By David Finger
Photos: Sumio Yamada
The final day of the 103rd Annual WBA Convention at the Caribe Royal Hotel and Convention Center in Orlando, Florida concluded with the WBA Officials’ seminars in the morning. Starting with the judges seminars, the emphasis of the training was centered around the philosophy of the legendary Hall of Fame boxing judge Tom Kaczmarek, who retired in 2010. Kaczmerek, who authored the book “You be the Boxing Judge” used a style of judging which he called “mental computing” when judging a fight, and examples of this mental computing was put into effect with the various judges present for the training. Using rounds from such memorable fights such as Sergey Kovalev-Jean Pascal along side fights that even the most die hard fight fan would have a hard time remembering, the judges training gave judges an opportunity to hone their skills while having open discussions about some of the land mines that judges face (such as avoiding “mercy rounds” where a judge feels compelled to give a fighter a round because of his collective work in the fight and not because he or she may have actually won the round).
After a short recess the referees seminars kicked off with a specialized training that also featured the use of video clips from various fights. The discussion was informative and included such important tips such as making sure the bottom rope was not too firm (noting that this was what caused the death of former featherweight world champion Davey Moore, who tragically lost his life in the ring in 1963 when he was knocked down and hit his neck on the bottom rope) to recognizing who is in a fighters corner and who has the authority to stop a fight. Former middleweight champion Bernard Hopkins also took part in the discussion, discussing if a referee could or should be allowed to consult other ringside officials if they missed a knockdown or even if it was time for the sport to adopt instant replay.
At the conclusion of the officials seminar, the closing ceremony commenced, with some additional awards being given out to WBA members who helped out together the convention. President Gilberto Mendoza Jr. gave a speech thanking those who made the WBA what it was in 2024, quoting another former boxing sanctioning body president in former WBO President Francisco “Paco” Valcarcel.
“Sometimes we deal with promoters and we consider them friends,” Mendoza said quoting Valcarcel. “And sometimes we have to say no to them and that is very difficult for us in this position. But we try and balance that.”
Noting that the WBA sanctioned over 400 fights since the last convention, Mendoza expressed pride in the opportunities that the WBA gave to over 800 fighters, allowing them to chase their dreams and change their lives. At the conclusion of the convention Mendoza handed out the certificates of completion for the various officials who had completed the training.
No announcement was made as to the location of next year’s convention.
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