By Boxing Bob Newman
Day three of the 35th IBF annual convention in St. Vincent, Italy opened with the first general session. As always, things kicked off with self-introductions of everyone from the board of directors to the attendees in the auditorium.
IBF president Daryl Peoples first introduced to the lectern Gianni Di Leo, Presidente of Regional Committee of Piemonte FPI on behalf of the President of Italian Boxing Federation (FPI) Vittorio Lai. Di Leo welcomed the delegates to Italy and presented President Peoples with a commemoration of the event here in St. Vincent.
The IBF has unveiled a new logo for the federation. As Peoples said, “There’ve been a few minor changes, but it’s still recognizable as our brand.”
Peoples expressed great pride and appreciation regarding the IBF assistance of members affected by the hurricanes in Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands this past year.
President Peoples, and board members Lindsey Tucker and Anibal Miramontes attended the Global Boxing Forum in Sochi, Russia. “A lot of information was exchanged and liaisons were formed within the boxing community.
David McCullough gave a glowing report on the IBF’s finances, stating the most positive growth so far.
IBF European director Roberto Rea elaborated on the highly active status of the organizations European region.
IBF legal counsel Linda Torres expressed that all things legal have been “Quiet until a couple weeks ago.” The logo change has not gone through the official process with the trademark office. Also, there was the issue with the non-sanction of the recent Gennady Golovkin – Vanes Martirosyan middleweight title fight.
Randy Neumann reported that fight sanctioning fees are up 21% from the prior year in 2016. Over $3000 was awarded in scholarships, sponsorships and charities in the last year as well.
Board member Eddie Cotton retold the tale of a recent female title fight in Costa Rica. The entire show was held outdoors and as fate would have it, during the title fight a downpour ensued. Referee Sparkle Lee made adjustments in her movement in the ring to maintain her footing until the final bell.
Cotton also related the Federation’s stance on max weight gain after the official weigh-ins. He used the David Lemieux – Curtis Stevens fight for a regional IBF title. Both fighters made the 160 lb. limit with Lemieux a quarter pound to spare at 159.75. Lemieux didn’t comply with the IBF’s next day weigh in. However, The Turning Stone Casino conducted their own weigh in at 6:30 p.m. and they relayed to Cotton who was supervising the fight that Lemieux weighed in at 181.25 lbs., some 21 lbs. heavier in a little over 24 hours!
Lou Priluker, chairman of the scholarship committee was proud to announce that every applicant was awarded a scholarship this year. Quentin Cooper, Justin Riggins, Malika Walid, Lauren Turner, Ahmed Jones were the grateful recipients.
Pete Podgorski has been working on clarifying the next day weigh-in limits as well. A 7% weight increase limit has been recommended by many ringside physicians but there have been often been roadblocks along the way.
At this point, the most that can be done in cases of the limit being exceeded is let the fight go on, but without the sanction of the IBF.
IBF China president Wang Ruihang made a video presentation and spoke next. He reviewed the success of the 33rd annual convention which was held in Beijing. Ruihang elaborated on the success of the Silk Road and Belt & Road tournaments held throughout China over the last year.
Ruihang then introduced Andrew Lu of the promotional group Rejoy. Rejoy has become the premiere promotional group for boxing in the country.
Together, a pitch is being made for the 2019 IBF convention to take place in Macau, China. The combined effort has included the close working relationship with the Wynn Palace Resort, one of the most opulent and extravagant hotels in the world.
IBF China, Rejoy and Wulong, one of the largest sporting equipment manufacturers in China, have teamed up to form the Boxing Research Laboratory.
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At 1:30 p.m. the judges’ seminar commenced and was presented by Alan Davis and Steve Weisfeld. Davis spoke first, outlining the agenda and expressing the importance of “take-away points.”
Scoring Factors: Clean punching (85%-100%), effective aggression, ring generalship, defense
Judging Skills and Concentration: Practice
Fight Day Preparation: Rest, routine
Keeping Track of Who is Winning: Mental computer
Boxers in a Clinch: Holding and hitting, is clinching strategy
Evaluating Punches: Effectiveness, hardness, number of punches
How Do You Make Up Your Mind? Use secondary criteria of ring generalship, effectiveness and defense
Even Rounds: Try not to score them
Knockdowns: Can a fighter get knocked down, but still win a round?
Scorecards: Know which corner each fighter is in
What Types of Fights Are Tough for You to Judge? Too little or too much action
Learning from Others:
Tips to Others: Focus, don’t be tied to your seat- move if you have to, working with photographers
After a short break, Steve Weisfeld then conducted “round 2,” presenting video of several interesting rounds of recent high profile fights with no sound. The judges in attendance were instructed to score the rounds. Some of the rounds and the consensus of the judges were as follows:
Anthony Joshua-Joseph Parker round 1: Majority of seminar judges thought Joshua won. Actual judges on the night were split 2:1 in favor of Joshua via 10-9.
Jesse Hart-Demond Nicholson round 1: Everyone had it for Hart despite getting tagged and rocked in the last three seconds of the round. All three actual judges had it 10-9 Hart.
Tevin Farmer-Kenichi Ogawa round 7: Large majority had it for Ogawa in the seminar. The actual judges had it unanimously for Ogawa 10-9.
Jezreel Corrales-Robinson Castellanos round 10: Round only lasted 31 seconds. Seminar judges saw it for Corrales. Actual judges had it 10-10, 10-10 and 10-9 Corrales
James DeGale-Caleb Truax #1, round 5: Majority of seminar group had it for Truax, some of that majority had it 10-8. The actual judges had it 10-9 Truax twice and once 10-8 Truax.
Julian Williams-Nathaniel Gallimore round 11: Majority of seminar group had it 10-9 Williams, a small group had it 10-8 Williams. Actual scores were 10-9 Williams twice and 10-8 Williams once.
Deontay Wilder-Luis Ortiz round 7: Split between 10-8 Ortiz and 10-9 Ortiz among the seminar group. Actual scores were 10-8 Ortiz unanimously.
Jeff Horn-Randall Bailey round 3: Horn touched a glove to the canvas courtesy of a hard Bailey punch. Six seminar group members had it 10-9 for Horn. Majority had it 10-9 Bailey and a few had it 10-8 Bailey. Actual judges had it 10-10, and 10-9 Bailey twice.
Adrian Sosa-Bryan Goldsby round 1: Goldsby scored a flash knockdown with 15 seconds to go, after appearing to lose the round prior to the point. The majority of the seminar group had Goldsby winning the round, some 10-8, mostly 10-9. Actual judges had it 10-8 Goldsby twice and 10-10.
Isaac Dogboe-Jesse Magdaleno round 5: The seminar group had Dogboe winning, majority via 10-8 as Dogboe scored a knockdown. A sizable minority had it 10-7. The actual judges had it 10-8 Dogboe twice and 10-7 Dogboe.
Alexander Povetkin-David Price round 3: Seven seminar members had it 10-10, majority had it 10-9 Povetkin. Both fighters went down in the round, Price first, Povetkin second as the ropes held him up. Actual judges had it 10-10 twice and 10-9 Povetkin.
Dillon Carman-Eric Martel Bahoeli round 5: Seminar group had it 10-8 for Carman who scored two knockdowns to Bahoeli’s one knockdown. Actual judges had it 10-9 Carman twice and one judge had it 8-8!
With that Alan Davis returned to the mic and wished that all in attendance took something positive away from this seminar. All attendees were given a questionnaire to fill out and return for use in improving future seminars.
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Simultaneously to the judges’ seminar, the ratings meeting was conducted. Headed by Anibal Miramontes, a full room of promoters, managers, and agents stumped for their respective clients. The new ratings will be released after the convention.
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This year is election year and three seats on the board were up for election. Long time IBF board member Al Meier was not in attendance and this was officially his last year. The seats of Randy Neumann and David McCullough were also up for re-election. New candidates were Ben Keilty and Melvina Lathan. After the final votes were tallied, Neumann was re-elected and Melvina Lathan and Ben Keilty filled the seats of Al Meier and David McCullough. The terms run for three years.
