BOXING Arum pushing for investigation



The promoter claims there was a conspiracy to vote against Oscar De La Hoya.
LAS VEGAS (AP) -- Shane Mosley took time off from celebrating his win over Oscar De La Hoya on Monday to offer some advice about dealing with a loss.
After that, he offered De La Hoya another fight.
"If he wants to do it again, it's all right with me," Mosley said. "As long as the money is right, that is."
Refusing to let De La Hoya's talk of an investigation into the judging of the fight tarnish his win, Mosley said De La Hoya needs to accept his loss and move on.
"I think he's a little emotional right now," Mosley said. "He needs to take some time to cool off and understand what's done is done."
It's sinking in
De La Hoya appeared to be doing just that, two days after losing his 154-pound titles to Mosley in a close but unanimous decision.
A spokeswoman for De La Hoya said he was looking at his options, but that no one in the De La Hoya camp wanted to talk about them.
Promoter Bob Arum wasn't as bashful, though, claiming he had evidence of a conspiracy involving a Nevada Athletic Commission member to get the three judges to vote against his fighter.
Arum declined to name the commission member, but said he has seen written evidence that backs up his claim.
"This is serious stuff," Arum said. "There's got to be a full and open investigation. The future of boxing is at stake."
De La Hoya said after his loss that he planned to hire a lawyer on Monday to investigate the judging. He lost 115-113 on the three ringside scorecards, with all three judges giving Mosley the final four rounds.
"I'm not doing this because I'm a sore loser," De La Hoya said. "I'm doing this for the sport of boxing."
Marc Ratner, executive director of the Nevada Athletic Commission, said both Arum and Mosley's promoter, Gary Shaw, approved the judges several weeks before the fight.
"I have no idea what he's saying," Ratner said. "I know three of the best judges in the world judged that fight. I wasn't going to go with no-names for the fight, and both camps had to approve them."
The judges -- Anek Hongtongkam from Thailand, Stanley Christodoulou of South Africa and Duane Ford of Las Vegas -- all have long records as boxing officials, and have judged some of the sport's biggest bouts.
Mosley said Monday he was worried in the minutes after the fight that he would lose the decision because Arum was the main fight promoter and most of the capacity crowd at the MGM Grand hotel were De La Hoya fans.
Surprised
Mosley said that's why he had a look of surprise on his face when the decision was announced.
"I knew I won the fight but it's another thing when your hand is raised," he said. "I thought I was a lot stronger this time than the first time. When I hit him, I knew I hurt him."
Mosley said punch statistics compiled at ringside were also misleading because it was impossible to tell how many punches landed during sometimes fierce flurries or who was throwing them. The punch stats are compiled by a company contracted by HBO.
"There were a lot of punches being thrown and he missed a lot of shots," Mosley said. "One time I saw a three- or four-punch flurry go over my head and the fans all went crazy. But he didn't hit me."
Shaw said Mosley should be allowed to enjoy his second win over De La Hoya and not have it tarnished because of the controversy.
"He's such a good guy and takes the high road. Why try to diminish it?" Shaw asked. "I hope the Nevada commission takes steps against Oscar and Arum for making those comments about the judges."