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WHY BLAME THE REFEREE? By Elisa Harrison |
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WHY BLAME THE REFEREE? By Elisa Harrison |
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-Jorge Alonso/BRC-
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TECO Arena hosted a recent evening of boxing in Fort Meyers, Florida, featuring local man Freeman Barr in a do or die against Russian Mger Mkrtchian. The event was promoted by Ark Promotions, (Noah and Rick Lazes of South Beach's Club Level fame), along with Pancho Reyes Promotions and SJC Boxing.
The Main Event Participants:
Freeman Barr, native of the Bahamas, a very likable and hard working young man who now resides in Naples, Florida, and has fought 16 out of his 25 fights in the Sunshine State. Coming into the May 3rd engagement, Barr only had two L's on his record, a TKO8 to Rito Ruvalcaba in 1996 and a TKO4 in Germany at the hands of Bert Schenk in 1999.
Mger "The Matador" Mkrtchian, can best be described as a smaller version of Andrew Golota physically. Ranked #14 by the WBO, with a not too shabby 16-1, 11 KOs record, and several titles to his name: 5-time Armenian WBB Super Middleweight champion, WBO Asian Pacific Super Middleweight champion, Bronze Medalist at the World Junior Olympics.
Why a Do or Die?
The Fight:
The first round was a feeling out round, with the audience expressing some impatience at the lack of action from both men. However, whatever punches were exchanged in the opener pointed towards Mkrtchian as the stronger -and sharper- of the two men.
Second round had the Russian fighter punishing Barr to the head and body, connecting a solid left hook towards the end of the round that made Barr wince in pain, his right arm glued to his hip pocket for the remainder of the action. It was becoming quite apparent that Mger was not your typical "opponent," he seemed more like a man who came to play the role of the spoiler.
Third stanza had both fighters trading blows, with the more solid and damaging punches coming from the out of towner. Barr was rocked to the head and body, showed little if any defensive skills. Mger's punches sounded like slamming doors, and they were landing flush. Referee Jorge Alonso stayed on top of the action, looking at Barr very closely, giving him every opportunity to react, tie up, survive. However, it became apparent that the local favorite didn't have it on this evening; he was taking a severe beating. Referee Alonso mercifully stopped the lopsided bout 2:08 into the third round.
The Fight:
The first round was a feeling out
round, with the audience expressing some impatience at the lack of action
from both men. However, whatever punches were exchanged in the opener
pointed towards Mkrtchian as the stronger -and sharper- of the two men.
Second round had the Russian fighter
punishing Barr to the head and body, connecting a solid left hook towards
the end of the round that made Barr wince in pain, his right arm glued to
his hip pocket for the remainder of the action. It was becoming quite
apparent that Mger was not your typical "opponent," he seemed more like a
man who came to play the role of the spoiler. Third stanza had both fighters
trading blows, with the more solid and damaging punches coming from the
out of towner. Barr was rocked to the head and body, showed little if any
defensive skills. Mger's punches sounded like slamming doors, and they
were landing flush. Referee Jorge Alonso stayed on top of the action,
looking at Barr very closely, giving him every opportunity to react, tie
up, survive. However, it became apparent that the local favorite didn't
have it on this evening; he was taking a severe beating. Referee Alonso
mercifully stopped the lopsided bout 2:08 into the third round.
The Aftermath:
Interestingly enough, when the fight
was called, Freeman Barr surrendered himself totally, leaning his head on
Alonso's shoulder and returning to his corner without making any noise or
fuss. However, Barr's trainer/manager/promoter -and reportedly the event
matchmaker- Steve Canton, stormed the Florida Commission table complaining
about the stoppage, and even saying that Alonso has a history of calling
fights early. A "bulls#@! stoppage" he called it, adding "Freeman wasn't
hurt. This referee has a history of stopping fights early." The Drama:
Here is a sampling of Freeman Barr's
statement as it appeared on Saturday's Naples Daily News: According to Steve Canton there was
a written agreement between the WBO and Barr, guaranteeing Barr a fight
with current champion Joe Calzaghe. However, Mario Rivera, Director of
Public Relations for the organization, who was ringside at the fight,
denies that such an agreement existed, adding that the WBO's championship
committee would have evaluated Barr's performance had he won to determine
whether or not he deserved a shot at Calzaghe. Rivera also said Barr's
manager/trainer/promoter Steve Canton was required to pay a sanctioning
fee to make the Mkrtchyan fight a title elimination bout. "I didn't know
about any sanctioning fee," was Mr. Canton's reply to Mario Rivera's
claim. We sincerely hope Freeman Barr and
Steve Canton have had a chance to review the tape of the fight. Barr was
getting his you know what kicked, plain and simple, and he -as well as his
trainer- should thank Alonso for having done his job, which is to
protect the safety of the fighters. Alonso is not there to protect a
#1 ranking, or to be concerned with an alleged title shot which according
to Canton was looming for Barr. Referee Jorge Alonso was in the ring
solely to ensure the safety of the fighters, and that's exactly what he
did. Freeman Barr should thank him, and
so should Steve Canton, if he cares anything about his man, and we have to
assume that he does. As far as the accusations that Alonso stops fights
too early, why didn't Team Barr object to Alonso's appointment? I'm sure
they had every opportunity to do so. In closing, may I say this, don't
hate the messenger, hate the message. Something went wrong here, yes, but
it didn't have anything to do with referee Jorge Alonso's performance.
The Undercard:
Lightweight Ubaldo Hernandez (19-10)
KO2 over Henry Cokes (5-13-2). Just for the record, Henry Cokes is 44
years old and has lost ten of his last twelve, seven of the losses came
via KO or TKO.
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