Corruption...For the Greater Good

For those unfamiliar with the utter travesty on 13 May 23, I'll break it down. Referee Tony Weeks was involved in one of the most, IF NOT THE MOST, egregious displays of corruption combat sports has seen in the last decade, maybe even EVER. Watch the video, it starts at the 1 minute mark.

Out the gate I’m saying it was pure corruption. The ENTIRE round, from the knockdown to the stoppage was pure corruption, the worst stoppage I’ve seen in the past decade, and, I’m sure if I sat and thought about it, I’d come to the conclusion it was the worst stoppage, EVER.

There should be an investigation into the Weeks, especially after he let Badou Jack, who pretty much had the grand canyon on his forehead, continue to fight Marcus Browne.

There, I said it. Its corrupt, there needs to be an investigation, original fight should be overturned and a rematch ordered.

However...let's look at it from a different perspective. Rolly is a draw, not so much by himself, but he makes a good "villian", he's charismatic, funny, flashy and most important, confrontational. He's a good fighter for marketing the sport. His opponent, Borosso, is old and quiet. Not good for marketing the sport. 

Rolly has been calling out Ryan Garcia, who, before his KO loss to Tank, was the face of the new and upcoming generation of boxers, and a fight between Garcia and Rolly will make TONS of money, all Rolly had to do was get past Borosso, who, being old and slow, is TAILORED MADE for Rolly to knock him out. Rolly couldn't have asked for a better opponent. Should be a walk in the park. 

Too Easy.

Unfortunately for Rolly, Mayweather Promotions, PBC, and Showtime, Borosso had other plans, which started with a knockdown in the 3rd round, after which had Rolly fighting scared for the rest of the fight.

9th round comes and Rolly lands a good left hook, then a small right hand which he then uses to blatantly PUSH Borosso to the ground, which, to every ones confusion, the referee rules a knockdown and two minutes later, the referee calls the fight after Rolly didn't land a single punch.

We later find out Borosso was up (rightfully so) on all the cards, which, I believe, moved the referee to stop the fight.

Why?

More people benefit if Rolly wins. If Rolly wins and he goes on to fight Garcia in a potential super fight, more people will get paid more money. The logic is as follows:

1. Super fights between two big names generate more money, more views, and more attention.

2. More money, views, and attention is good for the sport of boxing and lead to more money for employees, and fighters. Also, more views and attention mean fighters get more exposure which helps their careers.

3. In the current state of boxing, the less losses a fighter has, the more their earning potential (Thanks Mayweather!). Also, quality of losses matter. A loss to a big name isn't as bad as a loss to a nobody. Tank is one of the best in the 'younger generation' of boxers, so a loss to Tank isn't as bad as a loss to Borosso.

4. Rolly losing to Borosso would've damaged his earning potential, which would potentially jeopardize a Garcia fight from being made in the first place, or, if made, lower the earning potential of the fight.

5. Even though Borosso lost, he still got paid, and being screwed out of a win garners sympathy which, in turn, boosts earning power. When Isaac Cruz lost to Tank, many people thought Cruz won, and even though Cruz lost, his earning power sky rocketed because people sympathized with him; an underdog who fought his heart out and got screwed by the system. He became a star. Tank even said it in his post fight interview. (Around the 1:56 mark).

As you can see, a Rolly win helps MORE people than a Borosso win, and even Borosso, who was cheated, still comes out better after Rolly wins.

Obviously there are criticisms, like assuming the money made in a Rolly Garcia fight would go to the employees and fighters on the undercard, and that's a valid concern, but I'm not here to hash out the criticisms, I'm only presenting a different perspective.