Rosado Compared to Basilio, Findley and Algieri: New York Boxing Doctors in Question
By Robert Brizel, Head Real Combat Media Boxing Correspondent
Watching David Lemieux of Montreal, Canada, who turned pro in 2007, fight for the first time outside of Canada in the main event at Barclays Center in Brooklyn and defend his North American Boxing Federation Middleweight title over Gabriel Rosado by tenth round stoppage, I had to feel sorry for Philadelphia fighter Rosado.
The tenth round stoppage was the fifth consecutive bout Rosado was unable to win, since having his WBA and IBO World Middleweight title bout at Madison Square Garden stopped in the seventh round in January 2013, in effect ending the American’s once promising career. In May 2013 in Las Vegas, unbeaten J’Leon Love had his 10 round decision win over Rosado overturned to a ‘No Contest’ for using a banned performance enhancing substance. Rosado’s WBO World Middleweight title bout at Boardwalk Hallin Atlantic City was stopped due to a cut on the left eyelid in October 2013. Rosado’s bout with Jemell Charlo went the distance at D.C. Armory in Washington D.C. in January 2014 when the referee did NOT stop the bout due the cut on his left eyelid.
Rosado might have been accidently thumbed in the left eye, which when added to low blows for which Lemieux was warned, lead to a third round knockdown due to issues with the thumbed left eye. Under ordinary circumstances, an injured eye due to a thumb would lead a ‘No Contest’ as Rosado’s eye issue became immediately obvious. But it is not always obvious, as an illegal first round forearm Mike Perez threw which broke Magomed Abdusalamov’s nose was never called, leading to major issues for Abdusalamov later in the fight and afterwards.
However, it was not the actions of referee Steve Willis this reporter calls into question. Rather, the actions of the ringside doctor and the New York State Athletic Commission officials leading up to the stoppage at 1:45 of the tenth round that raises questions, due to the results of other fights in New York history past and present, in the view of this reporter.
Rosado, whose left eye was swollen and was knocked down once, was nonetheless highly competitive and making a fight of it with Lemieux. Rosado appeared game and wanted to continue, protesting the impending stoppage, to no avail.
When Carmen Basilio fought Sugar Ray Robinson at Chicago Stadium in their March 1958 rematch, Basilio, then the World Middleweight champion, had his left eye swollen shut by the end of the fifth round, a situation similar to Rosado. Basilio still appeared to win the 15 rounder, but lost a split decision. Basilio later lamented that “The two judges who voted against me were looking at the eye, not the fight.”
In August 2014 on a card at BB King Blues Club & Grill in Manhattan, Derrick Findley, an Indiana middleweight, had a baseball sized lump on his forehead above his right eye midway through the bout. Referee Arthur Mercante felt Findley was competitive enough to allow him to continue. Findley went on to win the fight, horrific visual head injury and all.
Maybe big television cards inspire referees and ring doctors to be more safety conscious when they are in the public eye. As for New York, that and the fact heavyweight Magomed Abdusalamov was permanently injured at Madison Square Garden in November 2013 in a high profile bout, has made the stakes for safety higher for the New York State Athletic Commission in particular when they are in the televised public eye. Findley’s head injury was on the same par as the head injury Hasim Rahman incurred against Evander Holyfield in 2002. Holyfield got that stoppage. Lamar Russ did not get a stoppage win over Findley.
Rosado appeared willing and able to continue against Lemieux. The left eye was swollen nearly shut, but not quiet. Rosado did not have an issue. Rosado’s condition had continued as it was for a number of rounds. If the eye was a reason for stoppage, the bout could have been stopped earlier by Dr. Barry Jordan. It wasn’t. The reasons were obvious; if you stop the bout too soon, then it’s not good television. Similarly, if you do not stop the bout, then it’s not good safety. As Basilio and Algieri proved, fighting with one eye is not an obstacle.
Algieri-in effect-dfouhgt with one eye for eleven rounds with the endorsement of the NYSAC on television.
You cannot have your cake and eat it too. Any other referee would have stopped Derrick Findley’s fight with Lamar Russ five rounds earlier due to the head injury of Findley. The ringside doctor let it run, but then again, Findley versus Russ was not a big television bout on HBO as Rosado versus David Lemieux was. One could argue Findley’s injury was not the same as Rosado’s. This argument is both true and false. Findley’s injury was physically worse.
Still, one has to wonder what the doctor’s intent was is asking Rosado if he could see his fingers and other questions between rounds. So what if he fights his last big chance bout with one eye. So what? Many fighters have fought and won bouts with one good eye. Chris Algieri beat Ruslan Provodnikov with one eye at Barclays Center , his right eye swollen shut since the first round in June 2014 in the very same Barclays Center, and he fought onf or another 11 rounds, winning the WBO World Light Welterweight title by split decision in 12 rounds.
Yet, in Rosado versus Lemieux, the ringside doctor was in the corner asking Rosado to see the numbers of fingers, doing vision tests for visual acuity. So what if Rosado’s eye was closed? Such formalities and corner time was not wasted on the one eyed Chris Algieri winning the WBO World Light Welterweight title in the same arena. Therefore, the way Rosado was treated could be viewed as inconsistent versus Algieri, who was allowed to win a 12 rounder with one eye of vision. Rosado still had vision in both eyes, though the left eye was clearly swollen, it was not swollen shut as Algieri’s was.
The end result is an inconsistency in New York City in the way these big bouts resulted. Findley got to fight on and win a 10 rounder, Algieri got to fight on and win a 12 round world title bout, but Rosado did not get to finish the tenth round when he was clearly able to continue. The standards applied are therefore inconsistent in New York State depending on which doctor and which referee you have. Referee Mercante was adamant in allowing the head injured Findley to continue over the ringside doctor and anybody else who might insist the bout be stopped. Then again, the venue might affect how officials react in it. It’s all in how you look at it. Carmen Basilio’s fight with Sugar Ray Robinson went 15 rounds, and referee Frank Sikora, who scored the bout for Basilio 69-66, did not consider Basilio’s closed eye in voting for him as the winner, though two other judges overruled him and gave Sugar Ray Robinson back his World Middleweight title. Three subsequent attempts by Basilio to regain the middleweight crown ended in failure, the record for a former champion at 160 pounds.
Rosado was essentially in a last chance mode careerwise. The kid was strung along for a number of rounds, leading one to believe as long as he was competitive he would get a chance to finish and win the bout. Lemieux stepped out of Montreal for the first (and probably only) time in his 35 bout career to fight a fighter who as it turns out was winless in his last five. Lemieux was beaten convincingly twice in Montreal, by Marco Antonio Rubio (TKO by 7) and Joachim Alcine (Lost 12). Alcine is a seven loss fighter who has been knocked out twice in the first round, and Lemieux could not win a single 12 round scorecard against him. Why this particular HBO Barclays main event was worthy of a stoppage with Rosado’s swollen left eye, and why Algieri’s bout with Ruslan Provodnikov was not stopped with a swollen shut right eye, is a simple matter. Algieri is from Long Island and a local favorite son. Rosado was not.
Bigger stakes money fights have less safety considerations, sad to say. With a fight against Manny Pacquiao on the table for the winner of Algieri versus Provodnikov at Barclays, the 12 rounder could not be and was not stopped. Too much $$$ and Pay-Per-Views at stake. So Algieri won the bout and traveled to Macao, China, where the former MMA champion turned boxing champion got knocked down six times and took a horrible beating in a world title bout which looked more like an ugly sparring session of torture which was not stopped in its 12 round pity. If I were the referee, I would have stopped that bout. With legal action from the family of Ruslan Provodnikov against the NYSAC and New York State likely to go on for years, it is likely to be weighty thought on the minds on the officials of the NYSAC, as the Benny Kid Paret and Beethaeven Scottland tragedies were once upon a time before they forgotten in the sands of time. This, all things considered, is understandable.
Meanwhile, back at the boxing ranch, super middleweight journeyman veteran Derrick Findley, who was unable to win any of his previous seven bouts (including getting red flagged for using a prohibited drug in Indiana after a UBF regional title bout) won the eight round decision over Lamar Russ in New York City, and got rewarded with a big money fight against 25-1 Edwin Rodriguez at California’s Pechanga Resort & Casino which will take place on December 11, 2014. Rosado, in all likelihood, will not fight again.
Heavyweight Magomed Abdusalamov, now in ongoing physical therapy, has regained half of the 75 pounds he lost after the brain surgery which saved his life, and is moving his left arm and left leg. His right side is paralyzed. He isn’t talking yet, but if and when he does, Abdusalamov undoubtedly will have a lot to say.
The key point in analyzing Algieri versus Rosado is quite simple. Everyone could see Algieri could not see out of his swollen left eye, and no test was given to decide if he could not see out of one eye and the bout was allowed to continue to its ultimate conclusion. With Rosado, the bout was stopped, however the NYSAC never proved Rosado could not see out of his swollen left eye, which they would have had to if they were making medical assessments by a fair and equitable standard, and Rosado’s eye swelling versus Lemieux was nowhere as bad as Algeri’s eye swelling was was versus Provodnikov.
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