(JUNE 16) Texas is a state
that has been mired in boxing controversy in recent years, but
that doesn't seem to concern their commission officials enough
to make them ensure a level playing field, apparently.
Moments ago at the weigh-in for tomorrow's WBC middleweight
championship fight between Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. and top
contender Andy Lee, representatives of Lee requested to weigh
both camp's gloves.
That request was denied by Texas Commission Sports Inspector
Robert Tapia.
"They brought their own gloves and we brought ours," explained
Lee's manager, Perry Mandera, "so we thought in the interest of
full disclosure and a level playing field, we would weigh both
pairs. We weighed ours out in the open in front of everyone.
They would not put theirs on the scale. So, I requested Robert
Tapia to make them do it. He told me 'I'm the boss here. I say
whether or not we inspect the gloves and we're not going to.'"
Mandera says he then requested Chavez trainer Freddy Roach to
weigh the gloves in the spirit of fairness. "He pushed past me
and said 'we don't have to, so we're not going to.'"
Lee's team say after today's incident, they are left hoping
there won't be any other questionable conduct surrounding this
fight.
"We just want everything fair. I don't know why they wouldn't
drop the gloves on a scale to remove any doubt about a pair of
gloves they brought themselves. Yes, it's a new pair, but you
ever buy a pair of shoes that say size 10 and they're not?
That's all we were trying to resolve. So why won't they weigh
the gloves?"
WBAN
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