Top Rank’s grand poobah Bob Arum called for the head of referee Laurence Cole. It’s no secret Arum wanted Vasyl Lomachenko to set a record by capturing a world title in only his second professional fight. What a promotional gem that would have been. Concerning Cole, Arum had an ally in HBO blow-by-blow announcer Jim Lampley. Secure in his 26 year history of anchoring or co-hosting boxing, he threw his own low blow, but this time at Cole by describing him as dreadful. He then reminded viewers that Laurence’s father sits on the commission. Ouch!
So what’s all the fuss about? Well, Arum’s camp (and plenty of others) claim Orlando Salido didn’t fight fair, and referee Cole allowed him to get away with it. Heavens to mergatroyd! That’s a first. A fighter goes into his opponent’s backyard and gets jobbed. In this case, it’s a foreigner in a strange country. Sure, he will be taken care of. Boy, was he ever taken care of!
A honest perception of the fight has Lomachenko beating Salido, and rather easily. The problem was Salido kept socking Vasyl below the belt, and some times below the trunks! You won’t find a fighter with elbows that extend that low, so it presented a hitch in Vasyl’s getty up. To make matters worse, Orlando would then grab on tight, like he hadn’t seen Vasyl for a long while, and missed him very much. Vasyl tried to demonstrate his aversion to being hugged, by pulling away so hard that when he broke free there was a sound not unlike that of a champagne cork popping.
Vasyl might have lost a split decision, so now his record reads 1W and 1L. However, in the aftermath, analyst Max Kellerman asked a few leading questions, hoping Vasyl Lomachenko might sputter some kind of emotional protest. Poor Max didn’t even get a little quibble. No, Vasyl was the epitome of proper sportsmanship. Essentially, he said (through a translator) that his job was to fight, and not to criticize referees or judges. Furthermore, even though he almost had Salido out in the twelfth, he didn’t hold that up, and decry the unfairness of his treatment in the ring by Cole. He didn’t have to. Everyone witnessed the bungling and blundering of the referee, and knew Vasyl was the superior fighter. Boxing fans are eager to see this soon to be champion on display again, and soon. (Just not in Cole country.)
Julio Cesar Chavez, Jr. revealed a little bit about he and his father’s relationship. When a son follows in the foots steps of his famous father, there are always unfair comparisons. With JCC, Jr., it goes even further, because his father isn’t just famous, he’s a legend. Hence, Jr. has that thrown in his face every time he attempts anything in the sport. Consequently, nothing he does is ever good enough. In addition, his childhood memories of his father are unpleasant, and there’s no chance to push those memories aside with the ravenous media. They’re always poking and prodding.
That’s more than enough unpleasantness for any “junior” to endure. How does he find himself? On top of that, JCC, Jr. points out something lurking under the surface. It has to do with pre-fight preparation or training camp. Who wouldn’t want JCC,Sr. around to teach you the tricks, and cheer you on when the going gets tough? Apparently, there is at least one person who doesn’t.
When the moment of truth arrives and JCC, Jr. has to step into the ring, he just as soon not have his father in close proximity. What you say, “Is he nuts?” The way Jr. explains it, it’s simple. He and his father are two different people, and more importantly two different personalities. Sr. gets very animated and loud when the punches start flying. His antics don’t come off as helpful. No, it seems it’s upsetting to Jr. He tends to lose focus, and in turn veers off the game plan. He gets himself into one of those situations where he is later described as disappointing.
There are those who jump in with an unsympathetic “Oh what a poor boy is he!” Jr. implies this scenario has repeated itself over the years, and he wants to avoid it in the future. Of course he needs his father’s cooperation to make things work, and that might be a tough chore. Sr. is still a fighter and advice, from whatever source, contrary to his pugnacious spirit is gagged on. He’s hard to bridle, even with a hackamore. Saturday at the Alamodome, Sr. could be seen jumping up from his chair and rushing toward the ring, blood vessels about to burst, yelling who knows what toward his namesake.
On the surface, this might seem trivial when stories are told of future greats who literally climbed out of the gutter, parent-less and starving. On occasion, one might have that right stuff, and is fortunate enough to be gathered under someone’s wing and nurtured into greatness. Jr wasn’t nurtured so much as he was prodded and steered. He might have had the wheel, but someone else was steering, and applying the gas and brakes. Some critics say he was along for the ride, an easy ride.
Those same critics apply that reasoning to simply the reason for what they feel was a poor performance. Obviously that means they expert a lot of Jr. They feel it’s not so much that he’s not measuring up to the old man, but that he’s not fulfilling his own potential. Interesting. But, take into consideration what great trainers have been saying for ages, and that is fighters, no matter how tough can psyched out and intimidated, sometimes by the simplest of things……a lucky pair of trunks, who enters the ring first, and on and on. Then why is it so difficult to believe the son can be drawn away by his strong willed father from the task at hand? Here’s a good one for you, it’s commonsensical. So, Pops stay away from the ring, so fans can witness your son reach his own potential.
