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 Tampering or lousy judging? DA makes criminal probe in Lewis-Holyfield bout
Posted: Wednesday March 17, 1999 04:48 PM
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) -- New York's attorney general stepped back Wednesday from his inquiry into the disputed outcome of the Evander Holyfield-Lennox Lewis heavyweight title fight to make way for Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau's criminal investigation. Morgenthau has convened a grand jury to issue subpoenas and hear testimony about judging in the controversial draw in Saturday's fight at Madison Square Garden, his spokeswoman Barbara Thompson said. She declined to discuss what illegalities, if any, Morgenthau thinks might be involved. One source close to the investigation, who asked not to be identified, said, "We could be looking at tampering or illegal payments. Then again, maybe we're looking at lousy judging, which is not a crime." State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer will offer Morgenthau's investigators "any and all assistance in their attempt to pursue a criminal case," Spitzer spokesman Darren Dopp said. Spitzer, who worked for Morgenthau for six years, canceled a public hearing scheduled for Friday involving many of the principals in the fight, including promoter Don King and judge Eugenia Williams, the IBF-selected judge who had Holyfield winning although most observers thought Lewis dominated. Holyfield is recognized by the IBF as heavyweight champion. Another public hearing, scheduled for Thursday in Manhattan by the state Senate Committee on Investigations, will go forward, according to its chairman, state Sen. Roy Goodman of Manhattan. Among those scheduled to appear in person are King and Dino Duva, IBF President Bob Lee, the bout's referee, Arthur Mercante Jr., and Williams. Larry O'Connell of England, the WBC judge who scored the fight a draw, and WBC President Jose Sulaiman will testify by telephone, Goodman said. Stanley Christodoulou of South Africa, the judge picked by the WBA, declared Lewis the winner. He will also appear Thursday via telephone. Goodman said his hearing would touch on the judging of Saturday's fight, on the relationship between the sanctioning bodies and others in the boxing industry and on health issues involving fighters. "We'll really be taking a helicopter trip over all of the terrain of big-time boxing and whether there were improprieties in this fight," Goodman said. The New York state Athletic Commission is also investigating the Holyfield-Lewis outcome. U.S. Sen. John McCain of Arizona, a fight enthusiast, said Wednesday that state athletic commissions must take the lead in reforming abuses in professional boxing and not wait for the federal government to step in. The Holyfield-Lewis controversy, plus publicity surrounding the four investigations it has prompted, might result in meaningful boxing reforms nationwide, McCain said. For a start, state athletic commissions should appoint all ringside officials at bouts, and not give international sanctioning bodies the opportunity to inject potentially biased judges into the scoring of a match, he said. "State commissioners should not surrender any of their authority to sanctioning organizations or promoters," McCain said in a letter to Spitzer. "When they do, boxers are subject to manipulation and the public is cheated." McCain has been working with a task force of state attorneys general, headed by Spitzer, to develop federal legislation to reform boxing that has been named in honor of ex-heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali. McCain, who was at ringside Saturday night, said boxing is rife with "conflicts of interest and fraudulent practices" which contributed to the Lewis-Holyfield draw. "The best outcome of the Holyfield-Lewis bout would be a complete overhaul of boxing industry abuses in America," he said. IBF president Lee defended the work of Williams, the judge his organization selected for the bout. "I am sure they aren't going to find anything irregular at all," he said. "It is a subjective viewing of a fight and you can't tell these judges what to see or what not to see. All I tell them is, 'Do the best you can.' " Also Wednesday, two state legislators filed similar bills to require that the scores of judges be posted after every round in New York to give others an idea of who is ahead and behind. State Sen. John DeFrancisco and Assemblyman Paul Tokasz said the scoring of the Lewis-Holyfield fight showed the need for more light to be shed on judges' scoring as a bout unfolds.
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