Boxing Opinion: Atlas More Than Shrugs

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You would figure after spending one’s entire life watching boxing, lousy decisions would roll off the back without more than a shrug of the shoulders. Unfortunately, those who cherish the Sweet Science as if it was one of their own cannot help but become outraged when they see a boxer robbed at figurative gunpoint on national television.

ESPN color analyst Teddy Atlas has never been one to hide his seething hatred regarding the rampant corruption that has all but ruined the sport. He was again given an open mic on Dec. 11 and allowed to spew his disgust at what had just transpired in the ring.

In one of the opening bouts on a special ESPN Thursday Night Fights card featuring former world champions Austin Trout and Antonio Tarver fighting in separate battles, little-known Canadian junior featherweight contender Tyson Cave fought his butt off and thoroughly dominated opponent Oscar Escandon for 12 rounds. Though Cave never really hurt his Colombian foe, he threw what seemed to be five times as many punches and landed many of them. Oftentimes throughout their encounter, Cave circled his opponent, throwing and landing multi-punch combinations while Escandon literally just stood there with his gloves up.

Yes, Escandon had moments where he unfurled several right hands and many of them connected, but those outbursts were few and far between compared to the dizzying punch output displayed by Cave. Round after round, it was apparent that Cave was by far the superior man inside the ring, and when the 12th round ended, it seemed a given that Cave would not only win but do so in a landslide; the fight was that one-sided.

What transpired moments later was so confusing that not even Albert Einstein could have extrapolated the genesis of the official scoring.

Atlas saw it 118-110 for Cave, as did Sherdog.com. ESPN’s Facebook viewers had the Canadian pitching a complete shutout over the 12 rounds. Ringside judge Max DeLuca had Cave on top by a much closer margin of 115-113, but at least he had him winning. The scorecards turned in by Tony Crebs and Raul Caiz Jr., who saw it 115-113 and 117-111 for the Colombian, can only be described as inexplicable.

It was such a lopsided fight that in between the later rounds Escandon’s cornermen were imploring him to push for the knockout -- to do something, anything -- and their collective body language was that of a losing side. Still, their man had his hand raised at the end, a sight which set off a fiery tirade from Atlas.

“That’s why this business needs a national oversight,” he said. “It needs a national commission to investigate crimes; and I’ll say it: crimes like this.”

Atlas was nowhere near finished.

“As great as this sport is and as noble as those athletes can be, that is why this sport continues to hurt itself,” he said. “It continues to give itself a black eye even when it’s become a Cyclops. There are no more eyes to blacken. Somebody -- some congressman, some senator, somebody with a little guts and some integrity -- can come forward and help us with this sport. It is a corrupt sport. It is a sport that does not do justice to these great athletes. This is a sham.”

Every Atlas word was on point. The decision on national TV was among the worst in recent memory and represented yet another example of boxing punching itself in the mouth. Just when the sport does the right thing and suggests that perhaps Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao could finally lock horns in May, this happens.

There are many reasons why fans have either stopped following boxing altogether or never bothered to do so in the first place, but suspicious and incompetent judging of fights that are so easy to score is the leading reason. Boxing has long been the black sheep of America’s professional sports world, but no matter how loud the people who love it cry, nothing is ever done to solve its blatant issues. Boxing is such a poorly run and corrupt sport that NCAA football actually looks pristine when compared to it.

It did not take long for Atlas to bring his emotions to a boil.

“It’s been years and years of this same garbage, this same trash,” he said. “I have no choice but to [do this]. I’ve been in this business for 40 years; I’m in this for life. Where else am I going to go? I have nowhere else to go, but if I did, I’d get the hell out of this. I’d get the hell out. I’m sick and tired of watching these fighters put everything on the line, get into the ring and then get out of the ring with less of themselves physically than they had when they went in; and then this gets done to them, by a bunch of cowards ringside that never took a punch in their lives? I’m sick of it.”

The Atlas rant continued into the second round of the Trout-Luis Grajeda main event, all while social media exploded with dismay and frustration.

“The business of boxing stinks,” he said. “The sport is still great when it’s not tainted by corrupt and incompetent judges. This happens, unfortunately, way, way too much in this business. One judge gave it to [Escandon], 117-111. [His corner] knew the truth in the punches, not the lie of human beings, the lie of judges.”

Something needs to be done, and it needs to happen swiftly. Sadly, by the time there is major reform in boxing -- if any ever takes place -- the sport might be in the morgue, having absorbed too much plundering and pillaging to be brought back to life.