BOXING : Sport Needs Way to Break Ties

When the 1980s began, Sugar Ray Leonard was going to fight Roberto Duran, with Thomas Hearns waiting in the wings.

Incredible.

Here we are in the final days of the decade and guess what? Leonard is going to fight Duran, with Hearns on deck.

And what about Michael Nunn, the International Boxing Federation middleweight champion? He may still be waiting for a shot at one of the Big Three when the next decade ends.

Part of the reason for the logjam at the top is the resilience of all three fighters. Leonard has retired with an eye injury, then un-retired. Hearns has been nearly knocked into retirement by several devastating blows. And Duran has looked as if he was in retirement whenever he stepped away from the dinner table.

Yet, all three have fashioned impressive comebacks to center stage.

What to do to break up this Senior Tour and get new blood into a division creaking at the joints?

Well for one thing, make sure when these guys do fight, there’s a winner. There’s no excuse for allowing the Leonard-Hearns match in June to end in a draw.

Most team sports have built-in machinery to break ties. And even in those instances when they still occur, at least the teams will soon be back in action.

There’s no such satisfaction in boxing. Hearns, should he fight the winner of Leonard-Duran, will have been inactive for nearly a year by the time he gets back into the ring.

And what about the disgruntled fan who shells out big bucks, either in person or through his cable system, only to find out there is no decision?

You can bet there’s an easy decision on a refund. The answer is no.

One answer for boxing is a tiebreaking mechanism in the judges’ scoring system.

But here’s a better one.

How about an extra round?

Now, make this suggestion around boxing officials and watch them react with enough horror to make you think you’d said something really ridiculous. Like suggesting that fighters wear protective headgear.

One reason officials object to the tiebreaking procedure, they say, is the health of the fighters. They are not prepared to go another round.

Not true. Until recently, all championship fights were scheduled for 15 rounds. All are now 12. So fighting a 13th round should be no problem.

Or even a 14th or 15th if a tie still exists.

The other big objection is that fighters, after cooling down during the totaling of the scorecards, would be ill-equipped to start fighting again.

Ah, but if they knew there was a possibility they might have to keep fighting, they would stay loose.

And the scoring procedure could be speeded up. How long does it take to count 10 rounds?

Better yet, why not total them up as they go along so it would be immediately known if an extra, tiebreaking round was required.

Could you imagine the dramatic effect? Better than sudden death in football. Or overtime in basketball. Or extra innings.

Return with us now to June.

Leonard and Hearns have just finished what was a great fight until the decision was announced.

But this time, there is no decision.

Instead, the ring announcer grabs the microphone before a hushed crowd and says: “Gentlemen, will you please clear the ring. Three additional minutes will be required to crown a champion. Shake hands and come out fighting.”

Why not?

Jorge (Maromero) Paez, who is a former circus clown from Mexicali, stole the show at a recent Forum news conference promoting Monday night’s card.

Paez, the International Boxing Federation featherweight champion, made a startling entrance.

Instead of sitting down at a table where he was to be interviewed, he did a one-arm handstand on it.

That’s Paez. When he enters the ring, he does a back flip. After he wins, he does another flip. Instead of wearing boxing trunks, he wears a sequined skirt.

For all of his clowning, he is an accomplished fighter, having posted a 32-2-1 record with 22 knockouts.

Paez will be in the spotlight Monday night when he meets Alan Makatoki of San Jose in a 10-round lightweight bout.

The feature attraction, if there’s such a thing with Paez on the card, matches champion Raul (Jibaro) Perez (45-1-1) against Diego Avila (42-11-1) in a 12-round World Boxing Council bantamweight championship bout.

Perez, at 6 feet, is reportedly the tallest bantamweight champion in the history of the sport. He won a split decision over Avila in 1986 in their only previous meeting.

Boxing Notes

Heavyweight Alex Garcia of San Fernando will fight Eddie Gonzales of Houston in Tuesday night’s 10-round main event at the Reseda Country Club. Also on the card will be brothers Gabriel and Rafael Ruelas of North Hollywood in a pair of six-rounders. Gabriel, a featherweight, will face Freddie Santos of Mexico. Rafael, a junior featherweight, will take on Margarito Ruiz, also of Mexico. . . . Thursday night at the Irvine Marriott, lightweights Armando Baeza of Norwalk and Ben Lopez of Upland will meet in the 10-round main event.