Make Them Fight

Yesterday I read Joe Koizumi's article entitled "Referee's Role In Big Fights" and couldn't disagree more. It is not the refs job to make sure that fans are satisfied by the fight. The fans know going in that there is the possibility that one or both of the fighters will stink the joint out. Koizumi starts out by saying that he was greatly disappointed in the lack of exchanges in the fight. I was too, but that doesn't mean that the ref should have stepped in. Next, he argues that in Japan Klitschko's safety first style and Ibragimov's counter punching style would never have been tolerated. They don't allow counter punching in Japan? I wasn't aware. I know that Edwin Valero now makes his home there, but that doesn't mean all fighters are like him.

The fighter risks his life by entering the ring, and it is his prerogative he he chooses to box safety first. The argument that the rules should be different in "big" fights is absurd and holds no water. What is a big fight anyway? Was Pavlik-Taylor II a big fight? There was no title at stake and the event did not do gangbusters at the box office. It was a big fight, but who can really defined one or do you just follow Justice Stewart's definition of porn.

My advice to Koizumi is to only attend fights where Vic Drakulich or Arthur Mercante Jr. are the refs. Those two won't hesitate to issue ridiculous commands like "throw punches, defense and safety be damned."

The fight was not entertaining. Not every fight is going to be. The remedy is to not pay money to see the fighters again, not to order them to fight in a way they have chosen not to. The long term effect of forcing guys to fight is that while there will be more entertaining fights, there will be more injuries and possibly fatalities.