10.04.06 – They say the punch that does the most damage is the one you never see coming. The one we never saw coming this past Friday in Nashville was the third man in the ring. We at Team Gunn want to share our thoughts on the worst officiated fight in recent title fight history. Before that, we do want to speak on the positive.. We want to thank the good people of Nashville for their warm welcome and continued support of Bobby Gunn, the uncrowned cruiserweight champion. We proved this weekend in our home away from home that we are the true people’s champion.
Shelby Gross was the benefactor of a long count that puts Tunney-Dempsey II to shame. His disqualification-worthy tactics in round two were appalling, having no place in the confines of a professional boxing ring.
Because of the deplorable actions – and inactions – of referee Freddie Boges, we have officially filed a protest with the International Boxing Association, the Tennessee Boxing and Racing Commission, the Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance, and the state’s Attorney General’s office.
Our first area of concern was with referee Freddie Boges given permission to officiate the IBA world cruiserweight title fight on Friday, March 31, 2006. It has come to our attention that Mr. Boges lied about his being certified with the Association of Boxing Commissions (ABC). All major sanctioning bodies and state commissions require all of their officials to be ABC certified. To be eligible to officiate a world title fight, you must supply proof of your certification. Mr. Boges failed to do so, before or after the match.
His lack of qualifications was apparent as early as the pre-fight instructions. He repeatedly deferred all questions to IBA Ratings Chairman Norm Longtin, rather than answer them on his own – simply put, perform his job.
Onto the fight.
Less than forty seconds into the round, Bobby Gunn dropped Shelby Gross for the first of two times in the round. Gross beat the count, but acted in accordance with his corner to spit out his mouthpiece and buy some time. Such audio can be overheard in the video, which was been supplied to IBA President Dean Chance, and ABC President Tim Lueckenhoff, among others. As a result, Gross was able to buy close to thirty seconds of recovery time.
He briefly recovered, but could not avoid the Gunn show. Bobby was all over him, sensing that his long awaited goal of becoming a world cruiserweight champion was well within reach in less than a round. Gross managed to absorb an enormous amount of punishment before a barrage punctuated by a vicious body shot laid him out flat on his back. According to the video – which is presently available for public viewing on promoter Fight Beat Entertainment’s website (www.fightbeat.com) – Gross was FLAT ON HIS BACK for twelve seconds, and off of his feet for a grand total of EIGHTEEN SECONDS.
Despite the referee’s obvious shortcomings, is it still too much that we ask a grown man to be able to count to ten? In this case, yes it was. There is no feasible explanation for Boges counting in super-slow motion. Nor does it excuse the fact that he stopped the count at nine (which was closer to eighteen seconds in real time). Instead of counting out Gross, he stopped and watched him rise to his feet. You don’t allow a fighter more time than the mandatory ten seconds a fighter is given to recover from a knockdown. Mr. Boges allowed such to occur, his actions obvious to everyone at ringside, including IBA Ratings Chairman Norm Longtin.