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Santa
Clara University
Feb. 26, 2005
The
heart and soul of boxing is the amateur program.
Anyone who loves boxing is indebted to the thousands of amateur coaches
who dedicate their lives to this game. Nothing in boxing would be possible
without these individuals. I have been privileged to work as an amateur judge,
timekeeper, and referee. These are
all difficult, challenging positions requiring tremendous dedication, expenses,
and very little thanks.
The
politics in amateur boxing would give a professional politician headaches.
I’ve had the misfortune of running afoul of several of the Association
presidents, not because of my behavior, but because of my questions. Many of
these men are completely unqualified. Anyone with a group of friends can get
elected regardless of qualifications, or lack of them. Most have no experience
as administrators, and even less as diplomats. Others simply do more harm than
good. Worse, anytime someone
questions them, they take personal offense. The uses of foul language, threats
and even fistfights have been used. Allegations of theft, cooking the books, embezzlement,
misappropriation of funds, and more have been made, some with merit.
I was shocked and disillusioned to discover, the old timers, who think
age gives them privilege, are as corrupt as the younger guys, who refuse to
admit there is more than one way to solve a problem. Everybody wants to be in
charge. Nobody wants to listen, and it seems most of them think they no longer
have anything to learn. Foolishness is not harsh enough to describe such
behavior.
I
have also been privileged to meet some of the finest individuals I’ve known in
my life. I have not always agreed with their methods, or their coaching.
I have, never the less, always respected their efforts.
Sitting ringside as a professional sportswriter, I have met many fine
athletes, their coaches and some of the referees.
I have been impressed with some of the referees.
I was at Santa Clara University to interview Dave Nelson, one of the
finest human beings I’ve ever met.
Dave
Nelson and I first met while I was refereeing amateur boxing matches in the
Central California Association. He impressed me with his humble, yet dignified
manner. His easy smile and his good
nature made it easy to request an interview. I am proud to call Dave a friend,
as well as a colleague.
I
made the two-hour drive to Santa Clara University to attend a college boxing
contest. I did not expect much,
especially after witnessing the terrible performance at the police games held in
Stockton in 2004. Those guys were awful. I doubt if many of them trained more
than a couple of weeks. It was such a poor performance, I had to wonder if these
guys really were the boys in blue, who have allegedly sworn to protect and
serve. After witnessing their
terrible performance, I had not expected much from a bunch of college boys. I am
happy to report I was wrong. I was very wrong. The college boys were ten times
better than the cops. They were better trained, better conditioned, and better
mentally prepared. I was also
impressed with them individually. All of them were respectful, polite and
behaved in a manner that would have made their parents proud. I salute Dave
Nelson and Ross Malinowski the coaches of the boxing team. I also want to
mention Candy Lopez, the coach for the San Jose State Boxing Team.
Candy, Dave and Ross are a credit to boxing. I am proud to call them
friends.
I
learned after my arrival the event was held in memory of Dodge Ackerman, a
national champion, who was diagnosed with cancer and died shortly there after.
The show was held at Pat Malley Center.
A young man from San Jose state, named Yutaka Hosoai impressed me He was
matched with Jermaine Waltemeyer from Cal Berkeley. Both of the contestants
moved towards each other with serious intentions.
Jermaine jabbed several times, threw a right, missed then jabbed again.
Yutaka slipped the jab and countered with a solid right hand that dropped
Jermaine to the canvas in less than 30 seconds of the first round.
I had not expected to see this degree of proficiency, pose and timing.
Yutaka displayed both. I also witnessed another first in my sportswriter career.
I watched a young man dislocated his fibula when he threw a wild punch that
missed. His name was Mike Harvey; I believed he might have won the bout.
I recently watched Carlos Zepdea, a professional boxer break his arm in
Stockton, now this. Amazing. Congratulations to Patrick Gilligan for a hard
earned win against Zach White of Cal Berkeley. I want to congratulate the rest
of the Santa Clara boxing team for a fine display of sportsmanship. Good job
guys.
I
interviewed Dave Nelson in the Alumni building on the Santa Clara University
Campus. I was impressed with the entire event. Everyone was very helpful, polite
and a pleasure to be around. I want to thank everyone who helped host the after
fight party. I was impressed with the respect demonstrated towards Dave by his
boxers. Dave has been coaching boxing at Santa Clara University since 1962. He
is highly regarded and very well respected. His quite, unassuming manner makes
it easy to compliment his efforts.
I
asked Dave to share some of his experiences. Dave began by saying he’d grown
up poor, living in a 16-foot trailer with his parents, who struggled to make
ends meet. He’d learned how to
fight in the Santa Clara Valley. He
grew up rough, having to work along side migrant farm workers.
Having grown up the same way, I can personally testify, fighting was a
required skill, something everyone took seriously. He stated he’d had a lot of
fun as an amateur. He’d boxed as a Cub Scout, and high school as well. He’d
gotten along with most of the pickers, but sometimes they’d end up fighting in
the orchards. He said they fought hard, then after the brawl, look at each
other, and laugh. He also boxed at San Jose State University.
He had has two hundred and five fights, loosing only five. Much to my
surprise, he didn’t remember the names of the boxers he’d lost too. I
remember every guy who ever beat me in the ring.
I
first met Dave while he was refereeing in the amateurs, then one day I saw him
at a pro show. According to Dave, someone suggested he could be an excellent
professional referee. After taking the exams and getting his license he’d been
assigned to work a ten round fight. This was uncommon for a new referee, however
his mentor believed he could handle it. He also received a valuable piece of
advice, which he still carries with him today. His mentor told him. “Remember
Dave, people who come to the fights don’t pay to watch the Referee”, and
that's the way I believe a referee should do his job.
Dave added he has seen referees stomp there feet, wave their arms, and do
all sorts of antics. Jokingly, he
added, “If someone wants to see me, they can come to my house or give me a
call”. Dave has a great sharp sense of humor. You gotta stay alert, or
you’ll miss the punch line.
What
is the most important thing a referee should keep in mind while refereeing a
fight? “The most important thing is safety. This is a dangerous game and
someone could get hurt. If someone is hurt it’s his job to stop it, before
serious injury can occur”.
What
would you do different? “I think
I’d do what I’m doing now. I try to do as well as I can.
You should keep in mind boxers have spent hours, days and weeks
preparing. It’s not right for someone who does not know what’s going on, to
be in there with them. If someone doesn’t know, isn’t prepared, or has
preconceived ideas of who should win or loose, they should not be in there.
This is someone’s life you have in your hands.”
What
advice would you give someone who wants to be a referee?
“A referee needs to go to a gym and practice refereeing, under
someone’s supervision. They should practice. If he makes mistakes, he can
correct them there. Every referee should be required to do this.
A training program should be instituted and every man should be judged on
his ability to do the job.”
How
much time should a referee train? “Well
that’s an individual thing. We have referees who claim to have boxed, and know
a lot, but they don’t know diddli-di. It’s not right for a referee to take a
young fighter’s future in his hands and ruin it, because of his lack of
knowledge or personal feelings. That’s not right.
You gotten be honest, and call it like it is”.
What
advice would you give a young professional fighter? “You should know the rules
and follow the referee’s instructions. Don’t
get the referee upset, I’ve seen them jerk guys apart, and push them around,
that’s not right. They should talk to them before the bout, and explain things
so that everyone gets the same message. This is especially important in the pro
ranks. Everyone should be made to attend a meeting before the bout, with all the
trainers, corner men, and fighters. If someone is late or misses, they should be
fined. It’s simple if you break the law, you face the consequences”.
Was
the written test difficult? “Well its not difficult if you studied the book
and know the sport .”
What
would you tell a wanna be professional referee? “I’d tell them to attend as
many fights as possible. There used
to be a rule that you had to referee amateur bouts before you became a
profession. That's changed, now there are some amateurs rules I don’t agree
with, like the clickers they use to score the bouts. I don’t know who made up
these rules. Hey, what are you gonna do if you made a mistake? You can’t erase the click. You should give a guy credit for
putting pressure on someone, or not getting hit, but now you can’t. It’s all
about the clicker and the system is not working.”
What
was your opinion of the American Olympic Team? “I wasn’t too pleased with
them, but it’s a different situation now. I was on the team with Muhammad Ali,
things were different then. My
daughter met him on a flight, and after speaking with him, he said he remembered
me. It was an honor”.
What
would you change about professional referees? I would develop an evaluation
system where referees were judged on their performance. They should be assigned
work on a rotating basis, it should be fair.
As a disabled veteran and college graduate, I believe everyone deserves
to be treated fairly. Although this is not always the case.”
I
offered Dave an opportunity to make a final statement. “I’d like to see more
boxing in prisons, inmates who box have a lesser chance of returning to prison
than those who didn’t box. Boxing teaches a person more about himself than any
other sport. It teaches you about the ups and down of life, when life knocks you
down, a fighter always gets up. Loosing, surrendering, giving up or quitting is
never an alternative. Boxing teaches you to keep fighting. “I love boxing and
its men like Dave Nelson that help keep it alive.
It’s not the promoters, the referees, or the commissioners, they are
just middle managers. Boxing belongs to the fans, not the big shots like Don
King or Oscar De Hoya. It’s the
little guy who keeps boxing alive. It’s the amateur coaches and officials who
dedicate their lives to the sport. Most
importantly, it’s the boxers themselves who make boxing what it is today.
Currently,
we have an alleged non-profit organization that is imposing a monopoly over
amateur boxing. In doing research, I discovered USA Boxing Incorporated out of
Colorado Springs, a nation wide organization, is now attempting to impose
control over thousands of amateur boxers, coachers and officials. Why would it do so, if there was no money involved?
Lets hope graduates of Santa Clara Law School will pose these questions
to people in authority. We cannot permit amateur boxing to be dominated by one
organization. Monopolies have always been bad for everyone, except those
who pull the strings.
Boxing
fans across the country should write their political representative and ask them
to initiate a full and complete investigation of current polices and procedures
imposed by USA Boxing Incorporated. We
cannot surrender to apathy. Nor can we allow some fat cat, whose only goal is
making money, to monopolize amateur boxing in the United States. We are the land
of the free and the home of the brave. We
are currently fighting a war to help grant and protect freedom to the Iraqis.
Fans of boxing, participants, and parents deserve the same protection.
I’ve
been curious of what a professional referee would say about working for the
current commissioner. I’ve asked
several, and all of them have refused to reply fearing the repercussions.
One brave soul admitted that doing so would be suicide. “It would mean
immediate termination”. It seems
the commissioner runs the commission, a public agency, as his own personal
kingdom. Those that dance his tune
get the better fights, those who challenge his authority or don't genuflect, are
punished. I have written many
articles in which I expressed concern on how the commission conducts its
business, but as I stated before, it is a closed public system. There seems to be no way in. I even volunteered to work for
free and was turned down. I wrote
my congressman, and state representative and still no dice. I’ve been blowing
this whistle for years, yet no one has paid any attention. I have never had any
of my questions answered, or any of my concerns addressed. It appears this
public agency funded by our taxes, is controlled by two or three people. None of
which are known, or answerable to anyone. There are also seems to be a lot
former cops and correctional officers working for the commission. This may
explain the secrecy of which cops are notorious for. This concerns me. Anytime
right wing, ultra conservatives get together, it is always spells trouble for
the little guy. It stinks of back room deals, kickbacks and dirty money.
I don’t know if this is a conflict of interest, or if it’s double
dipping in the state system. I
intend to dig a little deeper and get some answers.
My only course is to contact the ACLU.
I believe The Freedom of Information Act should cover it, or at least
stir up some interest. I’ve
contacted the LA office and met the same attitude. Whoever runs the commission
feels confident enough to ignore my repeated questions.
Maybe
some of the law students from Santa Clara University Law School would be
interested in helping me. My only goal is to locate whoever is responsible and
accountable. I’d like to know how The Commission is run. Who makes the
decisions, how are referees assigned work. Who picks them and why. Who counts
the money and who gets to keep it? Where is going and who decides who gets how
much? I don’t believe these questions are improper. It would be an interesting
class project in case anyone is interested, contact me. I am still very proud to
be a part of this All American Sport. I
believe that unless the alarm is sounded, we may be allowing greed, corruption
and monopolies to weaken and ultimate destroy the best sport in the world. Yet,
even as I look at this uphill battle. I Thank God For Boxing.
Always
in Your Corner,
Jorge A. Martinez
Sportswriter/Trainer/Manager
dancingskyhorse@earthlink.net
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