Columnist Jeff Haney: Arum, Shaw take jabs at HBO’s Merchant

Thursday, March 31, 2005 | 10:02 a.m.

Jeff Haney covers boxing for the Las Vegas Sun. Reach him at (702) 259-4041 or haney@lasvegassun.com.

Promoters Bob Arum and Gary Shaw assailed HBO boxing commentator Larry Merchant this week after Merchant criticized the Nevada State Athletic Commission on a Saturday night broadcast.

After a replay of the March 19 super featherweight fight between Erik Morales and Manny Pacquiao, Merchant suggested that Dr. Margaret Goodman was barred from working the bout as ringside physician because of political maneuvering within the commission.

Merchant did not specifiy what he thought those politics involved or say why he thought anyone would not want Goodman working the fight.

Marc Ratner, executive director of the commission, said this week that Goodman voluntarily removed herself from the rotation of ringside physicians well in advance of the fight because she had other commitments out of town.

"I thought HBO took an unfair shot at Marc and the commission," Shaw said. "I think it stinks."

Arum and Shaw made their remarks at a news conference at Mandalay Bay on Tuesday to announce the May 7 lightweight title fight between Jose Luis Castillo and Diego Corrales, which will take place at the Mandalay Bay Events Center and air on Showtime.

"I join Gary in deploring what another network did," Arum said. "A know-it-all analyst for HBO claimed that through political influence ... the person he claimed was the best doctor was banned from working the fight.

"Why, that's the most yellow journalism I've ever heard. ... For him to have said that to the nation is ... absolute demagoguery, a falsehood.

"Somebody has to bring somebody like that to account. This nonsense has to stop. There is no place in this sport for that type of behavior."

Ratner said he was attending boxing matches in Laughlin on Saturday night and that his phone began ringing as soon as Merchant made his comments.

"I was shocked," Ratner said. "It was a case where (Merchant) didn't have all the facts."

Dr. Al Capanna, a neurosurgeon, worked the fight from ringside. Capanna examined Pacquiao during a timeout in the fifth round after Pacquiao sustained a cut by his right eye. He allowed the fight to continue, and Pacquiao went on to lose a unanimous decision, 115-113 on all three judges' cards.

The 12-rounder at the MGM Grand Garden Arena won acclaim as perhaps the most exciting fight of the year.

"It's a shame (about Merchant's comments) because it was such a great night," Ratner said.

Merchant could not immediately be reached for comment.

UNLV boxing

Seven fighters from the UNLV Dr. Elias Ghanem Boxing Team qualified to compete in the national collegiate boxing championships, which begin today at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo.

The boxers earned spots in the nationals by winning, placing second or scoring an at-large bid in their weight class at the Western Regional championships earlier this month in Reno.

The UNLV boxers who qualified, along with their performance in the regionals:

Participating in the regionals along with UNLV were UNR, Cal, Air Force, Santa Clara, San Jose State and the University of San Francisco.

The semifinal round of the nationals is scheduled for Friday with the final round Saturday.

Caesars card

Two world championship fights highlight an attractive card scheduled for Saturday, April 23, at Caesars Palace.

ESPN Pay-Per-View will televise and plans to debut a new boxing statistics system based on recording punches in real time. It's the first of two events this year that ESPN Pay-Per-View will handle.

In a WBA lightweight championship fight, Juan Diaz (27-0, 13 knockouts) risks his belt against Ebo Elder (22-1, 14 KOs), who is training in Las Vegas for the bout. Diaz is a minus-330 favorite in the scheduled 12-rounder, with Elder a plus-250 underdog.

In a WBO welterweight title fight, Antonio Margarito (30-4, 21 KOs) defends against Kermit Cintron (24-0, 22 KOs), who has knocked out 13 of his past 14 opponents. Margarito is a minus-130 favorite in the scheduled 12-rounder, with Cintron listed at even money in Las Vegas sports books.

Also on the card, three-time world champ Shane Mosley (39-4, 35 KOs) meets David Estrada (18-1, 9 KOs), ranked No. 2 by the IBF, in a 10-round welterweight bout. Mosley opened a 9-1 favorite at Caesars, said Chuck Esposito, assistant vice president for race and sports.

Jameel McCline (31-4-3, 19 KOs) and Calvin Brock (24-0, 20 KOs), the 2000 U.S. Olympic super heavyweight, clash in a 10-round heavyweight fight. McCline is a minus-170 favorite, Brock a plus-140 underdog.

Brock spent a week in McCline's camp last year helping him prepare for his title fight against Chris Byrd, a left-hander. McCline knocked Byrd, the IBF champion, down in the second round but lost a split decision at Madison Square Garden.

"I hadn't had my lefty gloves on in six years, since 1999," Brock said in a recent teleconference. "I am a totally different boxer as a right-handed boxer. I have fought all 24 fights and all 20 knockouts as a right-handed fighter. ... Some of the things that I tried to do against Jameel I couldn't do because I am a right-handed fighter. ...

"I thought he won the title shot he had against Chris Byrd and I was pulling for him. I didn't call Jameel out; it was just a business move that my promoter, Main Events, chose him and Jameel took the fight."

The suggested retail price of the pay-per-view broadcast is $29.95, and tickets are $50-$250.

Mayweather-Gatti

Floyd Mayweather Jr. will officially open training camp May 1 at the Top Rank Gym in Las Vegas for his June 25 junior welterweight title fight against Arturo Gatti in Atlantic City.

The combatants kicked off festivities with separate news conferences last week in New York, with Mayweather calling Gatti a "bum" and a "C-plus fighter."

"I'm an A-plus fighter," Mayweather (33-0, 22 KOs) said. "I got no respect for him, none."

A day later, Gatti (39-6, 30 KOs) fired back.

"He's got no class," Gatti said. "It sounds like he needs to build his confidence level."

Referring to Mayweather's father Floyd Sr. and uncle, two-time champ Roger Mayweather, Gatti said "glass jaws" run in the Mayweather family.

"And they all have big mouths," Gatti said.