-Photo Credit: Tom Casino/Showtime-

Sharkie’s Machine

By Frank Gonzalez Jr.

August 3, 2009

“Nate Campbell was Robbed in California ”

WBO 140 titlist, Tim Bradley (25-0-1 NC, 11 KO’s) is a very good fighter. He has the look; he works hard and comes ready to win in every fight I’ve seen him in. His win over Kendall Holt was impressive, as he got knocked down and still kept his focus and worked hard to out box the bigger puncher and went on to win a Unanimous Decision that showed Bradley has the goods. Bradley is a good soldier. His nick name is “Dessert Storm,” surely a reference to the US war against Iraq and his unquestioning loyalty to our nation’s foreign policy. But loyalty and honor are not always one in the same.

Last Saturday at Agua Caliente Casino, former Lightweight titlist, Nate “The Galaxxy Warrior” Campbell (33-5-1-1, 25 KO’s) was robbed when he faced Tim Bradley in Bradley’s hometown. The robbery occurred when in the third round, Bradley “scored” an accidental head butt that opened a nasty cut over Campbell ’s eye.

Between rounds three and four, Campbell complained that he couldn’t see out of the eye. The injury happened before the completion of four rounds. According to the rules, should the fight be stopped due to injury, the fight is called a ‘No Contest.’ But last Saturday in California , when an undefeated titlist accidentally hurt a fighter before four rounds were completed, the rule was not applied. At least it wasn’t applied in Bradley vs. Campbell.

After Campbell told the ringside official that he was unable to see out of the left eye and was seeing spots in that eye, the fight was stopped. But instead of applying the rule and issuing a No Contest decision, Bradley was awarded the win. That is not consistent with the rule.  Without rules, anarchy becomes the rule. So, what’s next, a fighter can now foul his way to victory if he’s popular? I wonder what Bernard Hopkins thinks of this?

Ok, maybe Campbell was massaging the rules, figuring it was better to not continue with blood dripping into his eye and opted not to continue—but that doesn’t matter. The instant replay clearly showed the head butt and Nate motioning to the referee, who completely ignored him. The ref’s job is to protect the fighters and administer the rules. But when referee David Mendoza was asked about the head butt, he said he saw a punch that caused the cut. Clearly the ref is either incompetent or was in on the rush to give Bradley the win in spite of the rules.

There are rules in boxing, in spite of the loose manner which boxing is administered, a fight stopped due to injury before four rounds is deemed a No Decision, or a No Contest, and NOT a Win by TKO. Even Roy Jones Jr. was issued his first loss because he hit Montell Griffin while he was down. Recently, when Robert Guerrero suffered a cut over his eye in a fight against Doud Yordan, Guerrero said he couldn’t see out of the eye and the fight was stopped and considered a No Contest. And THAT…was in San Jose… California! So, what, do the rules only apply depending on who you are?

When Campbell saw that the officials had given Bradley the fight by TKO in three, he was furious, and rightly so. And while Bradley was being interviewed, Campbell interrupted, arguing that the rule is a ‘No Contest’ in these situations. Bradley refused to acknowledge that truth since he was standing next to his promoter, Gary Shaw. As the situation was getting heated, the interviewer turned to Bradley and asked him what he felt about the ruling. Bradley completely ignored the rule and said, “Campbell was getting older by the rounds and he was going to lose anyway.”

That answer was all Bradley offered and Shaw was content with that. Bradley lost an opportunity to show honor by at least acknowledging that the rule was not applied. Bradley showed that winning is everything and while that may sit well with many of you reading this, it is a disgrace to all sports. What did Bradley have to lose by being honest about the rule? Nothing. He had everything to gain but he opted to say what his promoter wanted to hear, instead of what was true. Bradley said he respects Campbell but he showed no respect when it mattered most.

Campbell was arguing the rules and said he didn’t blame Bradley for the ruling, he said Bradley was simply doing his job. Nate argued to no avail though. The California Commission had made its decision and it was non negotiable. How many times can boxing rip off its fighters and think that it’s ok?

At 37 years old, Nate Campbell’s been around a long time. His win over Juan Diaz propelled him into the limelight but still, promoters didn’t want to let their fighters fight him. Before this fight, Campbell was slated to fight Joan Guzman, an opponent who not only didn’t make weight, but even after Campbell’s camp was willing to accept the fact that Guzman was overweight; Guzman opted out anyway, a decision that saw Campbell lose a $400,000 payday. At Campbell ’s age, that’s a big loss.

Next time up for Nate, against Ali Funeka, ironically, it was Campbell who was unable to make weight. But the fight went on, only it wouldn’t be for the title, since Campbell was stripped of the title immediately.

In case you hadn’t noticed, Nate Campbell is no favorite of the boxing establishment. When he beat Juan Diaz, they were looking for reasons to strip him and he eventually did lose his titles but not in the ring. Stuff like this would never happen to an Oscar de la Hoya or a Manny Pacquaio. Hey, Floyd Mayweather Jr. was the WBC Welterweight titlist for two years and didn’t defend his title once in that period. He fought Jr. Middleweight DLH for a PPV payday and then fought the smaller 140-pound Ricky Hatton for another huge PPV payday and then, when it was only logical that Floyd face one of the other Welterweight titlist, he retired and gave up his WBC title. No one ‘took it away from him’ for not defending it for two years straight.

Yeah, that’s a lot of politics. If the establishment “likes you” you’re safe and can get away with just about anything. If they don’t like you…watch out.

Why am I bitching about this injustice? Because I love boxing and I think with every bad decision, every fixed fight, every dubious decision and every mismatch brings boxing closer to its own demise. Don King, the man who built his reputation as a thief of boxers, stealing their money, stacking the deck and all kinds of shenanigans chimed in while Nate was complaining saying, “This is what’s killing our audience!” On rare occasions, even the biggest liars say something honest. It's garbage like this that puts boxing in the sewer of all sports. I don’t like my sport being at the bottom of the heap.

Boxing is a great sport, one of the most intense on the planet. The fighters work very hard to prepare for their matches and it’s a disgrace that those who administer this sport are undermining it all with their selective application of the rules.

Tim Bradley still has a chance to make a rematch with Nate Campbell and prove that he can beat Campbell fair and square. If he insists on a rematch with Campbell , he will show honor and loyalty to the sport that made him a star. If he doesn’t, it says that Bradley is okay with seeing a fellow fighter get robbed.

Going into this fight, I thought Bradley was too young and too active for Nate, but Campbell has had something of a resurrection in his waning years as a fighter, so you can’t count him out. That Bradley gets the W under these crooked conditions is quite suspect. Somehow I doubt Bradley’s promoter will allow him to do the right thing for boxing. If Bradley does what Gary Shaw tells him, Bradley will show that he’s a ‘good soldier’ and good soldiers do as they’re told.

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Comments can be emailed to dshark87@hotmail.com

For Fight Recaps between January and May 2009, click here...  Fight Recaps Part I (January-May 2009)