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The Real Skinny On Fat
Cats |
WBC Orders Peter-Toney Rematch Not For Fans, Media But For Power Brokers Named
Don King, Al Haymon With Goossen In Cabal Caboose
By NAT GOTTLIEB
Senior Staff Writer FightNightNews
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Today's decision (I use the word lightly) to order a Toney-Peter rematch is, if nothing else, consistent with the
WBC's long history of conducting its affairs as if boxing was the theatre of the absurd, but then again may be it is.
The biggest unanswered question in this bizarre ruling is who put pressure on Jose Sulaiman, the WBC president. Just two weeks ago, Sulaiman said in a private email that the WBC would take up the matter of a rematch at its convention in Croatia in October. Last time I checked my calendar, it
wasn't October yet, Jose. |
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Why the early decision? I would list my suspicions, but don't want my favorite boss, Michael Marley, to get sued. But anyone familiar with the dollars and cents of this sport should be able to conjure up some scenarios. (Anybody get a whiff of Don
King's cologne here?)
The WBC's reasons for ordering this rematch are outrageous and just plain stupid. Reason 1:
"First, for having been an extremely close fight which divided the opinions of the media and fans. This rematch will clear the air and we will have an official undisputable challenger to our new champion Oleg
Maskaev."
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If a rematch was ordered every time the opinions of the media and fans were taken into consideration, there would be dozens of rematches.
The WBC, which charges sanction fees and is a 44-year-old institution suddenly cannot decide matters by itself, it needs input from the media and fans. Say what? How dumb dumber is that? And since when did the WBC care about fans? If the WBC truly cared, it
wouldn't order all the mismatched and unappetizing mandatory fights it concocts. |
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Reason 2:
"The WBC believes that at this moment there can not be a more interesting heavyweight fight than this rematch. There is a huge public demand for this rematch and it will be very good for the promoters, as well as the prestige and the importance of boxing in the
world."
I don't know what brand of cigar Jose is smoking, but I want one. HUGE DEMAND FOR A REMATCH? Sore loser Dan Goosen and
Toney's pitbull legal advisor, the omnipotent and omnipresent Al Haymon, do not, Jose, repeat, DO NOT constitute HUGE DEMAND! And if this is the most interesting fight out there at this moment, then the heavyweight division is in greater trouble than I thought.
The fact is, Jose, nobody wants to see again two overweight heavies who
can't sustain an attack because of stamina problems. A longtime member of the boxing industry said it best when he told me today,
"Nobody likes fat heavyweights, and I
don't blame them. If they (fighters) look like they
don't care, why should fans
care?"
If there were any justice in the world, this fight should be mandated as pay-per-view, so it could lay a costly Goosen-egg, a real rotten, stinky one. Rise up boxing fans, open your windows and yell in unison,
"I'm mad as hell, and
I'm not going to take
it!" |
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