Olympic Controversy: Barriga - Zhakypov

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Philippine Olympic Boxing is now saddened of Light Flyweight prospect Mark Anthony Barriga's defeat against Kazakhstan's Birzhan Zhakypov. Barriga, who had defeated Manuel Cappai of Italy on the score of 17-7, made the entire country dream with his quest for the elusive Olympic Gold Medal. I for one, although envious, had my hopes up with his ride for Olympic greatness. I wanted him to win the Gold Medal, but as it turned out, Lady luck seemed to go against the Filipino prospect. Barriga from the Philippines lost with a score of 16-17 in favor of Zhakypov from Kazakhstan. It was a controversial decision that sparked some interest and fascination between Olympic Boxing fan's like myself.

Round 1

Earlier rounds seemed to favor Barriga with his consistency and willingness to throw punches on his opponent. Actively, I would say Barriga was more aggressive, as Zhakypov was more reserved yet accurate. It was a close round. The judges had it 5-4 in favor of the more accurate Birzhan Zhakypov of Kazakhstan.

Round 2

Again, Barriga was the more aggressive fighter. He threw lots of punches that worked into his favor as the the Kazakhstan fighter seemed to stay idle and relaxed throughout this round. Barriga outlanded his opponent by 8-10, his aggressiveness, hand speed, and counter punching skills carried out in this round.


Round 3

A determined Birzhan Zhakypov turned his pedal to the metal. He was more aggressive than the Filipino contingent for the very first time. Barriga looked to counter punch his opponent as Zhakypov was coming in. Both fighters seemed to wrestle each other in deep anticipation, sensing the urgency that their Olympic dreams may come to an end tonight. There were moments where both fighters kept falling down, as they were coming in. Referee Roland Labbe of Canada then decided to give a two point advantage penalty on Barriga for wrestling. The score ended in a steady 17-16 in favor of Birzhan Zhakypov of Kazakhstan.

Final Thoughts

The decision is definitely unfortunate for the Filipino contingent. He should have won this match if the referee never gave the deduction with a score of 16-15. Again, I don't criticize the rules and favoritism thereof of the Olympic community, but this is just outrageous! I cannot stand to watch a fighter being blamed entirely over something which is not entirely his fault. It reminded me of the Hopkins - Dawson debacle. This is the same instance wherein the decision of the referee irrationally ended the fight. It was never a pleasant thing to watch.

Why don't you just let the fighters win it the way fighters must win it, not by some reckless decisions, created by certain officials, to enforce a point system that irrationally ends the fight like this? For the most part, the better fighter was Barriga despite his deterioration in the final round, in my opinion. I'm not becoming a sourpuss just because I am Filipino. I am not biased. I am just like a lot of sports enthusiast out there who does not want to see people staining the fight game like this.. The same fight game that combat sports athletes like myself cherish and get an inspiration from.

A word of advice to referee's who work in combat sports.. Please, never ever deduct a point from fighters. Think of it before you do it, and if you do it, please let it be for illegal blows. If you recognize a fault, be sure that the reason for it is entirely one's fault. I know that this sport in itself is sometimes imperfect, but let us try and get things right. When a fighter steps inside the ring, he has only one opponent in mind, not the referee, judges, or the crowd. It also only depends if other than his opponent, he creates another in himself.

Picture: Filipino Olympian Mark Anthony Barriga delivers a straight right hand over Italian Olympian Manuel Cappai in the London 2012 Olympics.

Hopkins - Dawson, a disgrace in the sport of Boxing

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Before I start, I want to thank everyone who have read my posts or those who stumbled into my blog. This blog has just reached its 6000 mark and I'm very thankful to everyone.

Now, I have just watched the recent clash between Bernard "The Executioner" Hopkins and "Bad" Chad Dawson. I was in a very relaxed and almost getting into bed until I was enraged with what I saw. Bernard Hopkins, known to be the oldest World Boxing Champion was supposed to defend his Light Heavyweight Championship belt after winning convincingly against Jean Pascal. Chad Dawson on the other hand, had a loss against Pascal, and is now into his comeback into regaining the Championship that was once his. That was the template of the match-up so far, entering into the match. The earlier fights were great, but this fight spoiled everything.

The early rounds were a toss-up. Chad Dawson using range and spearing his punches into Hopkins. The older Hopkins, looked to get Dawson into a hold and hammering him on a semi-clinch. Dawson looked frustrated as he was unable to hit Hopkins on the inside, because he immediately clinches. Ultimately, as Hopkins got close to Dawson on round two, Dawson immediately lifts Hopkins and throws him down on the canvass. Bernard Hopkins clearly unable to continue, as he may have dislocated his left shoulder after being thrown. The referee warns to give a Technical Knock-out if Bernard was unable to continue, which he did. Chad Dawson wins by Technical Knock-out by round two.

Thoughts:
I thought this match was the most craziest thing I have seen in boxing. The Mayweather-Ortiz fight was alright, but the Hopkins-Dawson? Come on. I would have understood if Mike Tyson would bite the ears of Holyfield again, but that is not the point. I have seen the imperfections in the sport of boxing, and to some extent, I have come to enjoy them. Just like when a slip gets called a knock-down or a knock-down turns into a slip. This is what a champion faces in the ring, and he must appear to be unfazed by it, and overcome obstacles.

In the case of the Hopkins-Dawson showdown. I was very disappointed. I mean, you could use the privilege to judge a knock-down without the replays, but to judge a fight because you were not sure what just happened? That to me, is an abuse of privilege, and things must change in boxing as well. I also would like to give emphasis, that this is BOXING, not MMA. Take-downs are not a part of boxing, and if you ask me, you are not supposed to judge the fight as a TKO with that. It almost looked more of an MMA bout rather than a boxing match.

This is what kills boxing.. what destroys it, and I don't want to be put up to this pressure. I too, am an aspiring fighter, and with the kind of reputation that boxing builds today, it makes me have serious doubts if I would be interested to get inside a sport with so much confusion and issues. It all comes down to the judgment of the referee. For me, personally, I blame the ref' for that wrong call. I could pass out a loosely judged knock-out, but to decide the fight is over on a take-down? You must be out of your freaking mind.

The people who watched the fight know that this fight should be judged as a No Contest rather than a Technical Knock-out. People who watched the fight must be really disappointed too, since they paid a fortune to get their seats into this fight, but it ended up short and disappointing. To state it, overall, it sucks! I would want it to be called a No Contest, and let them have a rematch, not because they need it or want it, but for the honor of boxing. It's hard to win fans back into boxing when this sort of things happen.

My Proposal:
It is high time that we should change certain aspects in the sport of boxing. In the old times, fighters would go unlimited rounds until one quits. It changes, and rounds would reach until fifteen. After the death of Duk Koo Kim in their match with Ray Mancini, championship rounds were then cut to twelve. What I want to propose, is the use of replays in boxing matches. For the longest time in sports history, boxing is a sport that do not rely on replays, they resort to the referee's judgment.

It affects all common sense. This is the age of  High Definition LCD screens, Cyber-internet communication, Digital-age, and a lot. Times have past, and so, the sport of boxing must adapt to it as well. I mean, why should we continue with the old? when common sense tells us, there is a replay. This is high time for change, especially with the Bernard Hopkins and Chad Dawson debacle. It just kills the sport, if we are blindly going out through our ways. I know it must be a miracle for me to give everyone a heads-up, I'm just a blogger, but I am a person too, and I say my opinions when things get ugly.

Picture: Bernard Hopkins after a take-down from Chad Dawson.