Welcome to the Monday Rant– The nasty, mean-spirited, snarky boxing column that actually means what it says.

Yeah, the Paul Williams-Erislandy Lara decision was probably the worst decision I have seen in ages. The three judges involved (Al Bennett, Hilton Whitaker, and Donald Givens) should be relegated to judging Nathan’s hot dog eating contest and Miss Teen New Jersey Pageants.

But brace yourself for the waves of outrage. Aside from being a horrendously bad decision, it was an Al Haymon fighter getting a gift decision on, gulp, HBO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The Perfect Storm of fake outrage…..Paul Williams is going to get more grief than Casey Anthony on the Lifetime Network’s message board.

Smug, paid-for media piggies and Cheeto-munching bloggers will be all over this and it would all be good, except for the fact that these same douche bags fall over one another to lay at the feet of those who perpetuate the same, or similarly twisted, garbage.

All the outrage is just for show– it’s as fake as a Golden Boy press release. These guys feign indignation for street cred among fans and so they can go back and point to their hardcore critical chops when someone comes along and calls them on their shilling.

Self-important, marauding scribes who rail against mismatches, yet conveniently forget the human sacrifices by promoters with ad space on their site…Two-faced, social-climbing bloggers who can’t wait to get online and call fighters bums, but haven’t seen the inside of a gym since high school…Writers who pander to a specific fan base for monetary reasons and without any regard to what’s actually true and ethical.

This is the mental minefield boxing fans have to routinely cross while trying to follow the sport and get some idea of what the hell is really happening.

The one thing the layman needs to know about the vast majority of the boxing media is that these guys love a bandwagon. Whether they’re driving it, riding in back, or strapped to the bottom like Robert DeNiro in Cape Fear, these guys are professional followers with a penchant for sniffing out cash and ego gratification.

Now, getting past these fakes, dummies, and shills, the fans have real reason to be outraged and to call for the hides of Al Bennett, Hilton Whitaker, and Donald Givens (Remember these names).

Take the time to write something to the New Jersey State Athletic Commission, organize yourselves and let everyone know your displeasure and what steps you’re willing to take as a consumer who was very much defrauded Saturday night.

The only reform in boxing will have to be initiated by the fans. Sadly, while everybody involved with the sport is in line, looking for ways to dig deeper into your pockets, nobody is taking the time to look after those who make the whole cluster fuck possible.

Of course, those who assume positions of authority or pseudo-intellectual superiority will scoff at the idea of reform. To them, words like “integrity” and “ethics” are the punchlines to some pompous joke they pass amongst themselves in the moments between re-reading their latest masterpieces and patting themselves on the back.

But at its basest level, boxing is a business like any other. If you went to McDonald’s and got a bag of sand instead of your Big Mac and fries, you’d turn the car around and get right up into some manager’s face. Pitifully poor management and downright skull-fuckery only exist as long as customers are willing to pay for the privilege.

If nothing ever changes in the sport, don’t blame the swine with their snouts in the trough or the piglets waiting in line behind them. The promoters, media, networks, management, etc…they’re looking after their own bottom line. You need to start doing the same.

You can email Paul at paulmagno@theboxingtribune.com, follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/boxing BTBC or check him out as he basks in the glow of his own bulging self-importance. Paul is a full member of the Burger King Kid’s Club.



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