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« | Home | »

Keith Kizer’s worst nightmare with Pacquiao/Bradley is worth your schadenfreude

By Zach Arnold | June 9, 2012

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BRADLEY TOPS PACQUIAO IN SHOCKING SPLIT DECISION

Tim Bradley in a wheelchair at the post-fight presser.

Take it away, Skip Bayless:

Dana White is full of love for his boy Keith Kizer:

Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated weighs in:

Fight Ghost: Let me say it again. During live wagering, entering round 12, Manny Pacquiao was a 100 to 1 favorite to win this fight. 100 to 1.

Luke Thomas: 100% lock Keith Kizer says tonight’s judges are super competent and this decision doesn’t merit any kind of review.

Bill Simmons: Never been more stunned by a boxing decision. So disgusted right now. Now we know why the odds dropped all week. #future30for30

Pacquiao/Bradley judges: CJ Ross, Jerry Roth, Duane Ford. Ross & Ford scored the fight 115-113 for Bradley, while Roth scored it 115-113 for Pacquiao. The Associated Press scored it 117-110 for Pacquiao. Dan Rafael of ESPN scored it 119-110 for Pacquiao.

Teddy Atlas unloaded on the corruption in boxing during an interview on ESPN (after the fight). He pondered if Pacquiao’s contract with Bob Arum running out was a reason for the way the judges scored the fight. He reiterated his calls for a national boxing commission. While Teddy was ranting, Bob Arum was doing his own ranting after the fight. At the same time, a magical date of November 10th appeared for a potential rematch between Bradley & Pacquiao.

Adnan Virk, in the 1:30 AM Sportscenter opener on ESPN, called Tim Bradley “Avery Bradley.” ESPN chose to bury the Pacquiao/Bradley fight to third-tier status (Celtics/Heat number one story, Devils/Kings number two story). All of this while “#RIPboxing” and Top Rank were trending on Twitter.

Before this debacle on Saturday night, the next Nevada State Athletic Commission meeting was set for this Thursday. Guess what will now get added to Thursday’s agenda?

As for Keith Kizer, no one should feel sorry for him. No one. Given how petulant & vindictive he can be, this flaming turd of a horrible Pacquiao/Bradley split decision is a hell of an ordeal for Nevada. Calling Governor Brian Sandoval…

Update: Keith Kizer defends his men:

Nevada State Athletic Commission Executive Director Keith Kizer said he does not anticipate any discipline or review of Ross or Ford.

“Every fighter who loses a close fight looks at the judges,” Kizer said. “I think every judge should strive to get better.”

Topics: Boxing, Media, Zach Arnold | 34 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |

34 Responses to “Keith Kizer’s worst nightmare with Pacquiao/Bradley is worth your schadenfreude”

  1. edub says:

    Gotta love Bob. After the fight he was nothing, but smiles in the ring hugging Bradley like a newborn.

    Is our resident Judge around to breakdown what the “professionals” could have seen? 🙂

  2. King Famous says:

    Damn, the pizza guy asked how the fight was going and I’m like “Pac man is hitting him hard, often and just beating him up.

    When I heard the decision, I couldn’t believe it. The invisible hand of corruptions makes a swipe at another piece of my reality once more.

    I’ve never seen so many experienced boxing sports casters flat out say “B.S.”

  3. J-Rock says:

    This is why UFC is so good: rumor was Pac was leaving Bob Arum. No UFC fighter would ever leave Dana, so there doesn’t need to be judge tampering for that single reason.

  4. Rob Maysey says:

    LOL at the above.

    Flat out corruption–plain and simple.

    The commissions are jokes.

    Multiple parties should go to prison.

    Flat out work.

    Bidniz as usual, however. Commissions are a JOKE. Atlas is 100% correct. Local commissions with responsibility? Their job, unfortunately, has been reduced to asking what the PROMOTER wants, and implement it. . . in spades.

    If I got jobbed like that and cost $50 million dollars, I’m jumping the ropes and heading for the panel. Combat George Brett style. No smiles from me. Almost like Pacman knew. . .

    • J-Rock says:

      The judges were paid off and should go to prison? Absolutely.

      Could Dana White influence fights? Yes, he probably has done it many times in the past. He has a gambling problem, and we all know about the Fertittas and the mafia.

      But is Dana dumb enough to bribe judges over fighter contracts? If a second promotion comes along, we’ll see.

  5. Fluyid says:

    I didn’t see the fight, but I know Duane Ford. I don’t feel that he is in any way corrupt. He works very hard, from what I know, to avoid any involvement with the fighters or promotions and remain neutral.

    I don’t know the other judges.

    Anyway, attack away. I didn’t see the fight. I’m sure it was a bad decision, based on everything I’m reading, but I’ve also seen people be swayed by the HBO announce team.

    • edub says:

      Your also trying to make excuses because you know the man. This decision was as bad as the recent Paul Williams vs. Erislandy Lara call, and those judges were suspended immediately. This deserves the same punishment.

      • Fluyid says:

        Could be. I haven’t seen it.

        • Fluyid says:

          Again, I haven’t seen the fight, but I just read where Pacman was saying that he hit Bradley tons of times on his arms. I do know that Ford believes that the arms near the shoulder area are scoring areas. It’s bullshit in my opinion, but that’s how the man feels.

        • Tomer says:

          Pacquiao was also landing some solid head and body shots that fazed Bradley throughout the fight, it wasn’t just arm punches (which Bradley was mainly landing and even his best sunday punch which he landed maybe 2-4 times the whole fight didn’t damage Pacquiao). I had it 117-111 for Pacquiao, but maybe could give an extra round to Bradley if I was being nice (116-112 Pacquiao). Past that, I’d say it was a stretch to give Bradley 5 rounds and I honestly can’t see 6 rounds or more I could reasonably give Bradley.

        • edub says:

          I’d like to hear your opinion after you watch.

      • The Gaijin says:

        To be fair he was just giving his opinion on the judge/person based on his own experience and admitted he had not seen the fight (and believed it was likely a bad decision).

        Let’s give him the opportunity to watch the fight first!

  6. 45 Huddle says:

    This could be the beginning of the end for Keith Kizer. He has pissed off too many powerful people who make Las Vegas too much money….

  7. The Judge says:

    The promoter and most parties involved probably have more to gain from maintaining the reputation of their sport as exciting, fair and competitive than from a single fight fix. Hanlon’s razor, anyone?

    The one question we aren’t talking about, how is this likely to affect MMA? Rise in popularity from disappointment at this? Changes in judgement, maybe due to regulation?

  8. Black Dog says:

    Anytime I hear Atlas mumbling about a boxing commission, I keep thinking of a smoke-filled room full of half-drunk suits talkin’ bizniz…yeah, right, Teddy…shut up.

    Arum was all smiles in the ring, then turned around and started bitching? Yeah, of course it was a setup. What other kind of boxing match is there of late.

    Over the past 10+ years I’ve seen more setups and outright fixes to make pro wrestling look like it might be legit. And people wonder why boxing is no longer that popular?

  9. Weezy says:

    Stuff like this is ABSOLUTELY disastrous for the sport of boxing. This kind of thing does 10 times the amount of damage to the combat sports than PEDS, TUEs or anything else. Plain and simple, the average fringe fan of combat sports doesn’t care much about TUEs. They care DEEPLY about B.S. decisions like this garbage. I have heard from 20 people that paid their hard earned money to see this fight. Every single one of them said it was the last boxing match they will ever pay to see. If you really want to write about things killing combat sports, here’s your chance. Long after people have forgotten Andre Berto’s positive pre-fight test after receiving consultation from felon Victor Conte, they’ll remember this catastrophe. Simply garbage.

  10. Takayama says:

    This sums up my thoughts on the night:

    http://i.imgur.com/WQatC.jpg

  11. Chuck says:

    There were quite a few close rounds, but Pacman should have won. If I was actively scoring the fight, I probably would have scored it 117-111 Pacquiao.

    I’m surprised no one here said anything about this decision being karma for Pacquiao winning two controversial decisions against Marquez. As silly as that is, but this was a hell of a coincidence.

    What I will definitely remember from last nght was that spectacular KO win that Randall Bailey got over Mike Jones in the 11th round. One of the greatest KOs ever. Check out the footage.

  12. […] Fight Opinion has a collection of some of the reaction. Between this and the absolutely ludicrous Therapeutic Use Exemptions being granted so fighters like Chael Sonnen can compete while using steroids, it’s been an embarrassing year for the Nevada State Athletic Commission. Their spectacular ineptness and speculated corruption is unprecedented. Something has to give here. Tweet This entry was posted in boxing and tagged bob arum, jim lampley, keith kizer, manny pacquiao, nsac, tim bradley by kevinmarshall.Bookmark the permalink. /* […]

  13. EJ says:

    Funny that there wasn’t this much of an uproar from alot of the talking heads in boxing when JMM got screwed over for a third time against Pacman. Now it’s an outrage and there should be investigations, the hypocrisy is incredible and while I despise screwjobs Manny had this one coming as far as i’m concerned. I just with the outrage was just as loud for a guy like JMM who actually deserved it, Manny isn’t some sort of lonely victim here he sleeps with dogs and got bit.

    • Robert Poole says:

      The Pacquaio-JMM fight wasn’t remotely this one sided. That fight was close enough that most people had varied opinions on who won.

      The Bradley fight however, only a blind man or an idiot would have said Bradley won and apparently they were both on the judging panel in Vegas. People are in an uproar that Kizer can’t just wish away here. Everyone I know, long time boxing fans AND casual viewers alike believe the fix was in. That’s a pretty heavy accusation but when the fight was THIS one sided, you can see where they are getting that from.

      • EJ says:

        It was as one sided as many are claiming Pacman vs. Bradley was. To me both fights were basically the same one guy clearly was outclassing the other and when the decision was read. All myself and the people who were watching the figh with me could do was shake our heads in disgust. So again I ask where was the outrage and anger when JMM got jobbed out for the third time against Pacman?. Unless you were up in arms about Manny getting the unjust decision, all of this outrage to me seems phony and forced.

        • edub says:

          “It was as one sided as many are claiming Pacman vs. Bradley was.”

          Not even close. In that fight Manny threw, and landed more punches. The rounds were at the very most 8-4 in JMM’s favor, and he admittedly took off the last 2 rounds.

          “To me both fights were basically the same one guy clearly was outclassing the other and when the decision was read. All myself and the people who were watching the figh with me could do was shake our heads in disgust.”

          Yes, and there were plenty that disagree with you and myself. It was a close fight that had one clear winner in most’s eyes. This fight with Pacquiao and Bradley was not close by any means you want to point too (unless you are a NSAC member).

          “So again I ask where was the outrage and anger when JMM got jobbed out for the third time against Pacman?”

          There was plenty of it. The problem is there was a valid argument/excuse for people who thought Manny won that fight (the punches thrown and landed). However, in boxing circles and in social circles many people thought JMM won a close fight.

          It just pales in comparison to this, because the decision was so blatantly unjust.

    • edub says:

      You could easily say Pacquaio got screwed over the first fight with a draw. Most people had JMM winning the third fight, however, Manny landed more and threw more punches so there was a very large minority that thought Pac man won.

      That was not the case with the Bradley fight, as Robert alludes to above.

  14. Zach Arnold says:

    http://espn.go.com/boxing/story/_/id/8036159/no-discipline-review-judges-expected-wake-manny-pacquiao-timothy-bradley-decision

    This is not the kind of press Kizer wanted to see. He’s got until Thursday to change his mind and go in CYA mode at the next commission hearing to do a ‘review’ of the judging.

    I suspect someone will get in his ear and give him pause to reconsider his current stance…

    • Fluyid says:

      I suspect the same thing.

      This outrage is not going to go away. I’m talking more boxing at work so far today than I ever have. People are really angry.

      As for Ford, I got to thinking and I haven’t seen and spoken to him in almost a year. He was doing very well then, but at his age who knows? Maybe he got old or something. He’s a guy I look up to and respect, and he’s probably the guy who has trained more officials than anyone else in the world. Many big-name boxing officials see him as a mentor. I’m going to be sad to see this play out.

  15. Light23 says:

    Watching live I scored the fight overwhelmingly for Pacman. Watching later with the sound muted I scored it for Bradley.

    It was surprisingly close. A lot of the big charges that Pacquiao had and got cheered for actually missed. Before someone brings up Compubox, a) I wouldn’t necessarily trust those numbers as being accurate, b) even if they are, it’s not round by round scoring.

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