Sundry sports notes

A few observations about sundry subjects:

• Not “the robbery of the century,” even if the century is young

I watched the Oscar De la Hoya - Shane Mosley fight on TV and kept score, as I often do. I had it 115-113 for De la Hoya. The ringside judges unanimously disagreed with me, and apparently with most other observers.

Let’s face the facts that it was a close fight, that Mosley used a style that included a lot of body shots that are often better seen at ringside than by television audiences, and that De la Hoya fought very cautiously, only playing the aggressor in the last seconds of several rounds. I would have called it differently, but there’s no cause to question the judges’ honor, as De la Hoya, to his credit, has not done.

I suppose that if the uproar were such that it led to professional boxing reform, which is sorely needed, it might have a positive aspect. In that case, however, it would be slightly sickening, in that an honestly debatable decision would be a greater impetus for change than the preventable boxing death of Panamanian fighter Pedro Alcázar.

• Whither Pambelé?

On the same card as the De la Hoya - Mosley bout, Panamanian pugilist Demetrio “Pambelé” Ceballos lost, very badly, to the Puerto Rican Miguel Cotto, a top-rank boxer. This was a world championship elimination bout, with a title shot to the winner. Ceballos is 30 years old and a very good athlete, but he only reached the second tier in his profession and won’t get another shot at the big time.

I watched Pambelé on his way up, and on his way back up after previous defeats. His losses all came to men on their way to world championships. Even though he was never more than a second-tier fighter, Ceballos was and is no bum.

Pambelé really needs to retire from the ring, but can he afford to do so? As important as boxing is to Panamanian culture, we don’t treat our boxers very well, especially after their fighting days are over.

The worst case scenario? Pedro Alcázar’s kids are living in poverty because Mireya Moscoso, one of the many politicians who hastened to the boxer’s side for a photo op when he was the champion, has not had the common decency to use her power and influence to straighten out a legal mess that stems in large part from the late fighter’s birth in the Darien at a time when many babies delivered there didn’t get proper birth certificates.

The more common injustice? All too often we have seen yesterday’s national boxing heroes scraping along by selling things on the street or working as security guards. In this centennial year Panama should be honoring a major part of our national life by giving our former world champion prizefighters an honored place onstage, but if we did that it would be an embarrassment because most of them are poor.

Another tragedy that’s just taken as a given is that our best boxers earn less than they should over the courses of their careers because they must establish their international reputations as professionals, rather than by showing the world what they have as Olympians before turning pro. Blame the government’s INDE sports institute, blame the Panamanian Olympic Committee, but above all blame the promoters and the boxing commission for deliberately undercutting Panama’s amateur boxers by scheduling professional boxing cards when Golden Gloves tournaments are underway. This little country of fewer than three million souls is a towering giant in the boxing world, but no Panamanians fought at the recent Pan-American Games, nor will any be allowed to step into the ring next year in Athens. That’s wrong, whether you want to consider the question in terms of national pride or as a matter of dollars and cents.

As I have said before, some of the unused houses and apartments at the former US military bases ought to be dedicated to our athletes. Buildings that are now deteriorating because ARI can’t find millionaires to pay inflated prices for them should be turned into subsidized retirement homes for boxers, jockeys and other former athletes, and to give young would-be Olympians decent places to stay while they dedicate themselves to their training.

In addition to housing, Panama ought to have special education and job training programs so that athletes like Pambelé have more options after their playing days are over.

• Under-23 soccer squad still in the hunt

After a shoddy performance and a lucky tie in Managua, Panama’s under-23 soccer team came home and scored a convincing 4-1 victory over Nicaragua. The score understates the extent of the rout.

That keeps Gary Stempel’s team’s chances of going to next year’s Athens Olympiad alive. The next obstacle in Panama’s path is St. Lucia. However, at least for the St. Lucia games, it won’t be Stempel’s team as such.

Panama’s soccer federation has handed the reins of the under-23 team to Cheché Hernández because Stempel’s other team, the national under-20 team, has to get ready for the United Arab Emirates world championships that should have taken place in March but due to the Iraq War were postponed until November.

• Which Panamanian baseball players will we see in the post-season?

Barring any late-season injury or incredible Yankee collapse, we will see Mariano Rivera in the playoffs. There is an outside chance that we might see the other Panamanian who has played a stellar role this year, Chicago White Sox outfielder Carlos Lee. As this issue was being produced Lee was batting .293, with 30 home runs and 105 runs batted in. The Sox were in a close second place in their division, but well back in the wild card race. Wouldn’t it be a treat to see Mariano Rivera have to get Carlos Lee out in order for the Yankees to make it to the World Series?

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Sporting notes