As I rant and rave about the importance of having neutrality in officiating, I'm occasionally encountered with the devil's advocate who asks, "What's the big deal about having neutral officials? It's more important is to have GOOD officials, isn't it?", as if officials from overseas are somehow inherently inferior to what we have here in the United States.

When Michael Spinks won an Olympic gold medal at the 1976 Olympic games in Montreal as a middleweight, he was overshadowed by his older brother Leon who also won a gold medal as a Lt. Heavyweight. When Leon won the Undisputed World Heavyweight title from a severely eroded Muhammad Ali, once again, Michael was overshadowed. Yet when his career was completed, Michael Spinks would be the first light heavyweight champion to challenge and defeat the heavyweight champion at the time ( Larry Holmes ). His brother Leon who would suffer some personal and career bad breaks would retire a forgotten journeyman fighter with a barely above .500 record.