Somthing stinks in Irish boxing

judas101

im sure a lot of you saw the big fight tonight.

i was disgusted with how it finished.

blatent fix

Geiger

Being the complete ass that I am I forgot about this fight. I was pissed off after watching Jennings vs Mutley on ITV4 and left the tv.

What happened?

mad m

It will be in papers for sure tomorrow.

UberNewb

I thought that as well!

Chucky the tree

someone want to explain?


just saw the ending, who was the fella who just stood there and let the other fella punch him?

JacksonHeightsOwn

Chucky the tree wrote:

someone want to explain?


just saw the ending, who was the fella who just stood there and let the other fella punch him?

that was michael gomez, he defo took a bung, i was at the fight myself, he simpy, gave up, it was unbelievable, ive never seen anything like that

either way, i wouldnt give the **** his money, not a ****ing chance, i hope Billy Graham kicks him out of his gym for that blatant disrespect

<edited> Comments removed. Chrisbonnie, please refrain from posting such unsubstantiated allegations in future.

Chucky the tree

ah so no is complaining about bernard dunnes fight?

Surely if he did take a bung he would be alot more subtle about throwing the fight?

JacksonHeightsOwn

Chucky the tree wrote:

ah so no is complaining about bernard dunnes fight?

Surely if he did take a bung he would be alot more subtle about throwing the fight?

Gomez i wouldnt say is the sharpest tool in the shed, he proved that tonight, either he was on the charlie last night or he through the fight, either way his purse should be witheld

Esel

Since when is rabbit-punching legal?

(At least twice - second just before knockdown).

Maybe back-turning is not legal either, but two wrongs etc.

mad m

Rabbit punching indeed,but gomez went shopping in clearys in middle of a fight,what was the other fella supposed to do.I've never seen anything like it myself.

Cant see how someone came out blazing for the first four rounds and as commentators suggested ,he was way ahead of McDonagh and McDonagh has never stopped anyone before.

How much would a purse be anyway in a fight like this to gomez?

FrankGrimes

the purse would be peanuts in comparison to what could be made when taking a bung, especially if McDonagh's quote 'Paddypower were offering 125-1 for me to knock him out in any particular round' is true.

Jimmy Magee said during Dunne's fight that Bolyesport had suspended betting on McDonagh stopping Gomez in the 5th, 6th or 7th rounds, which would indicate that there was a lost of activity on this happening....which is VERY VERY unusual given Gomez's record and McDonagh's failure to EVER stop an opponent prior to this fight. This is the most suspicious fight I have ever seen and I definately think Gomez's purse should be withheld pending an investigation.

I smelt a rat from the second his pre-match interview was played on RTE. Does he always go so OTT with the Irish gear, or could this just have been an attempt to make out like the fight really really mattered to him?

Fair play to Steve Collins for calling it like he saw it (he's a great analyst these days). Mick Dowling was making the point that Gomez is just sick of boxing and wanted to walk away, and literally did for that reason, not because of a bung. We'll never get proof, but I would say that if Gomez goes on to another WBU title fight it'll be a pretty good indication that he's not sick of boxing, and so Collins may be well closer to the mark than Dowling was.

Good performance by Dunne though: started off over eager, but from round 4 on boxed clever and claimed yet another victim with that left to the body.

eirebhoy

Suspicious fight to be investigated

There will be an investigation into the bizarre circumstances surrounding the fight to fill the vacant Irish lightweight title in the National Stadium between Michael Gomez and Peter McDonagh tonight.

In the fifth round of the fight, Gomez was downed by a seemingly innocuous shot from McDonagh.

Bookmaker Boyle Sports told RTÉ that it had suspended betting on the fight earlier this evening when it noticed an unusual pattern of betting on McDonagh winning in the fifth, sixth or seventh rounds.

Gomez was in control of the fight, with a blistering opening three rounds rocking McDonagh. The fight inevitably slowed down but McDonagh was still failing to land a significant punch.

But in the fifth, McDonagh hit Gomez with a right. Gomez dropped his guard and turned away without seeming to actually be hurt. McDonagh followed him and it took a flurry of eight or nine missed shots before he landed another.

Speaking on RTÉ Television after the fight, former world champion Steve Collins claimed that the finish had not been wholly kosher, saying, "I smell a rat, something's not right here."

Chucky the tree

would the bookies still have to pay out? Will they wait and see if the result is scrapped? That likely to happen?

dlofnep

complete fix.

walshb

I watched the fight and listened to Collins claim that it was highly likely Gomez took a dive. But Collins never really gave Macdonagh any praise. Macdonagh was a very good clean boxer and was busy as hell through the first 5 rds, yet the pundits didn't seem to notice this. To them Gomez was goin' to just steam roll the guy. I really felt that Gomez knew the guy was good, getting stronger and he (Gomez) was badly fading and rather than take a real beating he just gave up. Had he wanted to take a dive I'm sure he would have eithe quit on the stool or went down from a few punches. Dowling said this as well and he disagreed passionately with Collins. I also noticed that after the first round that Gomez was breathing heavily in his corner. He really wasn't fit enough for that fight. The 4th round was when Macdonagh started to get on top, yet Collins was claiming that Gomez took the rd. What's with that??

I gave the first rd to Macdonagh yet all the pundits said Gomez took it easy. Gomez was doing the pressing, but he wasn't throwing enough punches, where as Macdonagh was busy busy busy throughout.

As for Dunne, he did well...but Wilders was extremely average and over the hill. Dunne needs a real test before his career slips into obscurity

GOAT_Ali

Guys, did any of you ever hear of Gamesmanship. That is what I felt happened last night with Gomez. He knew he wasn't going to win and as Walshb said, Macdonagh was getting stronger so Gomez rather than take a real whupping, decided to quit to take the sweetness out of Macdonagh's victory. No way he would have chose that scenario to take a dive. Absolute not, sure Gomez was really unloadin in the first few rds. Macdonagh could have crumbled from some of the body shots and then the 'fix' would not have materialised. I agreed with Mick Dowling, Collins was way off the mark with his interpretation. To him Macdonagh was just a punchbag, which definitely was not the case.

Nuttzz

it looked to me that gomez just stopped for no reason, mcdonagh couldnt even ground him with one or two punches after he let he guard down

Big Ears

GOAT_Ali wrote:

Guys, did any of you ever hear of Gamesmanship. That is what I felt happened last night with Gomez. He knew he wasn't going to win and as Walshb said, Macdonagh was getting stronger so Gomez rather than take a real whupping, decided to quit to take the sweetness out of Macdonagh's victory. No way he would have chose that scenario to take a dive. Absolute not, sure Gomez was really unloadin in the first few rds. Macdonagh could have crumbled from some of the body shots and then the 'fix' would not have materialised. I agreed with Mick Dowling, Collins was way off the mark with his interpretation. To him Macdonagh was just a punchbag, which definitely was not the case.

McDonagh is extremely durable , Gomez knew that if he was going to stop him it would be late .

[blatent speculation]I think when Gomez was hit with the shot before he dropped his guard he was pretending to be stunned and hoped McDonagh would through a Hayemaker next so he could go down.But of course McDonagh being the pillow puncher he is threw a pillow punch , and then another 7 pillow punches before something slightly decent (still didn't seem to hurt Gomez) and Gomez went down .[blatent speculation/]

The Cannibal

Apparently Gomez came in 8lbs over weight and was skipping in a sauna in full sweat gear before the fight which would explain the way he faded after the first couple of rounds.

Mikel

Fair play to Collins, he called it right, and he stuck his neck out straight away. Dowling was trying to pull him back but he was having none of it. And he said right after the fight that the first thing he would wanted to know was there a large amont of money on Gomez being stopped in that round, this was before the bookies said anything.

But Collins never really gave Macdonagh any praise.

thats not true, he said he didn't want to take anything away from the guy, and good luck to him for winning

He knew he wasn't going to win and as Walshb said, Macdonagh was getting stronger so Gomez rather than take a real whupping, decided to quit to take the sweetness out of Macdonagh's victory.

What fight were you watching? He was totally dominant against a guy with an unimpressive record who had never stopped anyone. Why would he think, I'm not gonna win this so i'll go walkabout..... That makes no sense, the guy threw 11 UNANSWERED PUNCHES and couldn't knock him down.
I think Collins was right, he was waiting for the guy to hit him properly so he would have a reason to fall down, he couldn't.
Eventually Gomez just fell over.

Funniest quote of the year after the fight, Uri Geller came into the ring and was beside MacDonagh for the post fight interview.
Ger Gilroy made some remark about Geller not being there just for show and MacDonagh said:
"How can you not believe in this man?.....This man can bend spoons!!"

walshb

Mike I've just heard the rumors of the betting and the fact that Macdonagh was 125/1 to win in the 5th rd. I'm not saying it's an impossibility but if both guys were involved lets say, surely they could have come up with a better scenario than what actually happened. If Gomez was only involved it seems more plausible. As for Collins, are you trying to tell me that what he said amounts to praise. Go away out of that, that's being nice just for the sake of it. And yes I did watch the fight and if Collins is trying to argue that Gomez won the 4th rd, then he should hang his gloves up as regards being a pundit. Also, Gomez was trying extremely hard from the opening bell, he threw heavy shots and if it was just him invoved in this so called 'fix' he was certainly cutting it fine....

padraigcarroll

i didnt think it was a fix at all, i reckon Gomez was badly stunned/out on his feet, and adrenalin made him to turn and walk to his corner, his face barely moved/flinched as macdonnagh hit him 6 or 7 times to get the KO.

I honestly think he was just out on his feet, no fix.

eirebhoy

padraigcarroll wrote:

i didnt think it was a fix at all, i reckon Gomez was badly stunned/out on his feet, and adrenalin made him to turn and walk to his corner, his face barely moved/flinched as macdonnagh hit him 6 or 7 times to get the KO.

I honestly think he was just out on his feet, no fix.

I'm sorry but nothing can explain the fact that Boyle Sports suspended betting on the fight because of the unusual volume of bets on McDonagh to win in the 5th and 6th rounds. Without Boyle Sports telling us this we'd still be debating whether it was a fix but Boyle sports coming out with this is confirming that it was a fix. Its definite.

Dodge

Anyone know if thats true though or are they looking for publicity.

derek23

Taken from britishboxing.net

An investigation is to be launched into the bizarre outcome of the fight for the vacant Irish lightweight title between Peter McDonagh and Dublin-born Mancunian Michael Gomez.

After controlling the early part of the fight at Dublin's National Hall, in the fifth round Gomez reportedly turned his back during the action and simply walked away from his opponent. McDonagh pursued him and rained down blows, culminating with a right hand which floored Gomez. The referee then completed the bizarre formalities by waving off the contest.

Bookmaker Boyle Sports told Irish television broadcaster RTÉ that it had suspended betting on the fight earlier in the evening when it noticed an unusual pattern of betting on McDonagh winning in the fifth, sixth or seventh rounds.

Speaking after the fight, former world champion Steve Collins voiced his suspicions saying, "I smell a rat, something's not right here."

Gomez, real name Michael Armstrong, afterwards claimed that he was caught by a shot to the temple which totally disorientated him. He further claimed that he tried to defend himself by raising his arms but couldn't.

Gomez is all but finished as a fighter and his reputation for wild living and indiscipline won't help his cause in the subsequent investigation.

FrankGrimes

holy god lads some of you must've been watching a completely different fight to the one I was watching if you reckon McDonagh won any of the first four rounds in that fight.

McDonagh was totally mediocre and didn't hurt Gomez with a single punch, I reckon Gomez' lack of use of a leading jab may be throwing you off your estimates of just how many times he was connecting with McDonagh. I actually watched the fight for a second time yesterday and looked at it in the cold light of day. Do this and you'll see just how often McDonagh's head bobs up when they're in close and Gomez nails him with a short sharp uppercut. McDonagh showed just how poor a boxer he is by being so slow to back away from Gomez's advances: with a bit of thought and lateral movement he could easily have picked him off with full length jabs every time, the fact he ended up getting dragged into close encounters so often reflects poorly on him cos he demonstrated he just does not have any power to justify being in that close.

I actually spoke out loud in admiration of Collins when he said the 4th was Gomez' - I thought the commentators, was it Magee and Gilroy, were blatantly trying to talk up the fight to make out like it was more competitive than it was and were over eager to highlight any good things McDonagh did to make out like it was a better show than it was (just like the later attempts to talk up Wilders). Clearly, these two lads don't know all that much about boxing cos, though it was McDonagh's best round, count the punches and you'll see it was still Gomez' round. I thought Collins was quite ballsy to make that contradiction.

Collins both started and finished his analysis by saying fair play to McDonagh, so I think he's given him enough credit. Any boxer who can't knock an unprotected opponent down within 10 clean shots does not deserve much praise. Again, I'm confident Dowling's reasoning that Gomez has just had enough of boxing will be rubbished when he goes in pursuit of his next pay day.

Gomez was winning at a canter which is why I am 100% convinced he quit in a fix. The fact betting on him being knocked out in round 5 came down from 125-1 to 12-1 before betting was suspended speaks volumes. Anyone who has ever been in a ring and had the misfortune of being dazed knows what the tell tale signs of the disorientation are. Gomez exhibited none of those - for a good example see the poor lad who was walloped by Amir Khan on Saturday (btw Khan's hands seem to have retained their blistering speed even though he has bulked up considerably - totally believe he's the real deal and will take the top belts eventually).

My own theory is that Gomez was attempting to use an undetected low blow as cover for his taking a dive: just before he dropped his hands McDonagh hit him with a body punch that was marginally low, Gomez then dropped his hands and lifted his head in the general direction of the ref. Ref did nothing cos it was actually legal and I think he was expecting a solid punch to put him down making it a perfectly plausible scenario, where he could even come out complaining the ref hadn't given him recovery time from a low blow. As it was McDonagh's need for 10 punches to down him kinda ruined whatever plan he may have had going. Also, the body language in Gomez' corner made for interesting viewing second time round - nobody trying to convince him to keep going, it was like none of what was going on came as a suprise to them.

derek23

I was at the fight on Saturday evening and there is something very wrong with how the fight finished up.

Gomez was the much better boxer and in the 5th he did take a punch to the temple but not a punch of any great power as mcdonagh is not a powerful puncher,with that he did look to the ref and a couple of bitch slaps later he went down and then couldn't wait to get out of there.When he got of the ring he did slip a bit and then sat down as if he was hurt got checked over and was out of there then.Would fully agree with Collins it was a defo fix.

Mikel

Frank Grimes sums it up nicely. I don't think it was a joint effort, he could throw the fight and clean up in the bookies. A lump of money at 125-1 far exceeds whatever purse he was on. The plan fell down because his opponent didn't give him a decent punch so that he could take a plausible dive.

walshb

This arguement of betting doesn't hold up in my opinion. It is not unusual at all in the history of sports betting to see huge odds placed on an underdog to win a fight in a certain rd. Sometimes it happens but mostly it never materialises. So what if Boyle sports suspended betting. This proves nothing.
Any fight fan, which I am has to say that Macdonagh was no damn punchbag in that fight and he was very durble, busy and fit. Gomez had no stamina, after rd 1 he was panting like hell and I strongly believe he wasn't near fit enough to go the distance, he knew it too and was totally disheartened by the fact that Macdonagh was still there and throwing punches after 4rds. Macdonagh had a very good 4th rd, but most of the people here haven't said this.

Usually if a fight is going to be fixed, one fighter will go down from a good head shot, if not then he'll go down from a body shot. The way Gomez decided to end that fight was not the actions of a man involved in a 5th round fix. Anyone who thinks otherwise is extremely naieve. Why not just quit on the stool after rd 4 and feign injury???. The fact of the matter is that Gomez knew in his heart that he was a beaten fighter, had very little left in the tank and rather than go 3-4 rds more of a beating he quit.

FrankGrimes

walshb wrote:

The fact of the matter is that Gomez knew in his heart that he was a beaten fighter, had very little left in the tank and rather than go 3-4 rds more of a beating he quit.

Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but I find it genuinely astonishing that anyone who watched the same fight as I did can come to that conclusion. Gomez was winning without any major effort and just had to keep it ticking over to win. I'll watch it yet again tonight to see if I can see any evidence of this so called Gomez panting you say you saw.

The betting patterns ARE very suspicious, and the fact that they come in addition to the fight finishing in such unusual circumstances has caused most reasonable people to think that those two factors combined strongly suggest a fix.

Boylesports are quoted in today's times as saying that several people were ringing up putting bets of €20, €50 on a 5th round knock-out, and in the spokesman's professional opinion that in itself was unusual. However, even after they suspended betting several people were ringing up to put hundreds on a 5th round knock-out, which to most reasonable people would be regarded as way too much of a coincidence to hold up. The comical fashion in which it finished really does make me feel that the naivety being shown here falls on your side walshb, no offence intended.

walshb

Frank, you make some very good points but I still feel there was no fix and Gomez knew he was beat. If it's true he had to lose weight right before the weigh in then that would explain exactly why he was panting after rd 1 and why after 5 rds he was beat. I really think he would have feigned injury or went down from a 'suspect' body shot rather than just turn away.

Gomez was doing the pressuring but Peter was throwing more shots and had took all of Gomez' best. My god Collins and Dowling really believed that Gomez had to just turn up for a win and to say Gomez won rd 4 is ludicrous in my opinion. Gamesmanship has been long a part of sport. A prime example occurred in the Aussie Open at the weekend when Henin Hardenne quit during the 2nd set against Mauresmo complaining of stomach cramps. She was being soundly beaten, and thru frustration she more than likely feigned injury rather than admit that Mauresmo was simply better. Most athletes seem to think that it justifies their loss. It doesn't, it just tarnishes their image and the Gomez fiasco stinks of Gamesmanship rather than a 'fix'..

Like in the Liston-Clay fight in 64, Liston rather than admit to himself that Clay was the better fighter, he chose to quit on his stool and ease the loss.
Collins made reference to Duran quitting against Leonard in their fight and said that Duran was taking a beating and that is why he quit. Well that shows how much he knows. Duran quit plainly and simply because he was pisse off, bored and uninterested. The scores at the time of him quitting were extremely close and it was clear that he had enough of Leonard's clowning and taunting.