Boxing : New Jersey Nonsense Shows Need for Uniform Rules

Professional boxing has once again shown itself to be the most poorly officiated major sport.

This time it was two nationally televised bouts last Friday night in Atlantic City, N.J.

Item 1: Welterweight Lloyd Honeyghan, well ahead on points against South Korean Young Kil Chung, flattens Young with a low blow in the fifth round. After several minutes, Young’s corner informs referee Tony Orlando that their man is unable to continue.

Absurd result No. 1: Orlando declares Honeyghan the winner.

Item 2: Welterweight Marlon Starling is beating up outclassed Colombian Tomas Molinares, and, in fact, appears on the verge of a knockout. A split second after the bell sounds ending the sixth round, Molinares launches a desperation right that knocks out Starling.

Absurd result No. 2: Referee Joe Cortez counts out Starling (a boxer can’t be saved by the bell in New Jersey), explaining later that Molinares’ punch was launched a split second before the bell.

After viewing the HBO videotape, Larry Hazzard, New Jersey boxing commissioner, reaches the same conclusion.

Analysis No. 1: First of all, the clearest lesson of all from the events of last Friday night is that Hazzard needs his vision checked. So does Sugar Ray Leonard, who agreed with Hazzard and disagreed with his announcing partner, Jim Lampley.

HBO stopped the frame of the videotape at the bell. It clearly showed that Molinares’ right hand was cocked but not under way.

As for the outrageous Young-Honeyghan result, the lesson learned is this:

If you are leading a boxing match in New Jersey but you’re losing interest or getting tired, hit your opponent with a low blow. If he can’t get up, you win.

In California, according to Marty Denkin of the State Athletic Commission, Starling-Molinares would have been declared a “no contest.”

“(It) means purses are held up pending a resolution of a study of all the facts surrounding the incident,” Denkin said.

As for Starling-Molinares, Denkin said, HBO--in playing the video of the punch over and over-- was missing the point.

“Every state commission that I know of has no provision in its rules for overturning a referee’s judgment call based on what a video shows,” he said.

“Saying that the video showed the referee made a mistake . . . that has nothing to do with it. In every state, a referee’s judgment call stands.

“Now, if you feel boxing should become more progressive and we should set up some sort of on-the-spot video review by judges or commission members at televised fights, that’s another matter. I’m simply saying that, right now, the rules don’t cover overturning a referee’s judgment call based on what is seen on a TV screen.”

Conclusion No. 1: Honeyghan should have been disqualified for hitting below the belt, and Young declared the winner on a foul.

Conclusion No. 2: Molinares should have been disqualified for hitting after the bell, and Starling declared the winner on a foul.

Conclusion No. 3: The best solution to this state-by-state rules chaos would be to establish a national boxing commission and eliminate all state commissions--or at least their rules-making functions. Professional boxing needs one set of rules, as is the case in amateur boxing.

If Honeyghan-Young or Starling-Molinares had occurred in the Olympics, both Honeyghan and Molinares would have lost on fouls. In the case of Starling-Molinares, an amateur referee can make an instant call or, if there is a question, the referee can poll the five judges on which came first, bell or punch.

Marco Sarfaraz of Marina del Rey, one of the United States’ outstanding amateur boxing referees, said, “Amateur referees call punches-at-the-bell correctly 99% of the time, and the reason is (because) we’re required to shout ‘Stop!’ when the bell sounds.

“When you do that, you have a sharper awareness in your mind if the punch beat the bell or not.”

Four days after Michael Nunn’s shockingly easy victory over Frank Tate in Las Vegas, the new International Boxing Federation middleweight champion weighed 173 pounds, an increase of 13 pounds.

That’s an indication that the middleweight championship may be only the launching pad for a career that shows such great promise. Nunn’s manager, Dan Goosen, said the other day that “there isn’t a light-heavyweight in the world Michael couldn’t handle right now.”

Prediction: If Nunn, 24, can comfortably add another 30 or 40 pounds to his lean, 6-foot 2-inch frame, he could be beating heavyweights in a couple of years. For now, it looks as if he’ll render the middleweight division dormant, just as Mike Tyson has done with the heavyweight division.

Boxing Notes

Southland boxing statistician, Dick Mastro, also says that Mexico’s Julio Cesar Chavez is not really undefeated, but had a butt-caused disqualification reversed in 1981 by the Culiacan, Mexico, Boxing Commission. Mastro has his record at 59-1 while Dean Lohuis, another record-keeper, puts Chavez at 61-0, if you buy the reversal.

Tomas Perez, a Cuban now living in Santa Ana, boxes Kenny Lopez of San Jose at the Irvine Marriott Aug. 22 in a 12-round state super-welterweight championship bout. . . . Heavyweight champion Mike Tyson will be represented by Norman Brokaw, co-chairman of the board of the William Morris Agency, in the areas of literary, movie, television, commercial and personal appearances.