I refrained from writing a report on the Morales-Chavez fight immediately after HBO broadcasted it  hoping that perhaps something was wrong with my vision. I slept on my thoughts and watched the tape the next morning. I must confess that I have issues with the main event of the evening.

MGM's Grand Garden Arena in Sin City hosted the event, attended by over 8,000 enthusiastic boxing fans. Top Rank promoted the card; the feature bout pitting WBC super featherweight champion Jesus 'El Matador' Chavez against challenger Erik 'El Terrible' Morales, who was hoping to make history of his own with a victory.

From the third round forth, Jesus Chavez didn't even as much as extend his right arm, until he was urged by his valiant corner -and I use that word loosely- to go "all out" in the last round.  El Matador's right arm was tied to the side of his body in such a manner it was damn near impossible not to notice something was very wrong with it... Yet and still, here is the HBO trio (Lampley-Merchant-Foreman) totally self-absorbed as it is often the case, making small talk, and feeling great about themselves, but missing the very obvious. Same can be said of Morales' corner, who never pointed out Jesus' problem to their man. Jesus' corner, if aware of the situation, played it off as if it never happened, although they were seen icing his right shoulder in between rounds; but more on them in a minute...

It wasn't until -according to HBO's Jim Lampley- Marc Ratner visited the champion's corner to inquire as to why he wasn't throwing punches with his right hand that the HBO crew realized there was a problem. Furthermore, and granted that perhaps since I wasn't ringside I might have missed  something...  why did Ratner take it upon himself to question what could clearly be a physical problem? Were there any doctors ringside? Who was the chief ringside physician on this evening? Shouldn't a doctor have been called upon to check the fighter in such a situation? Isn't it customary to have the ringside physician check the fighter, assess his condition and then report his or her  findings and/or concerns to the commissioner in charge? I'm curious to know what response did Ratner receive and what was his reaction to it???

Now back to Chavez's corner... Let's assume they didn't know their man had hurt his right shoulder... Didn't they notice that he wasn't using his right hand at all, that his arm was glued to the side of his body for the majority of the 12 rounds? Let's assume they did know he had hurt his shoulder... should they have then instructed him to "go all out" in the last round risking a more serious injury? What was to be gained by having the one-arm Chavez take a sustained beating for at least 7 or 8 rounds from Morales? The title, you say... Well, didn't he lose the title anyway? Let's be honest, what were the chances of Chavez knocking out Erik Morales using only his left hand? Slim, next to none!

And so, once again, we fall for the hype and call this a great fight, a stunning night of boxing, blah, blah, blah... but how can it be all of the above when we had a man fighting at only half of his capability? Boxing is a sport, a science where hopefully one hits and doesn't get hit, or at least, tries to get hit as little as possible... However, due to the inefficiency of some boxing commissions, the lack of leadership and inability to enact and enforce safe regulatory measures across the country by the Association of Boxing Commissions, and many other inequities, boxing continues to take a dive in the popularity scale.

In closing, may I add that there is a price to be paid for the type of punishment Chavez sustained. There is a price to be paid by gritty fighters, guys like Al 'Ice' Cole, who in a few days will face Hasim Rahman in Maryland.

How many of you believe that on his best day and on Rahman's worst day, Cole has a shot of winning this fight? Having seen Cole's last fight against Lance Whittaker some weeks ago, I am concerned for Al's safety. Cole took a tremendous beating, was cut and took a slew of punches flush to his head throughout the bout. There were windows of opportunities for the ref to have stopped the fight, but most importantly, the corner certainly should have saved Al 'Ice' Cole from himself.  Who needs another death such as that of veteran Peruvian fighter Luis Villalta, who collapsed into unconsciousness and died four days after he defended a regional title  here in South Florida? Granted, accidents do happen, and some tragic situations can't be helped, but at what point is enough punishment enough?

I keep hearing in the back of my mind the words of a very special ringside physician who in an interview told me 'boxing needs to develop a conscience...' I only hope it will happen sooner rather than later...

P.S. Congratulations to Erik 'El Terrible' Morales, now only the second Mexican national to have won three titles in as many different weight classes. In case you are wondering, Julio Cesar Chavez is the other great champion to have accomplished the deed.