Just My Thoughts: It’s Only a Matter of Time
Mike Sloan Aug 8, 2006
After two successive Saturdays with nothing in terms of major fight
events in the U.S., either live or on TV, I decided to swing in a
slightly different direction.
Anybody who knows me is well aware that I come from a strict boxing background and have loved, watched and eventually covered the sport much longer than I have MMA (and I got into the UFC back in 1994).
Most know that depending on who is fighting I usually favor a huge
boxing event over the UFC, PRIDE or K-1. But after this weekend,
I’ve about had it with the Sweet Science — I can only give that
sport so many opportunities to correct itself.
Boxing: You’re fired!
nders) Ike Quartey and Vernon Forrest on HBO. If you did then you’ll know where I’m headed.
To keep it short (this is an MMA site after all), Quartey was flat-out robbed on Saturday, a decision so bogus that Quartey should just pack it in for good and never step foot inside a boxing ring for the rest of his life (he was also robbed several years ago against Oscar de la Hoya and Jose Luis Lopez). It was one of the worst decisions I have ever witnessed and I have seen probably hundreds of ‘em.
On my unofficial scorecard, Quartey won at least seven of the allotted 10 rounds, with one period being a two-point round because Forrest was deducted a point for repeated fouls. But somehow the corrupt ringside judges had it unanimously for Forrest. Quartey shed tears of disgust, the HBO broadcast team’s mouths were agape and the capacity crowd showered the ring with boos, debris and angry chants of, “Bullshit! Bullshit!”
Usually when a fight is extremely close and the decision seems dubious, it’s OK because the fight was that: extremely close. But in the case of Quartey-Forrest, the fight was a landslide victory for “Bazooka.” It wasn’t even close and I’m fed up with the horrible decisions that have plagued boxing for decades. It seems as though “disputed” middleweight champ Jermain Taylor can’t lose (even though he’s lost three straight in the eyes of many experts of the sport). Glen Johnson, for a long period of time, couldn’t win. And the bogus verdicts won’t end.
Old-timers and promoters alike can’t seem to understand why the crowds of big prize fights have been drying up, pay-per-view buy-rates have dwindled to embarrassing lows and how this “human cockfighting nonsense” that is mixed martial arts is tearing up the charts.
If these boxing honchos would actually open their eyes just a bit and take a stand against corruption and deceit, the Sweet Science would actually be able to survive and flourish. But since there are far too many hands in the cookie jar within the sport, boxing will suffer a similar fate that kickboxing did in America in the early 1980s.
People are just plain sick to death of terribly unjust decisions, fighters taking dives and the top managers and promoters refusing to arrange “super fights.”
Whenever I’m with a crowd of people in my house (provided that the fight is out of town and I’m not actually in attendance) and the fight goes the distance, most of the visitors make comments like, “God, I hope they don’t screw over (insert fighter’s name)” or “Watch, I guarantee that this decision is bogus!”
We literally take bets sometimes in regards to whether the decisions will be just or unjust.
You see, that is where mixed martial arts — the UFC in particular — comes into play.
So far in the history of the UFC and PRIDE, I can’t vividly remember any one fight that was given to a fighter and the MMA community collectively groaned about the other guy being robbed.
Sure, there were some very close fights that had decisions many disagreed with (see: Griffin-Bonnar, Sanchez-Diaz, Couture-Rizzo I, Silva-Arona II, Henderson-Bustamante II, etc.), but those fights were super, super close. There been no fights to my knowledge that were on par with such boxing robberies as Lewis-Holyfield I, Saxton-Gavilan, Jones-Si-Hun Park, Leonard-Hearns II and now Quartey-Forrest.
UFC president Dana White, love him or hate him, knows the fight game better than 99.9 percent of the world’s population. He grew up around boxing and began his professional career in boxing. He is a shrewd and demanding businessman who has learned lessons from the self-inflicted gunshots wounds boxing is known for. If anybody in the fight game is more capable than White to ensure the UFC won’t suffer the same ills that have plagued my beloved sport of boxing, please point me in his direction.
White won’t make the same mistakes with the UFC that so many promoters, commission directors and various other scoundrels boxing has made famous. And by hiring on Marc Ratner, the former director of the Nevada State Athletic Commission, that furthers my statements.
White knows what has been slowly killing boxing over the years and he knows what the fans want. He knows that the people of today won’t stand for fixed fights, corrupt decisions and purposefully dubious officiating.
While White is a polarizing bloke who has made some behind-the-scenes decisions that have incensed me, he knows how to handle the UFC to the point of doing all the right things.
Do I agree with how he’s treated some of his former (and current) fighters? No, and I’ve called him out on those issues. Do I agree with his sometimes annoying tough guy mentality? Not a chance. But does the guy know the fight game better than virtually everybody else on Earth? Yes.
And that is why mixed martial arts, the UFC in particular, will eventually completely overtake boxing as this country’s leading combat sport. That is why boxing will eventually die off and only dwell in the shadows of the UFC in the back parking lot of K-Mart. That is why the top guys in boxing are aquiver when they think of the UFC. With horrendous decisions like what happened on Saturday that cost Ike Quartey yet another victory, boxing will die and the UFC will dominate.
Trust me. It’s only a matter of time.
Dana, You’re Killing Me
Sherdog.com broke the story a few days ago that a third fight between bitter rivals Tito Ortiz (Pictures) and Ken Shamrock (Pictures) is in the works. We now know it will become a reality in October.
After reading this, three thoughts immediately sprung into my head like a brick of lady fingers: 1) Wow, I’m surprised it took this long to announce the fight. 2) Wow, Dana White certainly knows what he’s doing because this fight is going to bring in more money than Fort Knox. And 3) Wow, Dana, you’re killing me! Who actually wants to watch Ken Shamrock (Pictures) get his head caved in again?
All three thoughts are logical. It was a lock to be a reality since their “epic” rematch was clouded in controversy for absolutely silly reasons. It also will generate dough, though perhaps not as much had it been scheduled for pay-per-view. But the casual UFC fans will still tune into SpikeTV for the guaranteed butchery that will be Ortiz-Shamrock III: “I’m Gonna Get You Sucka.”
But in reality, just as was the case with their rematch, does anyone actually believe that this fight will be competitive? Certainly not anybody with at least a marginal grasp of logic, that’s for sure.
Dana, I see where you are coming from because this fight will be great business for the UFC and you are arguably the greatest businessman this side of Lawrence Probst. In that aspect, I idolize your business acumen and I deeply respect you. But Ortiz-Shamrock for a third time?
Come on, guy. I’m sorry. I think I hear Dunkin’ Donuts Hop Scotch will be televised live that same night on ESPN2 immediately following The World Series of Scrubbing. I know what I’ll be watching.
Anybody who knows me is well aware that I come from a strict boxing background and have loved, watched and eventually covered the sport much longer than I have MMA (and I got into the UFC back in 1994).
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Boxing: You’re fired!
I doubt many of you took the time to watch the competitive and
exciting battle between former welterweight world champions (and
current junior middleweight conte
nders) Ike Quartey and Vernon Forrest on HBO. If you did then you’ll know where I’m headed.
To keep it short (this is an MMA site after all), Quartey was flat-out robbed on Saturday, a decision so bogus that Quartey should just pack it in for good and never step foot inside a boxing ring for the rest of his life (he was also robbed several years ago against Oscar de la Hoya and Jose Luis Lopez). It was one of the worst decisions I have ever witnessed and I have seen probably hundreds of ‘em.
On my unofficial scorecard, Quartey won at least seven of the allotted 10 rounds, with one period being a two-point round because Forrest was deducted a point for repeated fouls. But somehow the corrupt ringside judges had it unanimously for Forrest. Quartey shed tears of disgust, the HBO broadcast team’s mouths were agape and the capacity crowd showered the ring with boos, debris and angry chants of, “Bullshit! Bullshit!”
Usually when a fight is extremely close and the decision seems dubious, it’s OK because the fight was that: extremely close. But in the case of Quartey-Forrest, the fight was a landslide victory for “Bazooka.” It wasn’t even close and I’m fed up with the horrible decisions that have plagued boxing for decades. It seems as though “disputed” middleweight champ Jermain Taylor can’t lose (even though he’s lost three straight in the eyes of many experts of the sport). Glen Johnson, for a long period of time, couldn’t win. And the bogus verdicts won’t end.
Old-timers and promoters alike can’t seem to understand why the crowds of big prize fights have been drying up, pay-per-view buy-rates have dwindled to embarrassing lows and how this “human cockfighting nonsense” that is mixed martial arts is tearing up the charts.
If these boxing honchos would actually open their eyes just a bit and take a stand against corruption and deceit, the Sweet Science would actually be able to survive and flourish. But since there are far too many hands in the cookie jar within the sport, boxing will suffer a similar fate that kickboxing did in America in the early 1980s.
People are just plain sick to death of terribly unjust decisions, fighters taking dives and the top managers and promoters refusing to arrange “super fights.”
Whenever I’m with a crowd of people in my house (provided that the fight is out of town and I’m not actually in attendance) and the fight goes the distance, most of the visitors make comments like, “God, I hope they don’t screw over (insert fighter’s name)” or “Watch, I guarantee that this decision is bogus!”
We literally take bets sometimes in regards to whether the decisions will be just or unjust.
You see, that is where mixed martial arts — the UFC in particular — comes into play.
So far in the history of the UFC and PRIDE, I can’t vividly remember any one fight that was given to a fighter and the MMA community collectively groaned about the other guy being robbed.
Sure, there were some very close fights that had decisions many disagreed with (see: Griffin-Bonnar, Sanchez-Diaz, Couture-Rizzo I, Silva-Arona II, Henderson-Bustamante II, etc.), but those fights were super, super close. There been no fights to my knowledge that were on par with such boxing robberies as Lewis-Holyfield I, Saxton-Gavilan, Jones-Si-Hun Park, Leonard-Hearns II and now Quartey-Forrest.
UFC president Dana White, love him or hate him, knows the fight game better than 99.9 percent of the world’s population. He grew up around boxing and began his professional career in boxing. He is a shrewd and demanding businessman who has learned lessons from the self-inflicted gunshots wounds boxing is known for. If anybody in the fight game is more capable than White to ensure the UFC won’t suffer the same ills that have plagued my beloved sport of boxing, please point me in his direction.
White won’t make the same mistakes with the UFC that so many promoters, commission directors and various other scoundrels boxing has made famous. And by hiring on Marc Ratner, the former director of the Nevada State Athletic Commission, that furthers my statements.
White knows what has been slowly killing boxing over the years and he knows what the fans want. He knows that the people of today won’t stand for fixed fights, corrupt decisions and purposefully dubious officiating.
While White is a polarizing bloke who has made some behind-the-scenes decisions that have incensed me, he knows how to handle the UFC to the point of doing all the right things.
Do I agree with how he’s treated some of his former (and current) fighters? No, and I’ve called him out on those issues. Do I agree with his sometimes annoying tough guy mentality? Not a chance. But does the guy know the fight game better than virtually everybody else on Earth? Yes.
And that is why mixed martial arts, the UFC in particular, will eventually completely overtake boxing as this country’s leading combat sport. That is why boxing will eventually die off and only dwell in the shadows of the UFC in the back parking lot of K-Mart. That is why the top guys in boxing are aquiver when they think of the UFC. With horrendous decisions like what happened on Saturday that cost Ike Quartey yet another victory, boxing will die and the UFC will dominate.
Trust me. It’s only a matter of time.
Dana, You’re Killing Me
Sherdog.com broke the story a few days ago that a third fight between bitter rivals Tito Ortiz (Pictures) and Ken Shamrock (Pictures) is in the works. We now know it will become a reality in October.
After reading this, three thoughts immediately sprung into my head like a brick of lady fingers: 1) Wow, I’m surprised it took this long to announce the fight. 2) Wow, Dana White certainly knows what he’s doing because this fight is going to bring in more money than Fort Knox. And 3) Wow, Dana, you’re killing me! Who actually wants to watch Ken Shamrock (Pictures) get his head caved in again?
All three thoughts are logical. It was a lock to be a reality since their “epic” rematch was clouded in controversy for absolutely silly reasons. It also will generate dough, though perhaps not as much had it been scheduled for pay-per-view. But the casual UFC fans will still tune into SpikeTV for the guaranteed butchery that will be Ortiz-Shamrock III: “I’m Gonna Get You Sucka.”
But in reality, just as was the case with their rematch, does anyone actually believe that this fight will be competitive? Certainly not anybody with at least a marginal grasp of logic, that’s for sure.
Dana, I see where you are coming from because this fight will be great business for the UFC and you are arguably the greatest businessman this side of Lawrence Probst. In that aspect, I idolize your business acumen and I deeply respect you. But Ortiz-Shamrock for a third time?
Come on, guy. I’m sorry. I think I hear Dunkin’ Donuts Hop Scotch will be televised live that same night on ESPN2 immediately following The World Series of Scrubbing. I know what I’ll be watching.
