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Saturday, May 10, 2003

By Chuck Finder, Post-Gazette Sports Writer

The fight is on.

Greg Sirb, the Pennsylvania Athletic Commission’s executive secretary and state boxing boss, said late last night all sides “accepted” the ringside judges as announced and the Leonard Dorin-Paul Spadafora match Saturday will proceed as scheduled at Pitt’s Petersen Events Center.

His pronouncement came after at least three days of talks that culminated with a conference call involving Sirb and officials from the both fighters’ camps. Dorin’s representatives, Interbox of Montreal, disputed the impaneled ringside judges: two Americans, Patrick Russell of California (from Spadafora’s International Boxing Federation) and Gary Merritt of Indiana (as a purported neutral official), along with one European, Ove Ovesson of Denmark (from Dorin’s World Boxing Association).

Interbox General Manager Yvon Joseph sought impartiality for the title-unification match and questioned Merritt’s neutrality, saying 26 of the 28 title fights he worked were IBF bouts.

But shortly before midnight, Sirb finally put down the telephone and considered the matter closed.

“We respect Interbox, that they were looking out for their fighters,” said Sirb, a past president of the U.S. Association of Boxing Commissioners. “We’re extremely pleased that they accepted the officials that we presented to them. We feel it’s a neutral playing field, and we hope the best man wins.”

Joseph said his camp was offered a chance to replace Merritt with a judge he considered less-experienced. The offer was refused.

He added of Sirb: “Then he put the gun to our head, ‘Are you coming or not?’ We’re very, very unhappy. Instead of having a wonderful week with a world championship fight, it’s going to be bad -- we’re upset and disappointed.”

Joseph concluded that he had some loose ends to tie up with Acri, but declined to specify. Initially, he talked of delaying until Wednesday the decision whether Dorin will fight. Said Joseph early this morning: “There are several things that might play a role in our decision.”

Mike Acri, Spadafora’s promoter and overseer of the upcoming HBO fight, believed all sides already had reached a resolution after speaking earlier yesterday with a representatives of Dorin, the WBA lightweight champion.

“They’re definitely on board,” Acri said. “They’re not pulling out.”

Although Dorin’s representatives publicly decried the judging panel and set a Wednesday deadline for deciding whether to fight, neither HBO nor Spadafora’s side thought the match was in doubt.

Tickets cost $200 for golden ringside, $100 for ringside, $75 for golden reserved, $50 for reserved and $25 for general admission and can be purchased at Ticketmaster outlets, ticketmaster.com or by calling 412-323-1919.