Double Standard for Dimitriy?
by Ron Ross
(Large and I heard Ron Ross read from his highly recommended Bummy Davis vs. Murder Incorporated at Think Tank 3 gallery two years ago during Charles Miller’s amazing show, Jewish Boxers. Ron is like the Jose Oquendo of the sweet science–he’s fought, managed, promoted and chronicled. Today he plays umpire, calling some recent cries against our man Dimitriy Salita foul.-CI)
Let’s call it the Ethnic Divide. Latin fans generally root for Latin fighters, Irish fans for Irish fighters, Italian fans for Italian fighters, African-Americans for African-American fighters and Jewish fans for Jewish fighters. It’s the way things are and there is nothing wrong with it as long as it remains in the arena of fair competition. It is not prejudice, at least not in the accepted sense of the word. In fact, it is one of the backbone elements in matchmaking , the crowd coming out and rooting for the local kid. ‘Local†is defined by more than just the neighborhood. But it can tailspin into the ultimate in ultra-poor sportsmanship when a fighter’s winning efforts and recognition of accomplishments are not merely consistently minimized, but are mocked because of it. Anytime a fighter goes to the well thirty times and comes back without a defeat he deserves praise, cheers and admiration , unless he comes from a place other than the Planet Earth. Dmitriy Salita is not an extra-terestrial.
There are fighters who have fought the equivalents of their grandmothers in compiling a ‘looking good on paper†record. Despite the hoots and put-downs of his growing legion of detractors , the silent hecklers are now emboldened and stepping forward as the ranks of vocal detractors grow , the quality of Dmitriy’s opposition is better than most of his contemporaries and even most of the list of sacred ‘golden age†greats. His opponents have won 369 of 590 fights for a 625 percentage. In comparison, Ricky Hatton, in his first 30 bouts, fought opponents with a 570 percentage, Andreas Kotelnik’s opposition 554, and Junior Witter’s, a still respectable 510. We then come to former WBA titleholder, Gavin Rees, who in his 26 bouts prior to fighting for , and winning , the WBA light-welterweight crown, came in on the back of opponents that won only 305 bouts out of 1,040 , a 290 percentage. And rather than denigrate or belittle his accomplishments, they sang his cheers and accorded him a champion’s veneration. Cinderella never had it so good! Read the rest of this entry »
