Friday, May 30, 2003 | 10:24 a.m.
Dean Juipe's column appears Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. His boxing notebook appears Thursday. Reach him at [email protected] or (702) 259-4084.
Biased officiating?
It's hardly a blasphemous thought after a lifetime of seeing the superstar basketball player get the close call that goes against the journeyman, or the standout pitcher getting the nod from the umpire on the questionable call just outside the plate, or the world champion fighter receiving favorable treatment from the judges in a close encounter with an underpublicized challenger.
In fact, it may be nothing more than human nature for a referee, an umpire or a judge to dispense favors to the better known athletes that come under his or her jurisdiction.
Such treatment extends, as well, to the home team in most sports. It's a given that the visitor will always feel he's outnumbered, believing as he does that the assigned official(s) will subtly favor the home team on any close, judgmental call.
So why should the national Golden Gloves Championships be any different?
I don't want to say there's anything clandestine about the ongoing tournament that continues tonight and concludes Saturday at the Orleans, simply because I don't have that firsthand knowledge or insight. But I can tell you that I was approached by a couple of people about it, and that a handful of others that I in turn approached believe there's something to the notion of preferential treatment at the amateur boxing level.
Each had a tale to tell.
"If you're an unranked fighter fighting a favorite or a ranked fighter, you've almost got to kill him to get a decision win," said a former professional fighter in the crowd.
Another told of an early week fight in which an underdog landed a left hook and floored a favorite, only to be the one to receive a standing-eight count from the referee.
Another digressed to explain how a fighter he knows couldn't catch a break with Golden Gloves officials until committing himself to a Golden Gloves-supported tournament that was held earlier this year.
And yet there are such things as upsets, including one involving Andres Chipres of Las Vegas. He beat the favorite at 132 pounds, which, I'm told, raised a ruckus of a different sort when it was suggested that a bias in his favor -- as a hometown fighter -- played a role in the outcome.
There may not be a shred of truth to any of those claims, slanted by their own biases as they are. And yet the quietly bubbling furor took me by surprise, at least until I stepped back and regained my perspective.
After all, Kobe Bryant will almost always be awarded free throws if he charges through the lane and is bumped while launching a shot.
And Greg Maddux habitually paints the outside corners of the plate, sometimes getting strike calls that are so low and away the catcher has to strain to pull the ball in.
And Oscar De La Hoya is a tough man to beat anywhere in the world, but especially in a city such as Las Vegas where his talents are so widely and regularly appreciated.
It's just the way it is.
Look at it this way: It builds character when you have to dig down and overcome not only your opponent but a belief that elements outside your control are conspiring against you. It's that way in sports and it may very well be that way in every walk of life.
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