IBF REFEREE LARRY DOGGETT WAS A DISGRACE
By Ronnie Nathanielsz
PhilBoxing.com
Sun, 28 Jun 2015
IBF referee Larry Doggett was a disgrace as the third man in the ring at the Hua Mark Stadium in Bangkok on Saturday night when he allowed Thai champion Amnat Ruenroeng to get away with a series of foul tactics including a series of take-downs much like in MMA, unforgiving holding and headlocks and other patently illegal tactics which frustrated Casimero who in the end also threw a couple of low blows and punches to the thigh to try and break away and have room to punch.
We watched the ?live? feed from Bangkok at the TV 5 operations center on Reliance Street in Mandaluyong last night while young and talented commentators Carlo Pamintuan and James Velazquez did the off-tube taping.
We could never have kept the kind of composure they showed in the face of the brazen conspiracy of referee Doggett with the foul-prone Ruenroeng who may have been smart in terms of following his game-plan but displayed the kind of performance that helps kill the sport.
As Casimero?s veteran trainer Jhun Agrabio said nobody will beat Amnat in Thailand but if he fights abroad and uses the same tactics he?d be disqualified.
The Casimero camp took the appointment of an American referee and judges and not a single Thai or Asian official as a sign that there would be no hometown decision which was reinforced when Ruenroeng himself assured Casmero there would be no favoritism.
Little did they realize that some American boxing officials are either utterly incompetent or whose integrity is suspect. Doggett was a classic combination of both.
As boxingscene.com?s Cliff Rold correctly observed ?it was one of the most unwatchable spectacles in recent recall, a foul fest largely initiated by Ruenroeng and allowed far too much leniency by what appeared an absentee officiating performance from America?s Larry Doggett. Runroeng was credited with knockdowns in the second and seventh and lost a point for fouling in the eleventh but was allowed to get away with a wild variety of shoves, blatant holds, headlocks and takedowns all night.?
By our count Ruenroeng had no less than 9 take-downs and received a warning in round five when he committed the foul twice and another admonition to Ruenroeng?s corner at the end of the 10th round.
Doggett warned Ruenroeng three times, once in the 7th, then again in the 8th eighth and once more in the 10th for excessive holding which gave Casimero no room to punch and for a fighter who depends on his power, it was almost fatal.
In one holding sequence in round 7 we timed it as lasting an incredible 40 seconds with the referee standing idly by and not doing anything to separate the two fighters.
Doggett after five previous warnings deducted a point from the champion in the 11th round when the fight had already been effectively decided.
As respected boxing writer Cliff Rold of boxingscene.com noted "In the fifth Ruenroeng pushed Casimero to the floor out of one clinch and then another resulted in being pinned on his haunches in the corner while there Ruenroeng threw a body shot and got away with it.?
Rold continued, ?The alley fight, because it sure as hell wasn?t a boxing match continued to devolve as the rounds went by. Ruenroeng was credited with a knockdown in the seventh but it was the foul tactics and Doggett?s refusal to take a point that stood out. Casimero was repeatedly tripped and forced to the floor and at one point wrapped around the neck and forced towards the canvas with only a scant warning issued.
Ruenroeng finally lost a point in the eleventh but it was far too late to impact the fight the way it would have earlier.Casimero had good sports in the tenth and eleventh but received a stern, lengthy warning after fighting Ruenroeng fire with fire and landing a cup shot in the eleventh.?
The series of illegal take-downs and the holding and headlocks took a toll on Casimero whose knees were bruised and his neck hurting.
There was one other distressing episode to this foul-riddled title fight that was a travesty.
While we all, including the camp of Casimero and trainer Jhun Agrabio took no offense at Aljoe Jaro and his brother training Amnat to fight a Filipino saying it was only a job and there was nothing personal we would have expected the Jaro brothers to tell their fighter not to resort to dirty tactics unless they were sure referee Doggett would tolerate these shenanigans judt like the referee tolerated these same tactics ? to a lesser degree ? when he fought and beat OPBF champion Rocky Fuentes for the vacant title.
We are eager to find out what the IBF leaders ? chairman Daryl Peoples and Championship Committee head will do about the refereeing of Doggett, if they do anything at all.
Doggone it!
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ronnie Nathanielsz.
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