Saturday, February 12, 2000
Local boxer stumbles at Olympic Trials
BY JOHN ERARDI
The Cincinnati Enquirer
TAMPA, Fla. — The road to Sydney turned crater-filled Friday night for Dante Craig, Cincinnati's highly touted 147-pound boxer. He was beaten 15-5 by Larry Mosely in the championship round at the U.S. Olympic Boxing Trials.
Mosely, of Los Angeles, is the nation's top-ranked 147-pounder.
“It's hard to knock off a No.1,” said spectator Ricardo Williams Jr., a Taft High School graduate, who should know.
Williams is the nation's top-ranked 139-pound amateur boxer. He will box on national TV today (2-4 p.m., Channels 5, 22) in one of the featured championship bouts.
Williams' buddy Craig was 2-0 going into Friday's bout. But he dropped into the losers bracket of this double-elimination tournament.
Craig must win a bout on Sunday, then beat Mosely twice at box-offs in Connecticut at the end of this month to gain a spot on the U.S. Olympic team.
“I can do it, but I'm going to really have to establish myself early (in the re-match with Mosely),” said Craig, 21, a graduate of Woodward High School. “I don't feel like the judges gave me a fair shake, but if that's the way it's going to be, then I have to take it out of their hands. I have to take the fight away from him early, and then do just what I did in the third and fourth rounds (Friday night).”
Craig clearly won those final two rounds. But in boxing, the favorite almost always gets the benefit of the doubt.
Had Mosely really built up an insurmountable lead in the first two rounds? Most ringside observers felt the score should have been closer than it was. But even some members of the Cincinnati contingent felt the decision could have gone either way. And when that's the scenario, not even the computer that now tallies scoring in these matches is going to dethrone a favorite.
Why?
Because it is the judges who push the buttons on the computer. The judges push these buttons when they see an unblocked punch with body weight behind it land in the target area.
“They've made it harder for me, but not impossible,” Craig said.
Sports Stories
The makings of a grand-slam deal
Junior will wear No. 30
Griffey is a hot ticket
Reds expect windfall from Junior
Reds face fine from Griffey talks
Griffey contract stuns baseball
Seattle: Cameron, Tomko - Who?
Seattle fans mourn the morning after
Bowden says no Rocker
Sullivan wins $1.1 million in arbitration
Blake's No. 1 again - with Saints
Blake's up-and-down career
Bengals court top defenders
Xavier faces former No. 1
'Q' focus of UC's defense
Celtics stop Fortson trade
