Darrin Morris, deceased, had moved up two places and was now ranked at number 5. Somehow, for four months, a corpse had not only managed to stay in the WBO Super Middleweight division rankings, but, astonishingly, climb two places.
“I met Darrin in Detroit in 1999 and he was a good fighter,” WBO president Francisco Valcarcel told the London Independent. “I have just been made aware of the problem and I have instructed the ratings committee to remove him from the ratings.I have launched an inquiry and I will investigate why this young man stayed in the ratings when he was dead.It is sometimes hard to get all the information on boxers and we obviously missed the fact that Darrin was dead. It is regrettable.”
The story did not stop there, however, as when Morris was finally removed from the rankings it wasn’t because of the fact that he was deceased, but because of ‘inactivity’. Despite worldwide news on the incident, Gordon Volkman, the fourth Vice President of the WBO, and one of three men who actually compile the WBO rankings, still didn’t have any idea that Morris was dead.
“He’s dead? This surprises me,” Volkman, 70, said from his home in suburban Chicago. “How did anybody know he’s dead? This is the first that I’ve heard. Today, people expect us to keep up with these things, but there are more boxers than ever before. It’s impossible. It’s the only explanation I can give you.”
Said Greg Sirb, who monitors the sport as president of the Association of Boxing Commissions, “The WBO is going to have to face the music on this. Somebody wasn’t paying attention. I could see it happening for a month but
after one month he should be out of there.”
Today the WBO are definitely seen as the fourth legitimate boxing organisation and they now have such men as Wladimir Klitschko, Timothy Bradley, Juan Manuel Marquez and Nonito Donaire as their Champions. It took them a long time, and, despite some still not regarding them on the same level as the other three, they have come a long way.
Is that it?
Highly doubtful. The International Boxing Organisation(IBO) are now making moves to become the fifth legitimate organisation, and unlike the IBF & WBO, didn’t spawn from trouble in the WBA. At the moment they are probably looked upon as the WBO were in the late 1980’s, but like the WBO, in twenty years, we will most likely be looking at the IBO as a legitimate boxing organisation. And more than likely, a few more will spring up in the following years.
Danny Garcia & Erik Morales
Four 'World Titles' on the line
Kurt Ward can be reached on Twitter @BoxingAsylum
9 the nuthouse