Boxing: Boxing Officials, Promoter to Square Off

Associated Press - September 17, 2003


LAS VEGAS (AP) - Nevada boxing officials want promoter Bob Arum to back up his allegations about the scoring in the Oscar De La Hoya-Shane Mosley fight.

Commission legal counsel Keith Kizer said Tuesday that Arum will be sent a letter inviting him to appear before the commission and formally lay out his charges of misconduct in the scoring of the fight which Mosley won by unanimous decision last Saturday night.

``He has made some serious allegations. We want to hear from our licensees, and if they have a problem we want to know,'' Kizer said.

De La Hoya, meanwhile, issued a statement saying the controversy over the decision was not his fault.

``This controversy was not caused by my post-fight comments but rather by the fact that millions of people watching the fight from around the world were of a different opinion than the three judges in attendance,'' De La Hoya said.

De La Hoya distanced himself a bit from Arum by saying he will make no negative comments about the Nevada Athletic Commission. But he also called for the public to be told how judges are selected and trained, and how scoring is done.

``Last Saturday was not that bad if it was the beginning of the ultimate fight, the fight for a better future of boxing,'' De La Hoya said.

Attorneys for Mosley also weighed in on the dispute, saying they want Arum before the commission - but for different reasons.

A letter sent to the commission Tuesday by attorney Judd Burstein asks for a disciplinary hearing against Arum for making an ``irresponsible attack upon the integrity of the commission'' in comments made following the fight.

``If Messrs. Arum and De La Hoya have proof of misconduct, they should come forward with it,'' Burstein said. ``But if, as we believe to be the case, they are merely engaged in a disingenuous effort to avoid admitting that Mr. De La Hoya lost fair and square, there should be consequences.''

Nevada regulations allow for disciplinary actions against anyone holding a license who ``reflects discredit to unarmed combat.''

Arum claimed Monday that there was misconduct by a commission member in helping pick the judges who worked the 154-pound title fight.