuesday in the 3600 block of Kenwood Street after a witnesses called Orange police to report that a man was yelling and walking in circles in the street. Police reported that Henry's girlfriend, who lives on Kenwood, told them he had smoked PCP.

The police report states that the man "continued to jump around and yell, displaying signs of someone that had been smoking PCP."

The girlfriend as well as another woman in the area told police they saw the man holding a pistol, but police were unable to recover a weapon at the scene.

"I believed that he was intoxicated to the point that he was a danger to himself and others. Fearing that he may a gun on his person or close to the area, we told the subject to get on the ground, but he would not comply. For officer safety, I deployed my Taser X26 and fired one shot into the front torso of the subject," Officer Weldon Smith wrote in the report.

The man fell to the ground and continued to resist arrest as the officers put him in handcuffs.

Acadian ambulance was called to the scene to check the man's vital signs and treat abrasions on his face from his fall to the ground, the report states.

Henry was then booked into the Orange County Jail for Resisting Arrest and Public Intoxication.

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Don't you just hate a guy that can't handle his PCP?

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