Mayweather Wins; Ringsiders Lose It

There were tempers exploding, wild punches thrown, bodies tumbling and beer flying in the ring Saturday night at the Thomas & Mack Arena.

And the fighters themselves weren’t even directly involved.

Floyd Mayweather Jr. won a unanimous decision over Zab Judah to capture Judah’s International Boxing Federation welterweight title.

But the purses of both fighters (Mayweather $5 million, Judah $1 million) were suspended and Roger Mayweather, Floyd’s uncle, was kicked out of his nephew’s corner and suspended by the Nevada State Athletic Commission after entering the ring with five seconds remaining in the 10th round, igniting a brawl involving figures from both camps. Roger was responding to a low blow thrown by Judah.

Don King, Judah’s promoter, said he would file a protest with the commission.

“Mayweather should have been disqualified,” King said. “The fighter had a third man in the ring. That is unheard of. The third man was chasing my fighter around. That is unheard of.”

Judah said Roger Mayweather was choking him until Judah’s father, Yoel, also entered the ring and threw a punch at Roger.

Chaos ensued. Members of both camps poured over the ropes and some police entered the ring in response, while others formed a human wall outside the ropes to prevent additional supporters from becoming participants.

When order was finally restored, Roger Mayweather was escorted from the ring and a five-minute break was ordered to allow emotions to subside.

After the fight, Marc Ratner, the commission’s executive director, said a decision on a disqualification is at the referee’s discretion, and referee Richard Steele did not deem a disqualification proper at the time of the incident.

In addition, Ratner said, because Steele called a timeout after the low blow, Roger Mayweather’s entrance into the ring was not a violation.

The matter will be discussed further at a hearing scheduled Thursday.

Floyd Mayweather had started the fight slowly, allowing Judah to take an early lead. But then Mayweather came on strong, bloodying Judah’s nose and mouth and clearly assuming command as the fight wore on.

“That was our game plan,” Mayweather said. “We know he is a front-runner. He goes the first six rounds, then gases out.”

As the end of the 10th round neared, with Judah’s mouth and nose bloodied and his energy seemingly sapped, the only question seemed to be whether he would finish the fight.

Then came the low blow, which caused Mayweather to hunch over and stagger around the ring.

“I was aiming for the body,” Judah said. “I didn’t plan to hit Floyd low.”

Said Mayweather: “Roger told me earlier in the week that Judah might do something dirty, and that if he did, Roger would go into the ring.”

After the mayhem had ended, the fighters returned to the ring for the remaining five seconds of the 10th, but did little more than stare at each other.

The last two rounds were largely uneventful except for the start of the 12th when both men hugged before resuming hostilities.

All three judges gave Mayweather a clear victory -- Dave Moretti 116-112, Jerry Roth 117-111 and Glen Hamada 119-109.

Assuming the victory stands after the protest is heard, Mayweather (36-0, 24 knockouts) will have a title in a fourth weight category after having previously been a super-featherweight, lightweight and super-lightweight champion. The loss was the second straight for Judah (34-4, 25). He lost the undisputed welterweight title to Carlos Baldomir in January but, because Baldomir didn’t pay the sanctioning fees to the IBF, Judah was able to again defend that portion of the title.

And if the protest is upheld, he’d get yet another chance.

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In a title match involving previously unbeaten fighters, World Boxing Assn. lightweight champion Juan Diaz (29-0, 14) successfully defended his title by winning a unanimous decision over Jose Miguel Cotto (27-1, 19).

Jorge Arce (44-3-1, 34) defended his World Boxing Council interim flyweight title by knocking out Rosendo Alvarez (36-3-2, 24) at 1:54 of the sixth round. Rosendo went down from a left hook to the body, rose to one knee, but remained in that position as referee Vic Drakulich counted him out.