As a merry-go-round keeps developing in pro boxing’s heavyweight division, the camps of American Deontay Wilder and Mex-Am Andy Ruiz, Jr. are engaged in a word war that is preventing them both from battling in an elimination fight.
The prize money is – you guessed it – the main reason they are in a verbal tussle.
Wilder and Ruiz Jr are suppoed to meet in either August or September as ordered by the WBC to determine the winner who will face Tyson Fury for the mandatory defense of the heavyweight plum.
In press dispatches that circulated lately, Ruiz, Sr is irked by the insistence of Wilder that he leaves Ruiz Jr, alone to decide and sign the the contract’s dotted line.
Andy’s dad said the prize money should be split in the middle.
“Fifty-fifty. My boy deserves it as he is a former world champion.”
The elder Ruiz said Wilder’s camp is offering them a 70-30 split which is stupidly unfair.
“He (Wilder) wanted me to persuade my son to fight for a certain amount of money, and he is dumb, he is stupid,, if he thinks that I would try to persude my son to fight for that money.”
Ruiz Sr. added that when Andy fought Luis Ortiz, he got half of the prize money. “Why should he be getting less against Wilder?”
Speculations are that the American ex-world titlist is aching to get an immediate fight against Ruiz Jr because of the looming opportunity for a big money encounter against Anthony Joshua in December.
Wilder last fought against Robert Helenius whom he easily beat.
Ruiz Sr. described Helenius as Wilder’s “sparring partner.”
Meantime, there’s bad news for amateur boxing.
The Internationakl Olympic Committee has decided with finality to withdraw its recognition of IBA (International Boxing Association) as the official IF (International Federation) that handles Olympic boxing competitions.
Boxing will remain as a regular Olympic event in the 2024 Paris edition but competing athletes would not use their respective national flags.
The IOC action has been floated around for some time because of shenanigans committed by IBA in the conduct of the boxing event.
Inept officiating as well as general procedures concerning doping and corruption were – we are inclined to believe – validated by the IOC during its continuing probe of complaints against the IBA by various member associations.
Do you boxing fans still recall the 1988 Seoul Olympics where the great Roy Jones, Jr (who eventually ruled the world light heavyweight division for more than a decade) was “upset” by a Korean boxer?
The succeeding brouhahas in Olympic officiating has forced the IOC to eventually cancel out the IBA from the recognized list of member federations of the IOC.
The US, UK and many Asian countries have also opted out of the IBA.
With this development, I am now entertaining serious doubts that some Pinoy Olympic boxers deserving to win gold medals in previous Olympic jousts might have been irregularly cheated out. Tsk, tsk, tsk. (Email feedback to fredlumba@yahoo.com). GOD BLESS THE PHILIPPINES!
