Boxing : Whenever Lou Filippo Is in the Ring, Better Not Bet on a Final Decision

The furor over Frankie Duarte’s TKO of Albert Davila, which the State Athletic Commission’s assistant executive director has asked be overturned, is a reminder that boxing is different from other sports. Completely different. It’s probably the only game in the world where a decision can be reversed well after the fact.

It doesn’t happen all the time, but often enough to bewilder fans of baseball and football, where outcomes stand no matter what the officiating snafu. Take the Bert Lee decision two years ago at the Forum. In a fight with Ernie Rabotte, Lee came out of a clinch bloody and unable to continue. Referee Lou Filippo, also of the Duarte-Davila furor, called it a butt and awarded the fight to Lee. However Marty Denkin, the aforementioned assistant executive director, ruled it was an elbow and made the decision a technical draw.

The example fight fans are having the most fun with harks back to 1957 and involves, wouldn’t you know it, Lou Filippo. This time Filippo--always Filippo--was a more direct participant, as a boxer. In a fight with Carlos Ortiz, who would later gain the lightweight title, Filippo was hit after the bell and unable to continue. Referee Dick Young ruled Filippo the winner. The gamblers in attendance, who know the rules better than the officials, protested, saying a fighter cannot lose by disqualification on a foul. The ring announcer got back into the ring and announced a no-contest decision.

Incidentally, if anybody bet on the Duarte-Davila fight (we heard of a few), they will have to abide by the original decision, even if the commission reverses the outcome at its July 17 meeting. Hey, it’s not our rule.

Bob Arum’s middleweight extravaganza has moved both site and date and, for that matter, may not be entirely middleweight.

Originally, Arum had a triple-header set for Sept. 11 at Caesars Palace to sort out the middleweight picture after Sugar Ray Leonard beat Marvelous Marvin Hagler and then retired. But Arum says it turned out that Caesars didn’t even have that date available.

So, it’s off to the Las Vegas Hilton on Oct. 29.

Still on that card is Tommy Hearns coming down from light-heavyweight to box Juan Roldan for the WBC and maybe the WBA middleweight title. Michael Olajide was supposed to fight Iran Barkley for the IBF portion, but Olajide has been difficult to deal with. Michael Nunn and Darnell Knox are still set for a lesser (NABF) middleweight title.

If Arum and Olajide don’t come to terms, IBF light-heavyweight Bobby Czyz will be approached. Czyz should be happy for the fight and exposure; he’s been barking about a fight with Hearns for some time, and Arum could give him some assurance of such a match.

Meanwhile, Hagler, having some well-publicized domestic problems, is not likely to fight again this year.

Boxing Notes

At the Olympic Auditorium Thursday: Mario (Azabache) Martinez, the WBC’s No. 2 super-featherweight, vs. Darrell Sadoy in the main event, and heavyweights Alex Garcia and Mike White in a 6-round bout. . . . White, whom promoter Don Fraser calls the tallest heavyweight in captivity, will fight again July 27 at the Irvine Marriott. White, a 7-footer who played basketball on Brazil’s national team, will box California champion Dee Collier in a non-title fight. . . . At the Forum Tuesday night, the plant’s third show in 11 days, Olympic Games wunderkind Paul Gonzales is scheduled to fight Lucillo Nolesco. Gonzales, the 1984 Olympic team’s most outstanding boxer, has stood on a 5-0 record for an entire year, making him the team’s most enigmatic as well. Also on the card, a welterweight tournament bout, Roman George vs. Felipe Canela. George claims a win over now-middleweight Michael Nunn in an amateur bout.

Juan LaPorte, former WBC featherweight champion, meets Lupe Suarez Sunday in a CBS-TV fight at Las Vegas’ Aladdin Hotel. The WBC’s 130-pound division is leaderless since Julio Cesar Chavez moved up to the lightweight division. . . . Also in Las Vegas, WBC/WBA heavyweight champion Mike Tyson was serenaded by the local press Thursday. He turned 21. He’s in town to prepare for the Aug. 1 fight with International Boxing Federation champion Tony Tucker. Purses for the final title unification bout are believed to be $3 million for Tyson and $1.2 million for Tucker. HBO and the Hilton are picking up the tab. . . . One other date in Las Vegas: July 18, Mike McCallum defends his WBC junior middleweight title against former welterweight champion Donald Curry.