I have the utmost respect for the Nevada State Athletic Commission, which is one of the finest oversight bodies in the world. And Kenny Bayless, the veteran referee, is one of the best in the business.
Those are among the reasons I was so flabbergasted by what I witnessed Thursday night on ESPN.
Jose Pedraza was in the process of dominating Mikkel LesPierre in the bubble at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas when the talented Puerto Rican went down from a punch to the stomach at 1:50 of Round 5 and Bayless began his count.
After the round, Bayless was alerted to the fact that the apparent knockdown might’ve been the result of a trip. Thus, a moment after the bell sounded to begin Round 6, Bayless called a timeout, left the ring and conferred with his fellow officials to determine whether it was a knock down or a trip.
After watching replays, they finally decided that it was the latter and the fight resumed.
Here’s the problem: The process took 2 minutes, 10 seconds, which is an eternity in boxing. I understand that Nevada rules allow a break in the action to make such a determination but it’s a horrible, short-sighted idea for a number of reasons.
In no particular order …
- Pedraza put LesPierre down and hurt him later in Round 5. I believe LesPierre recovered sufficiently before the end of the round. Still, any advantage Pedraza had was lost in that 2:10.
- The break in the action spoiled the flow of the fight. As ESPN broadcaster Joe Tessitore pointed out on the air, a bout is composed of three-minute rounds with one-minute of rest between them. “You have to withstand that and endure that,” he said. Right. That’s boxing. Timeouts generally are justified only to protect the fighters.
- Three minutes-plus (including the minute before the review period) is long enough for a boxer to grow cold. Thus, when the fight resumed after the break, Pedraza and LesPierre had to transition from cool idle to hot fight mode in an instant. That’s not easy.
- And the break in the action sucked the life out of the fight. It’s also difficult for fans to get re-engaged after such a long – and bizarre – break.
Beyond all that, the timeout wasn’t necessary. Bayless could’ve told LesPierre and his cornerman after Round 5 that the knockdown might’ve been a trip and was under review. Then a replay official could’ve made the determination during Round 6 and informed the corner before Round 7.
In other words, was it really imperative for LesPierre to know whether it was a knockdown or a trip at that moment? I know it changed the scoring of Round 5. Still, it didn’t warrant stopping the fight for two minutes.
And, on top of everything else, Bayless and Co. got the call wrong. In my opinion, it WAS a knockdown. Yes, Pedraza tripped over LesPierre’s foot but it was a clean punch that started the process. That’s an obvious knockdown in my book.
I don’t want to be too hard on the NSAC, which I believe constantly evolves in an effort to better serve the boxers and everyone else in the sport. All oversight organizations should be as diligent as this one.
That said, what happened on Tuesday was both ridiculous and alarming. If NSAC officials are a sharp as I think that are, something like this will never happen again.