by George P. Hassett

Last week the New York State Athletic Commission fined one of the founders of the Somerville Boxing Club $1,000 for being a bad boy during the Nov. 13 John Ruiz- Andrew Golota fight at Madison Square Garden.

        Norman “Stoney” Stone, Ruiz’ trainer, was also suspended 60 days for his profane outbursts. The board ruled that Stone had been abusive to referee Randy Neumann.

Stone lived up to his reputation as a loose cannon throughout the fight. At the close of the third round when Ruiz and Golota ignored the bell and chose to continue the fisticuffs, Stone sprinted across the ring, cocked his fist and threatened Sam Colonna, his counterpart in the Golota corner.

        At the end of the fifth round, Stone voiced his displeasure with the performance of referee Randy Neumann when he exploded into a profanity-laced diatribe directed at the third man in the ring. Some highlights: “What a piece of shit you turned out to be” and “you got no f***ing balls c***sucker.”

        Stone was ultimately ejected from the arena with 41 seconds to go in the eighth when the tape on Ruiz’ glove came undone and Stone threw a roll of tape at Neumann and told him to fix it himself.

        Neumann said it was not his job and ordered the fiery trainer out of the corner.

        NYSAC chairman Ron Scott Stevens said the punishment was “very gentle considering…”

        The fine shouldn’t cripple Stone’s checkbook too badly since Ruiz is now in line for another multi-million dollar payday after defeating Golota. Also, the suspension is inconsequential, as Ruiz will certainly not fight in the next 60 days.

        Just days after the fine was imposed, Stevens received a check and a letter of apology from Stone.

        Stone later made his apology public, promising that he would never do it again. We’ll see about that.

        Stone’s behavior may not have been appropriate but his was a pretty fair assessment of Neumann’s performance. Ruiz was thrown to the ground then hit in the face while flat on his back and it was ruled a knockdown. Ruiz was also hit after the bell multiple times. Yet “The Quiet Man” was the only fighter to have a point deducted.

He Can’t Be All Bad

        Local fight promoter Jimmy Burchfield announced that he has signed 2004 Olympian Jason Estrada. Estrada, a Pawtucket native, went to Athens as the favorite to win gold in the super-heavyweight division but came back as a symbol for all the maladies in the modern day fight game.

        Estrada packed on forty pounds of fat between his impressive gold medal winning performance at the Pan Am Games and his lackluster 21-7 loss to Cuba’s Michael Lopez Nunez in Athens.

        Even worse, Estrada looked like the typical detached, self-absorbed modern athlete at the post fight press conference when he shrugged off the loss and said, “That’s just the way boxing is. I’m not going to really worry about it. This is only one part of my life. If I’m going to lose, I’m going to get hit as little as possible.”

        Despite that embarrassing performance and a reputation as a light puncher, Estrada is certainly worth keeping an eye on.

        He is mobile, elusive and has incredibly fast hands. In the amateurs he built up an impressive record of 261-14, including wins over five heavyweights who have since gone 87-4-3 as pros: Malik Scott (19-0), Davarryl Williamson (21-3), Donnell Holmes (18-0-1) and Felix Cora (15-0-2) all tasted defeat at the fast hands of Estrada.

        Estrada will make his pro debut on the undercard of Burchfield’s Dec. 10 card at Foxwoods. In the opposite corner will be New Yorker Anthony Ottah (0-2-1).

Dawson Getting More Than He Bargained For

        The main event on that Dec. 10 Foxwoods card will feature unbeaten Connecticut middleweight Chad Dawson (15-0) squaring off against former WBA junior middleweight champion Carl Daniels (49-4-1).

        Daniels is expected to be a mere stepping-stone for the highly touted Dawson, but could wind up becoming a very dangerous opponent for the yet to be tested prospect.

        The 34-year-old Daniels has collected all four of his defeats in world title bouts against top flight competition, his last loss coming against current pound for pound king Bernard Hopkins two years ago.

Another Black Eye on Boxing

        The absurd unfairness of boxing’s sanctioning bodies was on display again this week. Fairhaven super middleweight Scott Pemberton was deservedly promoted into the World Boxing Council’s number one spot, but he won’t be fighting for a title anytime soon: those shifty characters at the WBC have mandated that champion Markus Beyer must first fight something called an “interim” champion, whatever that is.

        Meanwhile, a fighter who Pemberton has defeated twice in the past year, Omar Sheika, gets a title shot against IBF champion Jeff Lacy. Just another example of the politics outside the ring depriving fight fans of great action inside the ring.

        George Foreman once said, “Boxing is the sport that every other sport wants to be.” Too bad roving bandits like the WBC seem intent on ruining it for us.