The Boxing Tribune

Boxing's Independent Media

  • Home
  • News
  • Videos
  • Best Of
  • Staff
  • Advertise With Us
  • Write for Us

Funeka and Guzman Exploit Boxing Weaknesses

April 13, 2010 by Paul Magno Leave a Comment

0
SHARES
ShareTweet

by Dafs117

Ali Funeka and Joan Guzman defied the odds to keep the IBF lightweight title vacant after 24 rounds of exchanging leather. But the controversy caused from the two fights has riled many boxing fans, reminding us of the negative side to our sport.

The first fight raised the all-too common problem of poor scoring. The majority thought Ali Funeka had cruised to a unanimous decision victory, with Harold Lederman’s unofficial ringside scorecard at a wide 117-111, and The BTBC’s very similar. Michael Buffer announced a majority draw leaving many scratching their heads, even Guzman.

Funeka’s promoter Gary Shaw immediately filed a protest, which like countless protests came to nothing. Funeka however kept his #1 IBF ranking, and when Rolando Reyes vacated his challenger spot, Joan Guzman eagerly stepped in as his replacement.

HBO had already showed their interest in screening Funeka’s next bout, agreeing to broadcast on March 27. This was another massive opportunity for Funeka or Guzman to solidify themselves as a HBO fighter and gain further TV time in the future.

Guzman, not that surprisingly, failed to make weight for the second Funeka fight. Just a look at his previous record shows that Guzman has struggled to shed the pounds, again on HBO versus Nate Campbell. What was surprising was that he weighed in nine pounds heavy, an action of unprofessionalism and a show of disrespect towards the game and Funeka as a person.

The IBF could not let the opportunity of sanction fees go by, and decreed that the fight could take place as long as Guzman didn’t weigh more than 150 pounds by 7 am on Saturday. Funeka could fill the vacancy, Guzman could not.

Guzman was fined 25% of his purse by the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC), who gave half of it to Funeka while the other half went into the NSAC’s bank account. Guzman entered the ring one, or possibly two weight classes above Funeka, who simply couldn’t deal with Guzman’s speed and power, losing a twelve-round split decision.

Recent revelations reveal that Funeka was busted for using hydrochlorothiazide, a banned diuretic that helps fighters make weight. The fight gets more meaningless after every shocking development.

HBO should come down hard on Guzman and Funeka, giving neither any broadcasting time in the future. HBO would be sending out all the right signals with regard to a fighter’s past record of failing to make weight or drug test.

It’s sad to see two fighters who fought at the highest level embarrass themselves by cheating on the biggest stage of their professional careers to try and gain an unfair advantage over their opponent.

Over the past decade, people have been crying out for a change in the boxing setup, fed-up with the way that the sport is run. But this fight is a prime example that boxing has not changed, and the same old antics keep popping up.

These weaknesses and faults were vivid in Funeka-Guzman. Poor scoring from inexperienced judges who are fast-tracked too quickly; promoters acting like managers, creating one publicity stunt after another; greedy alphabet organizations who make a living out of commission fees and a joke out of any Championship; and maybe worst of all, two ill-disciplined fighters who are willing to cheat their way to the top by putting their lives, and their opponents’ lives, at risk.

Boxing is slowly climbing out of a slump, but farce fights like this endanger any valuable progress. The boxing world needs to take a stand against the above issues, and there’s no time like the present.

Paul Magno on Email
Paul Magno
Paul Magno
Paul Magno has over thirty-five years of experience in and around the sport of boxing and has had his hand in everything, from officiating to training. As a writer, his work has appeared in Yahoo Sports, Fox Sports, Inside Fights, The Boxing Tribune, Fight Hype, Man Cave Magazine, Bleacher Report, and The Queensberry Rules.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Uncategorized

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Keep Independent Boxing Media Alive

Best of The Boxing Tribune

The Devil and Mr. Gary Russell Jr; Magno’s Monday Rant

The Devil and Mr. Gary Russell Jr; Magno’s Monday Rant

Boxing’s Weight Game: Our Legalized Cheat, Magno’s Monday Rant

Boxing’s Weight Game: Our Legalized Cheat, Magno’s Monday Rant

Boxing’s Dirty Little Secret

Boxing’s Dirty Little Secret

Boxing, TV, and You

Boxing, TV, and You

No One Here Gets Out Alive (Who Really Killed Frankie Leal?)

No One Here Gets Out Alive (Who Really Killed Frankie Leal?)

More of The Boxing Tribune's Best

Follow Us

Facebooktwitteryoutube

Alexa Traffic Rank

Sportsbook odds for all Boxing matches

Search

Recent

  • Deus Ex Machina: AI Boxing Writer Offers Help to Sucky Human Boxing Writers
  • The Truth About “Boo Boo” Andrade
  • Benavidez and Andrade Talk of War, Assure Victory en Route to Canelo Fight
  • Ryan Garcia and Shakur Stevenson Go To War
  • Goodnight World: A Shakur Stevenson Bedtime Story