Boxing: US judge bears brunt of criticism

WHEN THE final bell sounded at Madison Square Garden shortly after midnight on Saturday, the many thousands who crossed the Atlantic to support Lennox Lewis sent up a cheer in the confident belief that their man had done enough to become the undisputed heavyweight champion.

Even people positioned so far above the action that it would not have surprised them to discover that mountain guides had been recruited as ushers, were entitled to be vehemently at odds with the announcement that followed.

If it is always hazardous to arrive at a verdict from television evidence or when not sitting close at ringside, the draw that prevented Lewis from becoming the first Briton this century to be universally acknowledged as heavyweight champion cannot be regarded as anything other than one of boxing's great injustices.

Having watched the contest again during the early hours yesterday, and making allowances for the natural caution that stood between Lewis and violent victory when he had Holyfield hurt and almost defenceless in the fifth round, the conclusions arrived at by two of the three official judges, Eugenia Williams, who represented the International Boxing Federation, and the World Boxing Council appointee, Larry O'Connell (one of Britain's star referees), are questionable.

O'Connell's score of 115 points for both men finally left the undisputed title in limbo, but Williams's favouring of Holyfield was the main source of controversy. How, for example, did she see Holyfield winning the fifth round when he was pinned on the ropes for 45 seconds without striking a blow, and Lewis threw twice as many punches?

In the context of effectiveness, punch statistics can be misleading. Similarly, aggression only counts as a denominator if it is purposeful. The scorecards of most experienced ringside observers tallied, more, or less, with that of the World Boxing Association judge, Stanley Christodoulou, who gave Lewis a 116-113 points advantage. Richie Giachetti, the hard man who trained both Larry Holmes and Mike Tyson, was among the many fight people who spoke out against the decision. "Jesus, you'd have to be blind not see Lewis as a big winner," he said when we spoke afterwards. "What was that broad [Williams] looking at?"

Other remarks, slanderous in implication, cannot be repeated on these pages. Incompetence is another matter. "I don't care who the winner was," Williams said in defence of her verdict. "I scored by the blows that connected." On that basis - 348 to 130 - Lewis skated it.

Lewis had himself to blame for allowing the situation to develop. As in defences of the WBC belt against Henry Akinwande and Oliver McCaul, he allowed suspicion to undermine his superiority, boxing so cautiously in the latter part of the contest that even Christodoulou gave Holyfield four of the last five rounds.

In truth, the first contest for the undisputed heavyweight title to be held at Madison Square Garden since the epic battle between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier in March 1971 was poor by comparison, so lacking in incident during the later rounds that silence descended upon the audience. Controversy apart, not one for the memory.