Woodley calls for firing of ref who made hs wrestler cut dreads
Tyron tells TMZ Sports … the ref, Alan Maloney, should have been fired years ago when he reportedly made a racist comment to an African-American man back in 2016.
Andrew Johnson wrestles for Buena Regional High School, in Buena, New Jersey. He competes with a cover over his dreadlocks, but referee Alan Maloney said that wasn’t good enough, so Johnson had a team trainer cut his hair on the spot with medical scissors, and went to win in overtime, leading to a team victory.
https://twitter.com/MikeFrankelSNJ/status/1075811774954463235
Maloney has an unfortunate history – in March of 2016 he used a racial slur against another official, Preston Hamilton, who is African American. Hamilton slammed Maloney to the ground, and registered a complaint with the New Jersey Wrestling Officials Southern Chapter. Both officials were suspended, but saw the suspension removed on appeal. Maloney said he couldn’t recall having used the slur, but apologized, and accepted eyewitness accounts that he had.
A number of high profile athletes have voiced support for Johnson, including UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley, who wrestled in high school and college with a variety of hairstyles.
Tyron tells TMZ Sports … the ref, Alan Maloney, should have been fired years ago when he reportedly made a racist comment to an African-American man back in 2016.
Woodley’s bigger issue is he’s sick of people with a history of racist behavior being allowed to have positions of authority. And, that includes police officers.
As for the recent incident with high school wrestler Andrew Johnson, Tyron thinks the way the high school wrestling community handles hair maintenance … specifically with black athletes … is ridiculous.