"Houston, we have ripoff! I'm never bringing a top flight fighter to Texas again unless he was born there," stated promoter Lou DiBella in his most recent update on Twitter. DiBella is referring to the controversial scoring of last night's bout between Paulie Malignaggi and Juan Diaz. Although most boxing fans thought that Malignaggi had done enough to get the nod on the scorecards, judge Gale Van Hoy saw the fight differently.
Just days prior to the fight, Malignaggi had openly accused of Van Hoy of showing favoritism towards Texas fighters. True to form, Van Hoy scored the bout 118-110 in favor of Houston native Juan Diaz. Anyone who scores that fight would have a hard time finding 10 rounds out of the 12 that Diaz actually won in order to justify that type of scorecard. Even the 116-112 score of Oklahoma judge David Sutherland seems out of line with the action that took place inside of the ring. "I'm very proud of Paulie and I hate the politics of boxing," DiBella added, implying that a hidden agenda may have been at play as far as the final outcome of the bout.
While it's unclear as to what "politics" DiBella may have been referring to, one might be able to make some assumptions based on Diaz's comments inside the ring during his post-fight interview with Max Kellerman. "I'm ready for whoever they bring...I would love a rematch with Juan Manuel Marquez no matter the outcome against Mayweather," Diaz commented as he spoke about his future plans. A future rematch with Mexican legend Juan Manuel Marquez would indeed seem likely for his next bout. After all, their first fight was extremely close before Diaz got cut and was ultimately stopped in the ninth round. Not to mention, both fighters are promoted by Golden Boy Promotions, meaning there's no need to share the profits of a potential all-Mexican Cinco de Mayo clash with another promoter. Most importantly, with Oscar De La Hoya's recent retirement and Victor Ortiz's recent loss to Marcos Maidana, there's a position still open for the next Mexican-American crossover star. As a business, Golden Boy Promotions is looking to fill that position. What better way to do it than to rebuild a young, Mexican-American former champion who just completed college?
Was corruption involved? Not likely as that would imply some type of laws were broken. However, given the 118-110 score of judge Gale Van Hoy, there was definitely some bias involved in the scoring. If Golden Boy Promotions is truly going to make a change and a difference in boxing, now is the perfect opportunity for them to do it. Paulie Malignaggi deserves a rematch with Juan Diaz and he deserves it on neutral grounds with judges who are willing to give him a fair shake.
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