Say what? Carlos Molina (L) and his trainer are seen questioning referee Jon Schorle (R) after his ruling of a disqualification.

On the undercard of Saturday’s Morales/Garcia bout at the Reliant Arena in Houston, Texas was the light middleweight bout between southpaw James “Mandingo Warrior” Kirkland of Austin, Texas and Carlos “King” Molina of Chicago, Illinois by way of Patzcuaro, Michoacán de Ocampo, Mexico. During this match, two very controversial things occurred. 

At various points in the fight, James Kirkland (R) had Carlos Molina (L) in trouble.

For most of the fight, Carlos Molina (L) was pretty slick as he slipped punches and countered off each of James Kirkland's misses.

James Kirkland poses with his trainer Ann Wolfe who like her cohorts in the gym is known for her very colorful language. Photo: Scott Heavey/Getty Images

For one, Molina set a new standard for clinching. He clinched an embarrassing 118 times and not once did the inept referee Jon Schorle warn or think about deducting a point for holding. Remember this, the sport of boxing was created to ensure spectator entertainment not to have the spectators spend their night watching two guys hug.

Second thing, the referee called for Molina’s disqualification after one of his cornerman briefly hopped in and out of the ring. With that infraction, the referee said he was forced to rule a disqualification. This infraction occurred after the bell had sounded. Even though Molina was clear headed and on his feet when the bell sounded, the referee went on to complete his standing eight count. Then came his decision on the stoppage due to disqualification. Confused? So was everyone else.

Thank God for boxing fans who on occasion weigh in to offer their constructive criticism.

Clayton Green: “Molina deserved to lose… Rushing in with his head then grabbing all night. The referee should have deducted points for excessive holding and use of the head. In my opinion justice was done. That comes straight from a boxing fan after a frustrating fight.

Steve Winnett of Houston, Texas: “Molina is a dirty fighter. I was pulling for Molina until I saw all of the dirty stuff he was getting away with from my seat just 15 feet away. The referee, Jon Schorle didn’t catch the dirtiness being done? Molina’s team was doing nothing more than trying to cheat and they got caught. I’m no longer a fan of Molina anymore.”

Gilbert Vasquez of Gilberto Vasquez Photography: “So because you don’t like Molina, Kirkland should have won? Get out of here. Don’t call that dude a cheat, no rabbit punches, no kidney punches, no biting, no intentional head butts, no lacing. Did he hold a lot? Yes, but so what. In the end Kirkland did nothing to get the win, not inside the ring at least.”

Boxing promoter Lou DiBella: “I love boxing, but it is its own worst enemy. We are a suicidal industry. Carlos Molina, I am so sorry about what was just done to you. Shame! F*** Texas. Disgrace! Destroying boxing. And good old Gale Van Hoy (DiBella was making reference to Van Hoy’s scores which at the time had Kirkland ahead 86-85 while the other judges had Molina up 87-84 and 88-83). Was barely a knockdown. Again, I am embarrassed by Boxing.”

Sirgeo Fontay: “Still think Golden Boy Promotions is the fairest promoter around? Okay, then explain this. In my eyes Lamont Peterson did enough to beat overrated Amir Kahn. Oscar De La Hoya near busted a vein crying foul and home cooking with a backyard referee.

Now fast forward to tonight when Kirkland had his a** handed to him. He was losing and no way was he going to win the fight. Guess what? As you know, he won. How? The referee screamed foul after the corner climbed in the ring but immediately stepped out. Add insult to our intelligence, the referee had completed his standing eight count before deciding to stop the fight.

Now here’s the hook. During the announcement you could see De La Hoya in the background smiling. Did he not say after the Khan/Peterson fight that he believes in fair play? Dude, please!

Molina, the fans know you won and I wish there was a governing body that punishes judges and referees for their bad calls. If what happened tonight was a legit call, then shouldn’t Money Mayweather have a loss on his record, since it was Roger Mayweather who jumped in the ring first during the Mayweather versus Judah fight?

I’m not putting race on these ongoing bad calls but the boxing game is at the mercy of the promoters, the ticket seller that generates interests and money will always be protected. The only true chance an opponent has, is to knock out the favorite or beat him so bad the judges have no other choice but to call it fair.

White, Black, Hispanic, who ever is hot and generates them dollars will more than likely get the nod in a close or not so close fight. This will continue until the fans stop it. How do we stop it? Stop supporting these main stream, super promoters. We all want to see a good fight. If we stop paying the pay per views and stop buying tickets to the big fights, we might see change. We are the boss because the customer is King. When we hurt their pockets, we’ll see better fights, fair fights.”

Jude Kaldi of Florida International University: “HBO allows a private club of promoters (Golden Boy, Lou DiBella, Top Rank) to put on whatever they want and bring in their own referees and judges, and the announcing team acts shocked when things happen in favor of the promoter’s fighters.

Aaron C. Ramson of American Medical Response: “Boxing is full of inept and shameless referee’s. It will continue to be this way until something is done to overturn the system. There is no unifying body of government like UFC. There are only micro-commissions whose rules and regulations vary from state to state, and long corrupt sanctioning bodies who enforce their own rules only when they see it fit to do so. This will not be the last shameless and outrageous call we we will have to sit through.”