The good old days are long gone in the professional boxing world. The integrity of boxing has gone way down. For a fighter to be sure he has won the battle, he needs a knockout. You can’t leave it to the judges anymore to decide.

As we saw a couple of weeks ago in the bout between Sugar Shane Mosley and Miguel Cotto, the ”losing” fighter did everything but knock out the judge’s choice.

And Shane’s loss? A bad decision. Maybe he didn’t win but he sure didn’t lose. The judges said he did but the ringside press said it was a draw – which is the way I saw it.

Boxing is going to need a lot of help to maintain its prestige.

For that effort, let’s start with the judges, who need to be judged themselves more closely for their ability to serve in that role.  As Jim Lampley and Emanuel Steward pointed out when the judge’s qualifications were displayed before the fight, there was a great deal of inexperience there. This was an important championship level fight, how were judges chosen who had so few championship bouts under their belts?

Two judges scored 115-113, the other 116-112 in a “unanimous” decision. For those actually watching the fight, it makes you wonder what fight the last guy was watching. Or the others for that matter.

And then let’s clean up the referees inside the ring. You wonder what their credentials are. Man, have I seen some bad refs, including the one in the ring with Mosley and Cotto. Just as Shane was on the attack and poised to kick Cotto’s ass, the ref stops the fight to clean up water in the ring. Stopping the fight at that moment also stopped Shane’s momentum.

The integrity of boxing is suffering. At one time, when a decision was made one fighter to another, that decision was never questioned because you saw the fight. Now decisions are questionable. Refs bouncing up & down w/ fighters, doing stupid things, obvious things, makes you wonder if the fight is fixed. Back in the day, you damn near had to knock the champ out.

There used to be only two belts. Now, there are eight different belts, all these divisions, and all owned by questionable people. There’s lots of inside manipulation and a lot of insignificant fights.

Boxing has become more commercial -- commercial from the standpoint that they want to run the system their way – want to control this element of boxing. The one you know is going to win the fight. Ninety-two wins, no losses. But look who he fought! They build up false win/loss columns. That’s how they try to get big fights and play on TV.

More fights might give more opportunities, but they draw fewer audiences, and wind up w/ pay-per-view. Back in the day, it was the
heavyweights who were the most famous. Now they’re the most boring you don't know the fighters – they’re all from Russia.

Lightweights stand toe-to-toe, you see a lot of sweat and snot, but
nobody's going down. One punch from a heavyweight and it could be lights out. That's why Muhammd Ali, Lennix Lewis, and the rest could stay away from the punch -- heavyweights carry that threat of destruction. You don’t have that anymore.

You also don’t have the motivation you used to have in the fighters. American people are not driven by the same motivation to be successful that drives foreigners. Success drives them. Success spoils us. I have yet to see a Mexican come up to a fight in a limo. No entourage, mink coats, 18 women. That's how we show our success – “I'm on top. I'm only going to workout 3 times a week.”

Welterweights? I've had girlfriends heavier than some of these guys.

If there’s something worse than football in how they treat people after you peak, it has to be boxing.  There’s no pension plan or lasting care whatsoever.  There should be a board established by the fighters who have the power and the means. It would be very easy to do. Take money from your check and put it away, like the Screenwriter’s Guild, which takes 13.5 percent for insurance and pension. Boxing has no such thing. The NFL does, but it’s based on the kind of money a player makes each season.  It winds up being disproportionate to the amount of money available to a player once they retire. There needs to be a fairer system of allocation.

But boxers don’t even have that -- no health, no pension, no welfare. Granted, [taking money out is] a hard thing to do when it ain't a weekly job. Not too many guys are making 50-60K per fight. All their money goes to maintain their lifestyle. Most of them are making $2,500, $5,000 per fight. But, they should make it mandatory for everybody. That’s something that has to come from the boxers themselves.

Got a question for Hammer? Bring it. He will gladly set you straight.
Read Floyd Mayweather on the business of boxing.
Read Hammer on the steroid witch hunt.

Bernard Lagat
Track & Field

During the month of August, the world's best athletes will compete in the 2008 29th Olympiad in Beijing to take home the top spot in their respective sports. More than 200 countries will be represented by over 10,000 athletes competing for the gold, silver and bronze medals coveted by the participants who have spent years perfecting their game.



Ebonyjet.com is pleased to partner with NBC to provide daily reports directly from several athletes competing in Beijing. Check back daily for first-person perspective on life in the Olympic Village, daily workout regimens in preparation for their events, and their first (and last) impressions of Beijing.

I was in shock and disbelief at the end of the 1500m race, knowing in the back of my mind my chances were extremely slim to make it in on time, but with the hope that maybe I would just have to sneak into the finals.  After what seemed like a year, and 10 people telling me conflicting things, I found out that I did not make it into the finals.  But my dreams of Olympic Gold aren’t over yet!
 
At that point, I had to just regroup and find some space for myself.  It's hard to accept that all the training and sacrifices of the past 4 years can end with being 0.02 seconds too slow!

I still do not think I believe it even today.  My coach came to me and the look in his eyes were what made me realize that it was true, for the first time in my track and field career, I did not make a final.
 
After an hour or so, I met up with my wife and my son.  It may not be fair to others when I say this, but my son is the best son in the world.  He comes running to me screaming "Daddy number 1!"  What else could I do but smile.  My heart aches that I let so many people down, but my son can lift me up with just 3 words.  How truly amazing.
 
I decided to have a quiet dinner with my family and some friends afterwards, not wanting to head back to the village and face reality.  Family and friends are great, and although I let them down, they all still love and support me the same.
 
The positive out of all this is that I get some rest before the 5000m semis today (August 20th).  My wife told me not to think so much, and just have some fun, and enjoy myself, and get my mind off track for a day.  I did just that.  I traded 2 pins in the village, took some pictures with Phelps and Ronaldinho, and gawked at Kobe Bryant.  Wow I am such a wild one!

I really want to do well in the 5000m final on Saturday. So far, my body is responding well and I could tell from the race tonight that, I'm getting my sprint back!!

I'm looking forward to hanging out with Miika and Gladys tomorrow at Nike Hospitality here in Beijing. Since the day I missed to qualify for the 1500m finals, Miika has been constantly saying "Daddy Number 1." I take it for what Miika wants me to be. I'm not going to alter that phrase for any reason. When I get to the starting line on Saturday, I will be telling myself-- "Daddy is Number 1." I'll run like one, and win it for Miika.

Bernard is married to Gladys Tom. They have one son - Miika Kimutai Lagat.

Photo: NBC/USOC

Check out complete Olympic coverage at the official NBC Olympics website.

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