Boxing Brutality; A Personal Perspective

By Barb Pinnella


The brutality of boxing raised its ugly head again this past weekend during HBO’s Boxing After Dark. Let me immediately say that this is in no way a criticism of anything related to Pechanga Resort and Casino or the product Gary Shaw Productions and Ringside Tickets, Inc. put out. They did one hell of a good job providing the fans with a very entertaining show. But as I was driving home the next morning this editorial more or less wrote itself, so I decided to share.

For those of you who don’t know me, which is still most of you, let me say that I never liked boxing. I always found it to be way too violent and somewhat barbaric, and I could see no reason to take up so much television time airing it. Maybe it’s because it seems as if the couple of times it was on, and believe me it was only once or twice, Jerry Quarry was involved. This was late in his career, and win or lose he was always getting the crap beat out of him, at least that is what stuck in my head. So, no boxing for me, nope, not ever.

Then in 2005, while running through channels, I came across the first season of The Contender. I can’t tell you what made me stop and watch, but from then on I was hooked, and have followed the show ever since. I know that most members of the media look upon that program as a joke, but for me it did exactly what it was intended to do; grab a new audience and expose them to boxing. From there my interest grew, and I have been fortunate enough to cover some big fights of late, as well as actually looking for them on the many stations that air them. Could it be that I was wrong all along? I felt confident that was the case, until this past weekend tested that thought.

Enter Boxing After Dark at Pechanga. I can’t say that all of the bouts were good ones, but the three that were reserved for television had the fans excited. Sergio Martinez faced off against Alex Bunema in a scheduled twelve-rounder, and from the start it was obvious that Bunema was way outclassed. Thing is, he wouldn’t give up, which is an admirable position to take, as long as things don’t go from bad to worse.

The quickness and accuracy of Martinez had Bunema reeling each round, and after the doctor at ringside examined him following the eighth, he told referee Raul Caiz to wave off the fight. This was the first time I had sat ringside and watched a man get punished, but I must admit my thoughts were, fleetingly, that’s the name of the game.

Alfredo Angulo’s battle with Andrey Tsurkan was next in a scheduled 10 round bout, and much like the previous fight, Angulo was the obvious quicker, stronger fighter. But the punishment Tsurkan suffered continued round after round as he was absolutely dominated by Angulo and his powerful blows. As the war raged on it became more uncomfortable for me to watch, as Andrey could never affectively answer the questions asked by Alfredo enough to make any difference in what was happening.

In the last few rounds shouts of “Stop the fight” started ringing out. That’s what I was thinking too, but I thought I was just overreacting. When Tsurkan was allowed to come out for the tenth and final round I was surprised. How he was still on his feet remains a mystery to me, and why he was allowed to be a punching bag for Alfredo is an even bigger question. Mercifully, with just seconds remaining in the final round, his corner waved the towel in submission. Unfortunately, it took referee Tony Crebs several more seconds to actually wave the fight off – would have most likely happened sooner had his corner thrown that towel in there and not just flapped it at Crebs.

This is exactly what turned me off boxing completely those years ago. This time I had clear view of the action and believe me, it looked a lot worse than that TV coverage that I paid very little attention to back in the Quarry day.

When I got to the hotel room they were showing BAD, and I watched the last five rounds of this fight. The reactions of announcers Jim Lampley, Max Kellerman, and Lennox Lewis were the same as what I had felt, well, they were more upset really, as they know first hand what this type of beating can lead to. It was said by one that when a fighter is too brave and the ref isn’t reacting, it is up to his corner to save him from himself.

Major criticisms were dished out for Crebs and the Tsurkan corner. None for either fighter, who were both just in there to do their job.

So I started thinking at the risk of sounding dramatic; did I want to cover boxing anymore? Watching an exciting fight is one thing, seeing someone get knocked senseless is another. But it did not take me too long to answer my own question, and that answer was yes. With my limited experience I have come to appreciate the skill involved, the training necessary, the pride those men feel. I have gotten to speak with their families, see their children, and even become friends with some of them. I respect and support what they do, and am looking forward to covering my next fight.

As of this writing I have not heard how Andrey Tsurkan is doing, but I’ll go with that no news is good news scenario.



Be safe and God Bless,
Viva La Raza,
Barb.