By David Scott
Boston Sports Media Watch

With his return to the Boston Globe from a two month suspension pending, and several broadcast appearances scheduled for this week, it appears the brash and bold bully, Ron Borges spent some of his “down time” writing for (and presumably working for AND being paid by) Oscar De La Hoya, one of the athletes Borges supposedly “covers” for his boxing beat duties at the Globe.

Borges, who was seen at the Globe offices on Monday and is expected to begin writing again this week, was suspended in early March for two months for what his paper’s editor termed “plagiarism.”

At least four Borges by-lined stories appear at the GoldenBoypromotions website run by De La Hoya. Writers in attendance at the Saturday night De La Hoya/Floyd Mayweather fight in Las Vegas have confirmed to Shots that Borges was credentialed under the Golden Boy name. The Globe sent Kevin Paul Dupont to Vegas for fight coverage duties as Borges served the final days of his suspension. (Borges was identified over the weekend as an MSNBC.com writer in a media poll predicting the fight’s outcome at the Las Vegas Review Journal’s website. There does not, however, appear to be any new MSNBC.com offerings from Borges. He did continue his HBO.com duties including this post-fight story, and we’ll leave the question of whether he should ethically be writing for a Network he would have many reasons to write about - and question - for another day).

It is not clear is whether Borges was paid by De La Hoya’s promotional firm or if he was working on their behalf in a gratis manner. But his byline on its own and the original copy indicates some type of business relationship. Any way you look at it, because of the site where Borges work appeared, he was, in essence, promoting the fight. The same way that guys like Don King, Bob Arum and yes, De La Hoya do. But none of them are supposed journalists the way Borges is. They’re simply called hucksters and con-men for their efforts. Borges is called a “journalist.” But perhaps not for long, as it now appears Borges arrogance knows no limits.

If he was being paid for his De La Hoya work, then Borges should be told, in no uncertain terms to take his two-month suspension and keep right on walking out onto Morrissey Boulevard and not ever return. And his big buddy Union reps - who leapt to his defense in early March - can whistle Dixie on that one.

As one industry insider told us, “This would be like Borges writing for and being paid by Patriots.com, but still covering the team for the Globe.”

Only this is a worse ethical breach. De La Hoya is a one-man corporation. He’s not only a boxer, but a rising promoter, who Borges will clearly need to be dealing with for the foreseeable future if he continues to cover boxing.

In other words, where’s the objectivity? If Borges was paid by GoldenBoy promotions (and the credential and his seating at the event, would suggest he was), how will he ever be able to cover the boxer with any semblance of objectivity again? And even if he is able to separate his working relationship from his journalistic coverage, is this really the type of issue that the Boston Globe should be getting involved in? Especially considering the mistrust and skepticism that now exists for Borges and his work in the wake of his suspension and the “plagiarism” that Globe editor Martin Baron said the paper “does not tolerate.”

At the very least, it brings Borges decision-making back into question even before his suspension officially ends with his first Globe piece in 60-plus days.

We wonder if Baron can tolerate a writer working for a subject in promoting an event that the subject stands to make millions from?

If Borges was performing the service for no fee (which we HIGHLY doubt), there is still huge ethical concerns.

For Borges to even consider taking on assignments from an athlete he is supposed to be covering either tells us that Borges truly believes he has done nothing wrong in his cut and paste of Mike Sando or that he believes the Globe is too wimpy and powerless (with the union especially) to dare mess with the big, bad Bully Borges.

Either way, someone needs to do some explaining and considering sports editor Joe Sullivan’s relative silence on the whole matter, we’d be all for hearing Sully’s take on the messy Borges affair.

The terms of Borges suspension forbade “. . . broadcast appearances over the next two months,” but it is uncertain whether Borges was also barred from other writing opportunities. (He certainly should have been.) There has never been clarification or explanation after the suspension was handed down and Borges’s side of the stroy has not yet been told.

If Borges was allowed to write for other outlets, you would have to believe that he needed to clear his outside writing opportunities with Sullivan. Writing for and promoting a fight would surely have “no-no.” The mere appearance of impropriety – especially with a writer coming off a two month, unpaid suspension – would have to be enough to get the Globe powers once again re-thinking the role of Borges at their once-distinguished paper in their once-proud sports section.

. . . Borges is scheduled to return to TV on Tuesday night (May 8) on CN8’s 11 p.m. “Out of Bounds” show, followed by a Wednesday stint on the “Mike Felger Show” at ESPN 890 AM and he is also slated for the 7 p.m. “OOB” on Wednesday. He is also on the roster to be part of an upcoming CN8 Boxing broadcast.”

. . . Emails to GoldenBoy promotions were not returned late Monday afternoon. Borges has previously declined to respond to Shots as has Globe sports editor Joe Sullivan. All are welcome to give their side of the story at the email address listed below.

. . . Depending on the Globe’s definition of “broadcast”, even the HBO.com writings could have been a violation of Borges’ suspension.

. . . Shots had the happy coincidence of being able to return from New York during “Mike and the Mad Dog” on Monday afternoon, and we were treated to some truly memorable Clemens and Yankee bashing on the Gold Standard of sports talk radio, WFAN 660 AM.

Not only was the discussion fast-moving, informative and entertaining, Francesca and Russo were able to get Brian Cashman for an extended interview that did not contain any recognizable ass-kissing or soft-shoeing of the subject (the interview is at The Fan’s website and well-worth the listen). Callers kept their points brief, added something to the discussion and were kind enough to hang up and let the hosts give their take. they actually CONTRIBUTED to the show.

In other words, it was the anti-“Big Show” at WEEI 850 AM, which we reluctantly tuned in outside of Worcester and quickly tuned out, longing for even a few more moments of Mike and the Mad Puppy.

It’s staggering how good the medium can be when done correctly, and how awful it can be when it includes the likes of the inexplicably extended Pete Meat Sheppard and the always-over-playing it Glenn Ordway.

. . . The “Mike Felger Show” had the good fortune of having Bob Ryan as the in-studio co-host for its Clemens talk on Monday, as well as the ability to get Buster Olney and Gordon Edes for extended phoners. And Felger brashly threw around the “S” word (steroids) with Clemens name, to which Olney supported the basis for Felger’s skepticism and speculation. “Only those guys – Bonds, Sosa, Clemens – know the truth,” said Olney. “It’s a dead end.”

David Scott writes from a seaside shanty on the shores of Hull, Mass. And can be reached at shotsATbostonsportsmedDOTcom

You can listen to Scott every Saturday morning from 9 to 11 a.m. as he co-hosts the Boston Sports Review Show on ESPN Radio 890 AM with Mike Salk.