Coach Russ Anber reveals protest for Whyte vs. Rivas gloves swap incident

[Ruthless-RKO]

Oscar Rivas cornerman Russ Anber has outlined an incident which transpired hours before the Colombian was due to fight Dillian Whyte.

Upon going through the glove selection process, Anber was surprised to learn Whyte had swapped his leather for an unapproved pair.

The Briton had also been laced up before Rivas and his team had a chance to inspect the gloves, adding further controversy to an already delicate situation.

Whyte is currently facing doubts over his future after it emerged there were potential problems with drug testing during the build-up.

A sample taken is said to have contained an unnamed but banned substance, which if revealed to be performance enhancing, could end Whyte’s career.

The glove protest only adds to Whyte’s woes. The ‘Body Snatcher’ also faces the real possibility of being dropped from the WBC Rankings.

Whyte’s win over Rivas had earned him the mandatory spot.

In a lengthy explanation, Anber said the following:

It was an exciting fight – no doubt about it. We knew it was going to be a tough fight for Oscar. Dillian has proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that he’s a world-class heavyweight.

He’s come on in leaps and bounds and a lot of credit for that has to go to trainer Mark Tibbs for the work he’s done with him. On the night Dillian fought a very smart fight. He used his jab well and boxed the fight he needed to.

I felt that Oscar did himself proud and fought one of the best fights of his career considering the level of opposition he was up against. I said to him after the fight it was probably the best performance of his career.

He had Dillian hurt in the eighth and looked like he was on the verge of getting him out of there. Oscar himself was hurt in the second round after winning the first round and showed a lot of heart and determination throughout.

So it was a good fight, but having said that here in the Rivas camp we weren’t happy with the job the referee did and with some other stuff that went on.

We actually filed an official protest to the WBC prior to the fight because of some things that happened beforehand. Our protest was filed before the boxers even entered the ring so it’s not a case of sour grapes because Oscar lost.

It all goes back to the day before the fight when we had the rules meeting and glove selection meeting with the various officials and the British Boxing Board of Control.

To be honest, I can’t begin to express our disappointment with everything that happened.

The double standards started when we brought an extra pair of gloves to the glove selection meeting and were told we couldn’t bring that pair of gloves in. We asked why not and were told it was because they had to be brought in by the promoter.

Well, our promoter [name inaudible] was in the room with us. What difference does it really make who’s physically carrying the gloves, the promoter or someone else to give to the promoter? That’s semantics!

Anyway, we ended up not being allowed to submit these additional gloves. Thankfully, we didn’t end up needing them but it was an example of what was to come.

On fight night, about a half hour before we were set to go into the ring, the Whyte camp suddenly told us they were not wearing the gloves that they selected at the glove selection meeting.

Not the number one pair that they selected and not the number two pair either, but another brand of gloves that weren’t even on the table at the glove selection.

Of course, we protested and said, ‘what was the point of having the glove selection meeting if you’re going to wear whatever you want?’ At that meeting Dillian’s representative Mark Tibbs had chosen the two sets of gloves and signed them off.

No one said at the rules meeting, ‘oh by the way, if on the night you want to switch gloves you can.’

To make matters worse, not only was Dillian allowed to wear these new gloves, but he was already gloved up and we weren’t even allowed to inspect them.

Bear in mind, his camp inspected our gloves – they knew what we were wearing. In contrast we had no idea what they were using because they were allowed to pick whatever glove they wanted, tape it up and put it on.

Even after we reluctantly agreed to let them make the change we still weren’t allowed to see the gloves.

It’s insane and created the impression that something was going on, that there was something being hidden.

I mean, if those were the gloves they were going to use all along why not select them and bring them to the glove selection meeting?

If it was a late change for some reason that was needed on the night, why not allow us the courtesy of inspecting the gloves as you do at a glove selection meeting?

What was going on? I don’t get it.

We saw Dillian’s hands wrapped but not the gloves being put on. We couldn’t examine the gloves and when we protested we were told ‘too bad’ by the Board officials – effectively they said they weren’t going to make him take his gloves off, they’re on already, the fight’s about to start.

Well, it takes 90 seconds at most to put on or take off a pair of gloves. So why not allow us the courtesy of being able to see the gloves?

All that happened was everything ended up being shrouded in controversy and didn’t look transparent.

We filed our protest before we even went into the ring. And can you blame us? I mean, can you imagine if the boot was on the other foot – and such a situation occurred, say, for a British fighter fighting an American in America? For Callum Smith or for Anthony Joshua? There would have been hell to pay and rightfully so.

When Vasiliy Lomachenko – whose corner I was working – fought Anthony Crolla earlier this year, Joe Gallagher made sure that Lomachenko’s gloves were weighed by the California Athletic Commission.

And he was right to do so, he was allowed and entitled to do that. I say that as someone who was working for the opposing fighter.

Quite simply, we should have been allowed to weigh the gloves and inspect the gloves.


COMPLAINT

Our complaint isn’t against Dillian and his camp – I understand when you go into a fight your camp does everything it can to give your man the edge, that’s part of the gamesmanship of boxing.

But that’s why the commissions are there – to ensure there is transparency and fairness and to protect both fighters, not only one. Board chairman Robert Smith is a very fair man, I’ve never had any issues with him, but he wasn’t at the fight on Saturday.

Another thing we weren’t happy with was that the referee was all over Rivas the whole fight. Every little infraction he was told: ‘don’t do this or don’t do that’, whereas if Dillian did something it passed. All the borderline stuff was called for Rivas, but not for Dillian.

I’ve spent most of my years in boxing on the road – hell, my fighter Otis Grant, who I took from the amateurs to the world title, was known as a road warrior and had to beat Ryan Rhodes in Sheffield to win the WBO title.

So I know the score; no one travels wanting any special favours, you just want a level playing field – but time and time again you see situations all over the world where the rules are applied differently for the home fighter and the away fighter or for the ‘A side’ as opposed to the ‘B side’. We saw it recently with Gennady Golovkin and Steve Rolls in New York.

It’s not right and unless someone speaks out about it nothing will change.

Anyway, that’s my rant for today!

[margaret thatcher]

well tbf, he states himself well and his grevances (?) are justified if what he says is true. it doesnt sound like sour grapes and he gives a good asssessment of the fight/result

seems like some shady stuff happened in this one

[oogiebe]

Geez. I hope this isn't something serious too. WTF is going on with this fight? What if any advantages would have been gotten with the glove swap?

[margaret thatcher]

Geez. I hope this isn't something serious too. WTF is going on with this fight? What if any advantages would have been gotten with the glove swap?

well for one thing, if they are using gloves that have been allowed to bypass the normal process, you question the legitimacy of the gloves themselves. and different gloves really do have different effects and stuff...theres some stuff out there with fighters/trainers breaking down the differences between brands. and i think floyd to name a bigger name with very choosey with the glove process for opponents--i remember he said the gloves maidana wanted originally were like rocks.

so expecting one type of glove and then getting another-while perhaps a minor thing overall-is still not a good thing

either way its shady if true

[ironbeard]

If these things are true, fvck Whyte and his team.

[lefthook82]

If these things are true, fvck Whyte and his team.

Agree but they should have threatened not to fight.

Sometimes you need to call A siders on their bullshit, like Fury with Vladimir

[ironbeard]

If these things are true, fvck Whyte and his team.

Agree but they should have threatened not to fight.

Sometimes you need to call A siders on their bullshit, like Fury with Vladimir

Let’s see how it plays out but the whole situation reeks at the moment.

[Ruthless-RKO]

Geez. I hope this isn't something serious too. WTF is going on with this fight? What if any advantages would have been gotten with the glove swap?

well for one thing, if they are using gloves that have been allowed to bypass the normal process, you question the legitimacy of the gloves themselves. and different gloves really do have different effects and stuff...theres some stuff out there with fighters/trainers breaking down the differences between brands. and i think floyd to name a bigger name with very choosey with the glove process for opponents--i remember he said the gloves maidana wanted originally were like rocks.

so expecting one type of glove and then getting another-while perhaps a minor thing overall-is still not a good thing

either way its shady if true

And they didn't get to inspect his hands being wrapped too..

[ironbeard]

well for one thing, if they are using gloves that have been allowed to bypass the normal process, you question the legitimacy of the gloves themselves. and different gloves really do have different effects and stuff...theres some stuff out there with fighters/trainers breaking down the differences between brands. and i think floyd to name a bigger name with very choosey with the glove process for opponents--i remember he said the gloves maidana wanted originally were like rocks.

so expecting one type of glove and then getting another-while perhaps a minor thing overall-is still not a good thing

either way its shady if true

And they didn't get to inspect his hands being wrapped too..

That’s not what the info you quoted says.

[Ruthless-RKO]

That’s not what the info you quoted says.

To make matters worse, not only was Dillian allowed to wear these new gloves, but he was already gloved up and we weren’t even allowed to inspect them.

Bear in mind, his camp inspected our gloves – they knew what we were wearing. In contrast we had no idea what they were using because they were allowed to pick whatever glove they wanted, tape it up and put it on.

^^

I'm referring to this. Rivas' team did not see Whyte get wrapped. Whereas team Whyte already knew what gloves Rivas was going to wear. I don't know if Whyte's team witnessed Rivas' hands being wrapped.

[ironbeard]

That’s not what the info you quoted says.

To make matters worse, not only was Dillian allowed to wear these new gloves, but he was already gloved up and we weren’t even allowed to inspect them.

Bear in mind, his camp inspected our gloves – they knew what we were wearing. In contrast we had no idea what they were using because they were allowed to pick whatever glove they wanted, tape it up and put it on.

^^

I'm referring to this. Rivas' team did not see Whyte get wrapped. Whereas team Whyte already knew what gloves Rivas was going to wear. I don't know if Whyte's team witnessed Rivas' hands being wrapped.

You apparently missed the following part.

We saw Dillian’s hands wrapped but not the gloves being put on.We couldn’t examine the gloves and when we protested we were told ‘too bad’ by the Board officials – effectively they said they weren’t going to make him take his gloves off, they’re on already, the fight’s about to start.

[Ruthless-RKO]

You apparently missed the following part.

We saw Dillian’s hands wrapped but not the gloves being put on.We couldn’t examine the gloves and when we protested we were told ‘too bad’ by the Board officials – effectively they said they weren’t going to make him take his gloves off, they’re on already, the fight’s about to start.

My bad mate. Still bad that though,

[ironbeard]

You apparently missed the following part.

My bad mate. Still bad that though,

100% agree.

[knockout]

Dillian was pissed off post fight because someone had given his intended fight gloves to Dan Azeez to wear !

[coneye]

Been in that situation , where things have been changed in oppositions favor , just before a fight ,, and my answer was , see ya were going home , fight him yourself ,, , Soon got changed back ,,

Suppose some would say at that level you can't do that , but then again if you can't or won't , you are always gonna get shit on ,

[knockout]

Been in that situation , where things have been changed in oppositions favor , just before a fight ,, and my answer was , see ya were going home , fight him yourself ,, , Soon got changed back ,,

Suppose some would say at that level you can't do that , but then again if you can't or won't , you are always gonna get poo on ,

Yeah no fun being the away fighter ! So much stacked against you .

You can never underestimate how much impact this has on a fight !

Whether its the the conditions like we saw with “gentleman” Wlads antics with the ring versus Fury .

Or the tactics you are forced to adopt : The fact that as a challenger you know you are going to need to force a stoppage ... so often you used to see Dariusz M let his opponents shoot their bolt going for the KO and then apply some pressure and stop them late

Or the referee being the home fighters assistant , like Some of Sven Ottkes fights or Ricky hattons , or even BJS last fight , when He was badly hurt and wrapped up the opponent for ages before the referee stepped in and then the opponent got the warning for pushing off BJS

Certain managers/promoters want everything stacked in their favour and I believe they have even cancelled fights when they have under estimated the opposition. Certainly people had their suspicions regarding Kelly / Avanaseyan

[Boxing Prospect]

Been in that situation , where things have been changed in oppositions favor , just before a fight ,, and my answer was , see ya were going home , fight him yourself ,, , Soon got changed back ,,

Suppose some would say at that level you can't do that , but then again if you can't or won't , you are always gonna get poo on ,

Yeah no fun being the away fighter ! So much stacked against you .

You can never underestimate how much impact this has on a fight !

Whether its the the conditions like we saw with “gentleman” Wlads antics with the ring versus Fury .

Or the tactics you are forced to adopt : The fact that as a challenger you know you are going to need to force a stoppage ... so often you used to see Dariusz M let his opponents shoot their bolt going for the KO and then apply some pressure and stop them late

Or the referee being the home fighters assistant , like Some of Sven Ottkes fights or Ricky hattons , or even BJS last fight , when He was badly hurt and wrapped up the opponent for ages before the referee stepped in and then the opponent got the warning for pushing off BJS

Certain managers/promoters want everything stacked in their favour and I believe they have even cancelled fights when they have under estimated the opposition. Certainly people had their suspicions regarding Kelly / Avanaseyan

Thailand is notorious for their home advantage games... Sending fighters to hotels with no aircon or hours away from the fight venue, even the obvious tricks that don't hide get their guys the upper hand, fighting in the middle of the day in an outdoor ring after a long and lengthy pause for anthems...some really crafty stuff goes on there.

Nakatani had a host of complaints regarding his fight with Lopez in the US, including having a medical at a hospital in the morning of the weigh in, away from where the weigh in took place, affecting his sleep and weight loss, and splitting his stay over 2 hotels, which he said affected him (though how much is up for debate).

[Boxingcutsman]

They could of dug their heels in and refused with the board officials and with the WBC as they was part of the sanctioning bodies that unless whyte is ungloved and they get to inspect them and their concerns that they was not either of the 3 sets of gloves that are shown and the 2 sets of which signed off in the rules meeting which I’ve been part of previously with world governing bodies then they refused to let Rivas fight, which they are entitled to do and I guarantee the gloves would of been taken off so I’m surprised such a experienced team just let it happen and go ahead even though it’s against the rules, there would of had to be a board inspector or wbc representative who would of had the gloves with him all night until gloving up and he wouldn’t of let them out he’s sight or he is not supposed to and he must watch the gloving up process and then sign them off across the taping aswell once done, was this done ? That needs to be found out, as if it wasn’t it’s more blatant rule breaking and being allowed due to all the money and nice privileges the board are getting through Matchroom shows. Regarding the brand and style of gloves then yes that is down to the promoter, they usually pick what ever brand Dillian would want, buy 6 pairs of gloves, the home team get to pick 2 pairs, one to wear and then one spare and then the away fighter will do the same, leaving usually 2 extra pairs of gloves. I wasn’t aware that the rules allow you to change last minute the brand or gloves that haven’t already been agreed and signed off let alone to do it without anyone’s permission or agreement between camps

[coneye]

Agree Boxing that i'm suprised an experienced corner let them get away with it ... The closer to the fight you are the more clout you have , regards forcing them to stick to the rules . Its boxing and too be honest you have to expect this sort of thing , expect it , anticipate it , and stop it , its part of the game you know that . looking back now , i often talk and laugh with people about some of the strokes pulled to try and put you of your game , Once we drove 600 miles to a venue , , we got to the adress of the hotel and i rang the promoter , to say we have the wrong adress no hotel here , . he said , are you near a tin fence , Yep , outside it ,
Good , go to the far left and the first sheet is loose give it a kick , and go in , .
Went in , and theres this abandoned building , thats part demolished ,
go in and see bla bla ,
Goes in , theres some guy , who says , yep this is where the away boxers are staying , leads us inside , leads us to a room and says heres your room ,
Inside room , one double bed , with one dirty sheet on it , ,,
I laughed , got said promoter back on the phone , thank god for mobiles ,, said you taking the piss , this guy leads us to a big room with couple of old settees and an old tele , thers about a dozen guys in there already settled in similar rooms ,
I say to promoter were not staying here , get stuffed , , he says theres no where else its all he could get ,
Don't care , anyway i say theres only one bed , his answer you and your lad can share the bed can't you its a double ,
my answer ,, get ###$%%$##.
He says tell you what your boxer can stay there with the others , i'll pick you up and you can stay at my place .
answer @#$%%$$$$.
so we get in the car , go find a posh hotel , i ring him and say we found a room , and they want paying for the two nights , Now , give them your credit card number , or you just lost your main event , . he pays .
next morning he comes to see us and i demand fight payment up front , or we walk and go home , he paid us before , he knew i said what i meant , and meant what i said ,
The others all put up with it scared said promoter would'nt use them again , he always used us , because we were reliable , but he ALWAYS tried to pull these sort of strokes to give the hometown guy an advantage .

Said promoter is dead now , but whenever you speak to people who knew him , they always talk with fondness and laugh about the strokes he always pulled , , like i said it was expected , but at the ppv level , stuff me no way would i have let them get away with it , in fact i would off told them fights off we want more money for stuffing us around . 10 minuites before the fight you got the power ,

[Boxingcutsman]

Agree Boxing that i'm suprised an experienced corner let them get away with it ... The closer to the fight you are the more clout you have , regards forcing them to stick to the rules . Its boxing and too be honest you have to expect this sort of thing , expect it , anticipate it , and stop it , its part of the game you know that . looking back now , i often talk and laugh with people about some of the strokes pulled to try and put you of your game , Once we drove 600 miles to a venue , , we got to the adress of the hotel and i rang the promoter , to say we have the wrong adress no hotel here , . he said , are you near a tin fence , Yep , outside it ,
Good , go to the far left and the first sheet is loose give it a kick , and go in , .
Went in , and theres this abandoned building , thats part demolished ,
go in and see bla bla ,
Goes in , theres some guy , who says , yep this is where the away boxers are staying , leads us inside , leads us to a room and says heres your room ,
Inside room , one double bed , with one dirty sheet on it , ,,
I laughed , got said promoter back on the phone , thank god for mobiles ,, said you taking the piss , this guy leads us to a big room with couple of old settees and an old tele , thers about a dozen guys in there already settled in similar rooms ,
I say to promoter were not staying here , get stuffed , , he says theres no where else its all he could get ,
Don't care , anyway i say theres only one bed , his answer you and your lad can share the bed can't you its a double ,
my answer ,, get ###$%%$##.
He says tell you what your boxer can stay there with the others , i'll pick you up and you can stay at my place .
answer @#$%%$$$$.
so we get in the car , go find a posh hotel , i ring him and say we found a room , and they want paying for the two nights , Now , give them your credit card number , or you just lost your main event , . he pays .
next morning he comes to see us and i demand fight payment up front , or we walk and go home , he paid us before , he knew i said what i meant , and meant what i said ,
The others all put up with it scared said promoter would'nt use them again , he always used us , because we were reliable , but he ALWAYS tried to pull these sort of strokes to give the hometown guy an advantage .

Said promoter is dead now , but whenever you speak to people who knew him , they always talk with fondness and laugh about the strokes he always pulled , , like i said it was expected , but at the ppv level , stuff me no way would i have let them get away with it , in fact i would off told them fights off we want more money for stuffing us around . 10 minuites before the fight you got the power ,

Hahaha doesn’t surprise me at all mate, you see and experience it all over the years don’t you haha, funny enough we was in Spain with Jamie cox fighting a couple years back and a similar thing happened with hotels and where we was expected to stay and we said Fuk that, found the best hotel in the place and booked some rooms and billed our promoter back here who had sent one of his agents with plenty of money to sort it but was trying to pull a fast one hahaha, I won’t Mention no names but Yh you get to know who they are in the sport and Yh they always try it, but again if Rivas was my lad he wouldn’t of fought and I guarantee 100% as you know mate from experience they would of dropped ungloved him straight away

[coneye]

I reckon if you were to ask ,boxers and trainers to tell a story , you could write a book or two, Like you say you get too know who,s who and anticipate what there gonna do .
Even went to a show one night , and had a big argument i was pulling my fella out , on the night it took a while for them too believe me , my guys opponent who shown up to fight was not the same guy who we were gonna fight , his twin turned up in his place , lucky enough i had lads fight both of them in the ameteurs ,so i knew the difference even if they did look the same, , what made me laugh was there trainer denied any knoledge even though he trained both of them LOL I had to tell them get him here or the fights off, he was already there in the audience , he said after to me , NAAAW when i got here i thought i,d get on the piss with me mates and ourkid was gonna jump in and split the money with me , ĺol
TO be honest its these things that make you look back with a smile and some good memories

[lefthook82]

@Coneye, ever thought of doing a podcast/wriitng a book etc. Enjoying your stories and I'd definately listen/buy

I fully fully agree with you. They are main event fighters. don't just sit there meekly and complain afterwards. Kick up a fuss

[Boxingcutsman]

I reckon if you were to ask ,boxers and trainers to tell a story , you could write a book or two, Like you say you get too know who,s who and anticipate what there gonna do .
Even went to a show one night , and had a big argument i was pulling my fella out , on the night it took a while for them too believe me , my guys opponent who shown up to fight was not the same guy who we were gonna fight , his twin turned up in his place , lucky enough i had lads fight both of them in the ameteurs ,so i knew the difference even if they did look the same, , what made me laugh was there trainer denied any knoledge even though he trained both of them LOL I had to tell them get him here or the fights off, he was already there in the audience , he said after to me , NAAAW when i got here i thought i,d get on the piss with me mates and ourkid was gonna jump in and split the money with me , ĺol
TO be honest its these things that make you look back with a smile and some good memories

Yh 100% mate, some great memories but tbh you get to realise just how sh itty and horrible this sport can be aswell, again pretty similar at York Hall one night and swapping opponents around for Baz Carey and mark Callaghan who were meant to fight ryan and Liam walsh who both brothers are great friends of mine and I’ve known since amateurs along with brother Michael and when we got there told there’s been a mistake and who we was booked to fight and swapped the fights around, I didn’t want to take it as knew what the outcome would be as knew the lads very well but Baz manger went outside with Baz made him a lovely extra financial offer and Baz took it, low and behold I threw the towel in and Baz was stopped after being dropped 3 times, without saying too much more Baz never got that extra financial promise, and unfortunately Baz never boxed again due to it. That’s our great sport and just a small bit of things that happen

[coneye]

Dead right cutsman , Boxing , can be funny , amusing , good fun , bring great memories , .

BUT you always have to remember , its like when your a kid , climbing and running on roofs , theres always a spot that can give way , and your gonna be in trouble , then the amusement and fun go out the window , .

Think we all had mates who fell through a roof , or out of a tree , and hurt themselves , and thats boxing while its fun , its great , but eventually something will happen to spoil it .

[Boxingcutsman]

Dead right cutsman , Boxing , can be funny , amusing , good fun , bring great memories , .

BUT you always have to remember , its like when your a kid , climbing and running on roofs , theres always a spot that can give way , and your gonna be in trouble , then the amusement and fun go out the window , .

Think we all had mates who fell through a roof , or out of a tree , and hurt themselves , and thats boxing while its fun , its great , but eventually something will happen to spoil it .

100% coneye, good hearing your stories and points aswell mate, definitely chat again, god bless mate