If it isn’t the biggest upset in many years, New Jersey’s suspension of the three scorekeepers in the decision given to Paul Williams and stolen from Erislandy Lara is a stunner that is laudable for its immediacy, yet incomplete in its scope, language and accountability.
To wit: It is hard to judge, which is something Al Bennett, Hilton Whitaker and Don Givens were not able to do on cards that must have made Lara feel like a bank teller with a note from a guy in a ski-mask.
In a letter Wednesday to Lara’s reps at Golden Boy Promotions and Williams promoter Dan Goossen, New Jersey Commissioner Aaron Davis told them of the indefinite suspensions after a review that did not turn up “evidence of bias, fraud, corruption or incapacity.’’
For now, we’ll have to take New Jersey’s word on the first three. But incapacity? It can mean a lot of things. Presumably, New Jersey meant to say that the scorekeepers were capable enough to know which end of a pencil to use.
But “being incapable” is part of Merriam-Webster’s primary definition. Synonyms include inability, incompetence and ineptitude. The three scorekeepers were all of that in scoring a majority decision Saturday for Williams in an Atlantic City bout dominated by Lara, who from opening bell through the 12th repeatedly rocked Williams by landing 49 percent of his power punches.
Davis’ letter, which included an apology, said New Jersey was “unsatisfied” by the scoring. But “unsatisfied’’ is not a satisfactory explanation for New Jersey’s assignment of three scorekeepers to a high-profile, HBO-televised bout. Bennett, Givens and Whitaker will have to undergo further training before they are issued another scorecard, according to Davis’ letter. Left unexplained is what kind of training they underwent in the first place.
A lot already has been said about their relative lack of experience. It’s been reported that Bennett, who scored it a 114-114 draw, had never worked a title fight televised by HBO or Showtime. OK, but does that explain how not one of the threesome knew that Lara was winning? Bennett was closer to reality than either Whitaker (115-114) or Givens (116-114), but all three might as well have been watching waves from a seat on the boardwalk instead of a one-sided fight from a perch at ringside.
The training, assignment and identity of judges has always been a murky process — different from state-to-state, nation-to-nation. HBO does a good job in providing some details about their respective records, including scores in significant fights. Yet, there are still nights when the three judges might as well be Manny, Moe and Jack.
Who are these guys?
For Williams-Lara, it looks as if the New Jersey State Athletic Control Board had no clue. It’s no surprise that Bennett, Givens and Whitaker didn’t either.
REMEMBERING KIMBALL
I couldn’t help watching the Lara-Williams controversy without thinking about what George Kimball would have written. It would have been uniquely his and his alone. Through the terrible toll of cancer, Kimball never lost his ability to express outrage or be outraged. I suspect it kept him alive long after doctors told him he had six months to live in 2005 when he was diagnosed with a death sentence. Kimball, who died on July 6, just loved a good fight.
Kimball was a fellow Army brat. I went to more high schools than he did. But he had more of everything else.
He became a mentor for me and then a friend during two weeks in Athens for the 2004 Olympics. During the preliminary rounds of boxing at a rundown gym in a lousy Athens neighborhood, I bet him 50 Euros that the U.S. wouldn’t win a single medal. Kimball, then a Boston Herald columnist, looked at me like the fool I was, took the American field and collected the 50 Euros on the night Andre Dirrell won bronze, two nights before Andre Ward won gold.
As I paid him off, he gave me a shrewd, amused look – pure Kimball.
“Why don’t you pay me after we get back to the Olympic Village?’’ he said. “That way, I won’t get robbed while we try to get out of this place.’’
For anybody who loves great writing from irreplaceable characters, his death robs us all.
AZ NOTES, ANECDOTES
· The Arizona market, dormant for the last few years, continues to heat up. On Friday, July 22, two cards are scheduled, one in Phoenix and one in Tucson. Longtime promoter Don Chargin is in Tucson at Casino del Sol with a card scheduled for seven fights and featuring super-bantamweight Christopher Martin (22-0-2, 6 KOs) of San Diego against Mexican Jose Silviera (12-3, 4 KOs). In Phoenix, Michele Rosado of Face II Face Events is at Madison Events Center with a card that includes two bantamweight bouts, featuring Emilio Garcia in one and Alexis Santiago in the other. If a large, noisy crowd at a Phoenix news conference Wednesday is a sign, both are becoming local attractions.
· Phoenix super-middleweight Jesus Gonzales, entertaining and gutsy in an ESPN2 victory last Friday, got six stitches for a cut over one eye suffered in an apparent heat butt with Francisco Sierra. Gonzales is expected to fight again in Phoenix sometime in the fall. Another fall fight is also expected for 19-year-old Phoenix prospect Jose Benavidez, Jr., who pushed his junior-welterweight record to 12-0 in his hometown debut six weeks ago. Benavidez fought with injuries to both hands in his last victory. The hands have healed. He’s back in the gym.
