Boxing : A Draw--It’s Worse Than Kissing Your Sister

If there’s one thing professional boxing people can’t stand, it’s being told that amateur boxing people do something better.

And the truth is, amateur boxing people do a lot of things better than professional boxing people. But today’s sermon will focus on just one subject: Draws.

There’s no such thing as a draw in amateur boxing. Professional boxing shouldn’t have them, either.

Last Saturday night at the Las Vegas Hilton, about 6,000 people paid up to $500 to watch an awful welterweight World Boxing Assn. title fight between Marlon Starling and Mark Breland. If you like holding, hitting on the break, thumbing, low blows, poor execution . . . this one had it all.

But the result was even worse: a draw.

One judge scored the bout for Breland, another for Starling. The third, Elias Quintana of New Mexico, called it a 114-114 draw. In other words, in evaluating the skills shown by both boxers and their effectiveness in delivering--and avoiding--hundreds of punches over 12 rounds, Quintana came to the conclusion that there was no conclusion.

What was achieved? Absolutely nothing, but Starling kept his title.

Surely the time has come for pro boxing to rid itself of draws. The solution is simple, which is probably why it will never happen.

In amateur boxing, bouts are often scored evenly. But the difference is, amateur judges must designate a winner on their scorecards.

“The whole subject (of draws) comes up every once in a while,” said Chuck Minker, executive secretary of the Nevada Athletic Commission.

“One solution we’ve tried is having the boxers go one more round. But that’s unfair--to ask two guys who train for a long fight, then ask them to go one more.

“Another way would be to indicate a plus or a minus on all 10-9 rounds, indicating if it was a decisive 10-9 or a close 10-9. If it’s even on points at the end, then the guy with the most pluses wins.”

Even this is too complicated. Judges merely need to designate a winner.

The California Athletic Commission might beat Nevada to the punch. California commission member Jerry Nathanson breaks out in a rash at the mere thought of a draw.

“When I was a kid, I watched Mickey Walker--who I think was pound-for-pound the greatest fighter who ever lived--beat Sharkey (badly) for 15 rounds, and he wound up with a draw. I’ve hated boxing draws ever since.

“First of all, it’s an impossibility for two fighters to finish in a draw. If two guys go out there for a round, and one guy dances and doesn’t throw a punch and the other guy throws only three punches and misses all three of them, (the one who threw the punches) wins the round on aggressiveness.

“I’ve been arguing with the commission for several years to get rid of them (draws), and I won’t rest until I do.

“There are eight guys on the commission, and I’d say three or four agree with me now. I just need one more vote.”

In 1986, after pushing for it for three years, Nathanson pushed through a rule change prohibiting referees from scoring.

Judges are paid to render decisions. But the rule books, in effect, say: “Hey, if you can’t make up your mind, don’t worry about it. Call it a draw.” A draw is not a decision. It’s a cop-out, by a judge who can’t make a decision.

In 1940, Henry Armstrong tried to win a fourth world title in Los Angeles, against Ceferino Garcia. Judges ruled it a draw. Also in Los Angeles, in 1960, in another middleweight title bout, Sugar Ray Robinson and Gene Fullmer fought to a draw.

Fullmer had three draws in title fights, against Robinson, Joey Giardello and Dick Tiger. And a 1979 draw with Vito Antuofermo prevented Marvelous Marvin Hagler from winning the middleweight championship in 1979.

And in 1983, Michael Dokes kept the WBA heavyweight title with a draw against Mike Weaver.

Willie deWit, the Canadian heavyweight who some thought would develop quickly into a contender when he turned pro in 1984, is thinking about developing his paving business instead.

“Willie is giving serious thought to retiring,” says Rod Proudfoot, deWit’s promoter and business manager. “He’s become a very wealthy young man (26), and he’s giving serious thought to retiring and running the paving business he and his mother own in Grand Prairie, Alberta,”