Another acronym ? Olympic governing body sticks a toe into the alphabet soup

Boxing needs another ruling body like the U.S. needs another downgrade, but if news from the amateur World Championships in Azerbaijan are an indication, Olympic boxing’s administrative acronym (AIBA) is rehearsing for a role on a scrabble board already crowded with the WBC, WBA, IBF and WBO.

First, there was an announcement that AIBA, an International Olympic Committee subsidiary, would investigate a story about bribes for gold medals at the 2012 London Games. The BBC reported that the Azerbaijanis paid $9 million to the World Series of Boxing (WSB), an AIBA subsidiary, to ensure that the former Soviet bloc country would win at least two gold in the London ring.

Then, there was a subsequent story about how each one of Azerbaijan’s nine boxers were seeded among the top eight in their respective weight classes at the World Championships, a qualifier for next summer’s Olympics.

Predictably, the two stories were linked, perhaps more by coincidence than fact. It’s a common practice in a variety of sports to reserve a spot among the top seeds for a host-country’s athletes. Call it a home-court prerogative.

But the allegations, denials, acronyms, subsidiaries and investigations are all too familiar. An interim belt must be in there somewhere.

Olympic boxing has never been able to move beyond the documented fix that robbed Roy Jones Jr. more than two decades ago. Bribery allegations send the sport tumbling back into infamy and the fraud that turned Jones’ gold into silver at the 1988 Seoul Olympics.

In this corner, there always has been a theory that all of boxing has suffered from what happened to Jones so long ago. It robbed the pro ranks of an important developmental stage for prospects who in increasing numbers have since decided to forego the Olympics. Why risk it?

AIBA might be following the trend, or at least the young fighters who generate attention and money. The Swiss-based governing body wants to stick its toe into the alphabet soup with pros in 2016 at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics.

The plan, announced in early August during the U.S. Olympic Trials in Mobile, Ala., would begin with an international schedule for pros in 2013. One year in the proposed program would allow them to augment their income with Olympic medal.

Medals, AIBA President Wi Ching-Kuo of Taiwan said, would help enlighten “the lives and dreams of many boxers.’’

Not so fast, 2012 U.S. Olympic coach Joe Zanders said.

“It’s a little deflating to hear that,’’ Zanders said.

Zanders said the AIBA plan would eliminate an opportunity for young boxers, who often learn their craft in patchwork of rundown gyms in impoverished neighborhoods. Instead, it would favor marketable pros, already rich and well-known.

“What about us?” he asked.

Good question.

“For me, the troubling part is for the poor citizens who have used the Olympics as a step to improve themselves,’’ said Zanders, a longtime amateur coach from Long Beach, Calif., and a 30-year veteran as a youth counselor for the state’s Department of Juvenile Justice. “I guess, we’re going to have find another Greek version of Games for amateurs.’’

But it’s not as if professionalism is new to the Olympics. Pros have been competing in other sports for at least 20 years. U.S. basketball, the so-called Dream Team, is a virtual NBA All-Star team. Track-and-field medallists compete for money on the European circuit. American swimmer Michael Phelps got a $1-million bonus from his sponsor, Speedo, for his seventh of eight gold medals at the 2008 Beijing Games.

Zanders knew that eventually boxing would be next. An initial step was the WSB, a team concept that allows amateurs to get paid and now is a centerpiece to a five-member panel’s investigation of alleged bribery.

Eventually, Zanders knew that boxing would be next.

“I expected it, but I’m just surprised that it happened so quickly,’’ said Zanders, who has famed pro trainer Freddie Roach working with him as a consultant for the 2012 team.

Still, Zanders wonders what has become of the old, perhaps quaint ideal of what it is to be an amateur.
“What makes you an amateur?” he asked.

Speculation about U.S. pros at the Olympics began to circulate many years ago when American teenagers started losing to older, more mature Cubans. It was boys-against-men. Without a desperate escape from the Fidel Castro’s island, however, the Cubans had only the amateurs as an option.

“But this is America,’’ Zanders said. “You can choose to be an amateur for as long as you want. Then again, they’re going to give you a saliva test if you decide to stay an amateur until you’re 34.’’

There’s a different kind of test awaiting AIBA, however, if the controversy continues and the acronym starts collecting sanction fees instead of investigating alleged bribes. It’s called a lie detector.

A Pavlik possibility

It’s no surprise that Kelly Pavlik is desperate to get back into the ring. It was predicted here after he abruptly withdrew from a tune-up last month because he was unhappy with his reported purse for a proposed bout with Lucian Bute.

It also was reported here that Jesus Gonzales, a once-beaten Phoenix super-middleweight, might be a leading possibility for Pavlik’s first fight after the flap.

Gonzales, a Pavlik sparring partner before his loss to Sergio Martinez, was quick to say he was available after hearing ESPN’s report about a chastened Pavlik asking for another chance.

“I think Pavlik is a great fighter,” Jesus Gonzales said in an e-mail. “I know I can beat him and I think he knows it, from sparring with him. I would love to fight him, it would be a great win for me.”l

AZ Notes
· Gonzales continues his good-guy commitment to his hometown with an appearance at a Phoenix car wash for Rick Favela, an ex-Marine and Phoenix city employee who suffered a brain hemorrhage. The fund-raiser is scheduled from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. at La Barquita Restaurant, 2334 East McDowell Road. Junior-welterweight Jose Benavidez Jr. will also be there.

· And every time I see Jorge Arce win — which has been often lately, I can’t help but think about how good Phoenix Hall of Famer Michael Carbajal really was. As the 34-year-old Arce avenged a loss to Simphiwe Nongqayi with fourth-round stoppage Saturday in Mexicali, I recalled Carbajal, long past his prime, stopping a young Arce in the 11th round of a 1999 fight in Tijuana. It was Carbajal’s last fight.