1) Reward the screwed fighter.Vitali Klitschko gave me the idea, when he gave the title shot to Dereck Chisora instead of Robert Helenius, after Helenius won a bad decision over Chisora. This would mean Carlos Molina getting a title shot... Erislandy Lara, and Gabriel Campillo as well. If this happens enough, promoters will stop wasting grease money on corruptable officials, because it just makes their fighter into the bad guy, and denies him a title shot anyway.
2) Judge and referee suspensions.
We can yell until we are blue in the face, but take it from the father of young children... the truth is that reward/discipline is the only way to affect behavior. Why should Marlon Wright, Russell Mora, Gale Van Hoy, Laurence Cole, or Jon Schorle do their job any better? They are just going to get more work from their names being put out there. This is one category where boxing does not have it the worst. Where the NBA should be using it's uniformity to punish officals who consistently make bad calls, instead they punish the coaches and athletes who have the nerve to point out the obvious infractions. A national commission is only the first step. Having it run by fans who love the sport, and not just businesspeople is the next. A lot of people want that job, and are capable of doing it. If these men got their jobs from competency, and not having the right golf buddy, things would improve.
3) More promoters
I know this sounds counter productive. But we need more small cards, local and regional, and let them run the big fights when they come to town. Most promoters nowadays are just venue bookers with a bigger bankroll anyway. Golden Boy and Top Rank are the only ones making consistent stars out of their charges, however, few things are as pathetic as a big promoter doing local cards. The Club Nokia series for Golden Boy in Los Angeles is one good example. Protected prospects beating up on hapless victims, knowing they are one good combination away from a TKO win at the hands of a referee who wants more work from Golden Boy. They usually put two clubfighters on for action's sake, but I prefer the old way. Make competitive, action figths, records be damned, and if the cream rises, then get a bigger dog like Golden Boy involved. Roy Englebrecht's 25 years series in Orange County, CA is sold out for a reason. There are times the main event is a 6 rounder featuring a fighter with a losing record. The action is there, though, and so are the fans.
4) Get our promoters from elsewhere in life
Ok, so the biggest promoters of the last few decades have been lawyers, convicted killers, swiss bankers, and diamond cutters. You think people like this give a damn about fairness? I can't speak to anyone individually, but screwing a fighter out nof money or a decision is not the greatest sin on most promoter's sleazy record. This is just not a good start. We need social program builders, community organizers, etc. People who can not only put together good fights, but build strong teams, and reward them appropriately. We need to put together programs in place for those 17-7 fighters who have nowhere to go after boxing. Today's promoters come from an 'I gets mine!" background, not a community background.
5) Fan-based reward system for referees of great fights.
We always say a great referee is one whom you don't notice. Now, that is not entirely fair to them. Sometimes certain fighters force you to notice the referee, due to their lack of ethics. However, Steve Smoger is called one of the best referees in boxing because of how often he is iinvolved in great fights. He does so by allowing hurt fighters to recover, and breaking clinches at the right time. There are far too many refs who want to be the center of attention, psyhcologically, and I think that plays to their wont to stop fights too soon. This happens constantly in California, and lately in Nevada. Again, they are never going to stop until punished, but they are robbing fighters of the right to come from behind and earn a victory, and in turn, more money. I believe in rewards also. Rank the referees, according to how good the fights they referee are. Let the fans rate the fights, and the referee conduct, from comment cards left on the seat. Remember, when a ref blows a call, the fans are robbed too. Let them decide who will referee more. This is not without it's problems, as hometown fans will favor referees who helped their buddy, but with a strong national commission in place, that can be taken into account.
Chris Strait
www.convictedartist.com
