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Best of Barney Vinson
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Barney Vinson's World

3 October 1999

Well, I just got screwed again in Las Vegas. I'm talking about the big prize fight between Oscar De La Hoya and Felix Trinidad in September. From my ringside seat (sofa in the living room watching Pay For View at $49.95), I was all set for the Fight of the Millennium, and what did I get? The Blight of the Millennium. It would have been a better fight if they had put Trinidad and De La Hoya in the corners, and let Don King and Bob Arum duke it out.

As if De La Hoya didn't make enough money on the fight ($15 million), he won another $100,000 shooting craps in the Mandalay Bay casino that same night. Preparing to leave the table, he exchanged five $5 chips for a $25 chip. "Here comes our tip," the dealers must have been thinking. Nope. De La Hoya took it all with him, including the $25 chip.

But the problem with boxing nowadays is that it's all hype. The fights themselves are letdowns. The scoring by the judges isn't much better. I had the fight as a draw. The television people had De La Hoya winning. The judges gave it to Trinidad.

It was even worse when Evander Holyfield fought Lennox Lewis. Lewis pounded Holyfield unmercifully, and the judges called it a draw. They're fighting again later this year and nobody cares. Of course, I'll be watching again on Pay For View. This one might be different. Somebody might knock somebody down, or maybe even win by a knockout. It never seems to happen, though, and I keep getting screwed again, year after year.

I should have learned my lesson a long time ago. I remember when Larry Holmes was fighting a big bruiser named Gerry Cooney. I never liked Holmes, who had the audacity to say that Rocky Marciano couldn't carry his jock strap. So I put a bundle ($20) on Cooney to win. Holmes scored an easy TKO, and Cooney took his money and bought a big restaurant.

Mike Tyson seemed to be boxing's salvation for a while, but then he started winning more fights out of the ring than in it. And that rape conviction practically ruined his reputation.

We need fighters today like Joe Louis, and Jack Dempsey, and Marciano. We need to change the rules. No more rap music when the fighters come into the ring. Make them keep fighting until somebody actually wins, like in the days of John L. Sullivan. And give the winner all the money. I would pay to see that. Wouldn't you?

Barney Vinson

Barney Vinson is one of the most popular and best-selling gaming authors of all time. He is the author of Ask Barney, Las Vegas: Behind the Tables, Casino Secrets, Las Vegas Behind the Tables Part II, and Chip-Wrecked in Las Vegas. His newest book, a novel, is The Vegas Kid.

Books by Barney Vinson:

> More Books By Barney Vinson

Barney Vinson
Barney Vinson is one of the most popular and best-selling gaming authors of all time. He is the author of Ask Barney, Las Vegas: Behind the Tables, Casino Secrets, Las Vegas Behind the Tables Part II, and Chip-Wrecked in Las Vegas. His newest book, a novel, is The Vegas Kid.

Books by Barney Vinson:

> More Books By Barney Vinson