A look at those we lost in the boxing community in 2007
The end of every year, we look back and try to remember what has transpired over the last 12 months and debate the good, dismiss the bad and hope the next year brings more fortune than not.
We give thanks for what and who we have in our lives because no matter how bad things seem, there is always someone out there who has it worse than we do or no one at all to spend their holiday season with. That is one of the good things about December; it makes us realize and appreciate.
One thing we also tend to forget as fans is that while our attention is usually focused on the currently active high profile figures of the sport, it is a combination of not just present but past participants both in ring and out, that have made boxing what it is. That list ranges from small time promoters, contenders and journeymen to referees and judges. Each and every one of these people played a pivotal role in keeping the sport of boxing a revolving one on one level or another.
Keeping in mind the words written above, I would just like to take a moment and remember some members of the boxing community that we have lost in 2007. Some names will sound familiar while others haven't been involved in the sport for decades. All are going to be sorely missed.
Fighters:
Diego Corrales: Fans stood up and applauded during his bouts and chanted his name, even after the bell signaled to end his fights. Diego was just that exciting of a fighter, be it during a win or loss. His series with Jose Luis Castillo may be one of boxing's greatest rivalries and his comeback in the tenth round of their first bout just may be the most memorable in the last half decade. More...
Less than three weeks remain in the year fight fans and OH WHAT A YEAR IT HAS BEEN! I will be the first to admit this year has knocked me off my feet on more then one occasion. With that being said, here is a quick look at the remaining world title fights left in 2007.
Saturday, December 15
Meadowbank Sports Center, Edinburgh, Scotland
"Amazing" Alex Arthur, 25-1 (19), puts his WBO Super Featherweight title on the line for the first time since capturing the belt in July of this year. Alex, who has not tasted defeat since 2003 at the hands of Michael Gomez, is looking to keep his nine bout win streak alive and retain his title when he meets England's Stephen Foster, 23-1-1 (16).
Foster is coming off a first round KO win over Jean-Marie Codet this past October and looking to put gold around his waist once again. His last championship reign ended when he lost his WBU featherweight title to Derry Matthews by UD just over a year ago.
Lin Plaza de Toros, Cancun, Quintana Roo, Mexico More...
Recent events, upcoming bouts and rumors of the sport at a glance
Well fight fans, Christmas is almost here and if you’re anything like me this time of year, it is almost impossible to accomplish everything you need to in a single day, let alone keep up on the latest news. So here are a few recent happenings and future bouts coming up this Winter.
WBC Welterweight Champion and current Pound for Pound King Floyd Mayweather Jr., 39-0 (25), was victorious last weekend in his bout held at the Las Vegas MGM Grand with Britain’s Ricky Hatton, 43-1 (31).
While Hatton gave Mayweather one of his toughest bouts to date, pressuring "Pretty Boy" from the opening bell, Floyd showed why he is the pound for pound best in the world when he caught Hatton with a perfect left hook in the 10th round, dropping the two division champion.
Hatton made it back to his feet before the 10 count, only to be on the receiving end of another Mayweather combination that ended the bout at 1:35 of the round. More...
15,670 fans piled in Madison Square Garden on December 20 1946 to watch Youngstown, Ohio’s Tommy Bell face off against Ray Robinson for the welterweight title vacated by Marty Servo in September of the same year. Those in attendance and around the world had one question that night before the start of the bout; "Was Robinson as good as he appeared?"
The bout would be Robinson’s 73rd as a pro and while he held wins over several top fighters of the era, including Jake LaMotta, this would be his first chance at becoming World Champion. After all the particulars were announced, the signal sounded to start the bout and all questions would soon be answered.
Bell came out of his corner, clearly the aggressor, chasing Robinson down to initiate the exchanges, while Ray used his jab to try and control the tempo of the bout. Bell continued to press the action, determined to take full advantage of his opportunity at becoming champion, with little respect for the reputation Robinson had built up in the sport as an offensive master.
Bell found his left hook landing on a regular basis early on and in the second round, one finally found its mark, putting the "Sugar" man down for a count of seven.
In the third round, Robinson found his niche and began to land on a regular basis, jabbing to Bell's face and body. In the fourth round, Ray’s combinations began to flow freely, often making the difference in skill level obvious. While Bell had a moment here and there, it was becoming more obvious with each round that Ray was the man of the evening. Tommy Bell was looking to be nothing more than a guest speaker for the festivities. More...
The build up has been almost unbearable, not since the 1980’s when greats of the era such as "Sugar" Ray Leonard, Thomas "The Hitman" Hearns and Roberto Duran squared off has there been so much anticipation for a welterweight showdown.
We have discussed it, argued it and broke it down in every way possible. The time is here the time is now and I for one will be counting the hours till the bell rings.
In one corner will be Floyd Mayweather Jr., 38-0 (24), boxing's reigning pound for pound best and five division world champion. Floyd is without a doubt one of the best fighters to grace this sport not only in the last 50 years, but ever. More...
In its own way boxing is like Hollywood, they have their character actors, B list celebrities and box office superstars, while we have our journeyman, top contenders and pound for pound greats. Each fighter has a story written and waiting to be told on screen with one of these Hollywood celebrities playing their part, but unlike Hollywood in boxing there no producers or directors to mold the fighters story and no prescreening to project how well a fighter will do in their career. In boxing your story is sold in the ring and if it sold well enough there Hollywood may someday sell it to the world. Sadly unlike Hollywood in boxing there is rarely the opportunity to recover from a box office bomb.
Seldom does a fighter even those who win world titles and spend their careers in the spotlight manage to endure themselves to fans not only professionally but personally to the point anyone wants to take the time to find out about them after the final bell rings. It takes not only a special kind of fighter but individual in general to garner such admiration. Micky Ward is one of those men.
“Irish” Micky Ward is a man who needs no real introduction to fight fans, he built a reputation as a tough stand up and brawl type fighter with a gentleman demeanor. Born in Lowell Massachusetts Micky was no stranger to fistic engagement, long before ever stepping into a boxing ring he had fought in the neighborhood streets along side his brothers and sisters against the fellow neighborhood toughs. Yet somewhere during that time Micky decided after watching his elder siblings have run in’s with the law he would use his aggression to further himself rather then have it used against him. Micky Ward became a boxer and while he was not the first in his family to do so he is certainly the most known. More...
We laid down the choices, weighed them out, measured them, and then came to the unanimous conclusion. The month of November is one where glory belongs to the Pride of Wales and undisputed super middleweight champion Joe Calzaghe.
On November 3, Calzaghe faced off against Mikkel Kessler in one boxing's most anticipated bouts over perhaps the last two years and between possibly the two most skilled super middleweights to face off since Roy Jones Jr., met and outpointed James Toney in 1994.
Calzaghe finally put to rest any doubts that even the sternest of his detractors may have had by sweeping former WBA/WBC division titlist Mikkel Kessler in a 12 round masterpiece. More...
NABF Cruiserweight Champion and WBC's number one ranked contender Matt "Too Smooth" Godfrey, 16-0 (9), was ready and set to settle any doubts that Jeremy "Half Man Half Amazing" Williams, 42-5 (35), had about his validity as a future star of the sport this coming Saturday in a bout scheduled to take place in Connecticut's Convention Center in Hartford. The bout would have had Godfrey's NABF title on the line and number one ranking in what would have been his toughest opponent to date.
Godfrey, who spoke with SaddoBoxing earlier this week, stated he was looking forward to this bout taking place so he could come out victorious and move on to face number two ranked Czech Republic native Rudolf Kraj, 12-0 (9) and determine the mandatory for newly crowned WBC, WBA and Ring Magazine Cruiserweight Champion David "Hayemaker" Haye.
Today it was announced by the card's promoter, CES boxing, that the bill was canceled in an untimely fashion as a promotional partner had pulled and they were sorry for the inconvienience and would keep everyone updated on when the fight would take place.
Also scheduled on the undercard was undefeated cruiserweight prospect Aaron Williams, 15-0 (11), undefeated super featherweight Matt Remillard, 11-0 (7), and super middleweight Joe Spina, 20-1 (15).
Getting ready to be "Too Smooth" for Jeremy Williams
On November 24, undefeated NABF Cruiserweight Champion Matt "Too Smooth" Godfrey, 16-0 (9), sets to defend his title for the second time against Jeremy "Half Man Half Amazing" Williams, 42-5 (35), in Hartford, Connecticut's Convention Center.
Godfrey, who will be fighting for the third time in seven months, will be taking on his most experienced opponent to date in a bout that honestly has some people shaking their heads, wondering how it all came about, including Godfrey.
Williams, who has not fought under the 195 lb mark since 1992 and had not stepped into the ring since being starched by Samuel Peter via second round KO in December of 2005, began his comeback towards the cruiserweight division in August of this year with a lackluster eight round split decision victory over lightly regarded Gary Gomez, 18-8-1.
Shortly after the Gomez bout and a performance that has been described as "painful to watch", Matt Godfrey's name suddenly began to spout out of Williams's mouth like a geyser shooting water, even making comments such as "Matt Godfrey hasn't done anything to impress me" and "Matt Godfrey is what stands in my way of a world title". Words said with such a tone of conviction that one would think there was bad blood between the two dating back to grammar school. More...
Wayland Willingham Gets One Step Closer To The Big Scene With Sensational KO To Top Off Pugnacious Promotion Card
This past Friday night, Pugnacious Promotions once again set the bill for local boxing fans in New York's Capital Region to get their fistic fill with a short but wildly entertaining card of hometown favorites.
In featherweight action, 19 year old Buffalo resident Guillermo Sanchez, 1-0, made his pro debut with a unanimous decision over Thomas McCuiston, 1-2, and the bout was immediately followed by a featherweight rematch from March of this year, as Francisco Palacios, 1-2-4 (1), of The Bronx drew with rival Harvey Murray, 2-0-2 (1) of Rochester. More...
Tragedy strikes the lightweight division and changes the face of boxing forever
While it is no secret that boxing is a dangerous and sometimes lethal sport, on no night over the last half century have those two factors delivered more impact then that of November 13 1982.
That was the night when WBA Lightweight Champion Ray "Boom Boom" Mancini stepped into the ring against number one ranked contender Deuk-Koo Kim at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas Nevada with hopes of successfully defending his title for the third time in six months
Kim, who had been undefeated in his last 16 bouts, seemed on paper at least a worthy challenger. But examining the record of Kim’s opposition a bit closer, they would have noticed that a combined 78-30 win loss ratio did not garner Kim the number one spot.
To make matters worse, four of the 16 had no fights when Kim defeated them and three had only one fight each. A perfect example of quantity over quality, yet the signs of a one sided affair in the making did not stop there.
It was also discovered that Kim had been going to extreme measures to make weight up until the day of weigh-in, leaving him drained. All these factors still have those who remember the bout asking why it was allowed to go off, except what would take place on fight night, no one could have seen coming even if they did factor it all in together at the time.
When the bell rang to start the affair, all jokes seemed to be on all those who predicted a quick ending. Surprisingly, Kim stood and traded with Mancini, giving just as well as he received and at times even gaining the approval of the pro-Mancini crowd in attendance. More...
As kids growing up in the Kahn household, there were two things we had to endure that no children should be subjected to. The first was my father's insistence to be what he called a "hip" dad and use every expression known to youth, so he could, as he would try to explain to my mother whenever she told him to stop talking like that, "relate to us better".
Except when you are 12 years old, "hip" dad is not the version you want your friends to see, especially since it was 1985 and dad was still using words like "groovy" and "dig It". Of course, the heavy Asian accent did not help matters but looking back, his heart was in the right place and hey, he tried!
The second thing we had to endure in our house was what came to be known as "The Expression of Confusion". In case anyone out there is wondering what I am talking about, the expression of confusion is one of those outlandish phrases that are supposed to be examples of lessons learned in life but as a kid leave you standing there saying to yourself "huh"?
For example, when I was 10, all I wanted in the entire world was a pair of Adidas Superstars. You know, the ones with the shell on the front? Instead, my mom brings home a pair Converse Chuck Taylors, "Just like they wear on Happy Days," she states.
Walking away dejected and depressed, what do I get to console me? My Uncle Fred, by marriage I must publicly state, blurting out "Don't look so ungrateful, a bird in the hand is better then two in the bush".
EXCUSE ME? WHO ARE YOU AGAIN? I have a pair of sneakers that will most likely have me as the brunt end of every jokester in school for the next three months and you are telling me about a bird in a bush! More...
"Ferocious" Fernando Vargas and "El Matador" Ricardo Mayorga will finally meet on November 23, 2007 to settle any and all bad blood that is lingering between them once and for all.
In a fight billed as "The Brawl" that had been postponed from September 8 due to a low iron count in Vargas' blood stream, both men seem intent on doing more then just winning.
In fact, they have both publicly stated in this bout their intention is to "Teach the other man a lesson" and if the punches they throw during the bout have a third of the heat the comments thrown out by each man thus far I can almost guarantee a lesson will be learned by one of them, a lesson that neither man may be anticipating in learning so harshly.
Former two-time light middleweight champion Fernando Vargas, 26-4 (22), is winding down a colorful and successful career. As the division's youngest ever world title holder, Fernando has faced everyone who is anyone to grace the 154 pound weight class over the last decade.
On his resume, names such as Ike Quartey, Winky Wright, Raul Marquez and Yori Boy Campas have all tasted defeat at the hands of "El Feroz". Even in his losses to Felix Trinidad, Oscar De La Hoya and Shane Mosley (twice), Vargas proved his worth as a man to not only be respected in the ring but feared as well.
His opponent Ricardo "El Matador" Mayorga, 28-6 (23), is a man who in his own right has garnished a reputation as a fighter to be respected in the ring. With world titles at both welterweight and light middleweight, Ricardo has proven to be as devastating as he is foolish at times.
In 2002, Ricardo burst on the international scene in a big way by capturing back to back title wins at 147 lb with more than impressive blowouts of WBA welterweight champion Andrew "Six Heads" Lewis via fifth round TKO followed up a year later duplicating the feat against WBC titlist Vernon Forrest in only three rounds.
Since that time, Mayorga has also tasted a bit of his own medicine at the hands of Felix Trinidad and Oscar De La Hoya. It was De La Hoya that ended the last title reign of Mayorga in 2006 after punishing the Nicaraguan native for comments made about Oscar’s family during their pre fight build up, comments that left Mayorga battered, bruised and without his 154 pound WBC title in just over 6 rounds. More...
On November 10, 2007, Madison Square Garden once again shows why it is the Mecca of boxing. The old ring may have been retired but that has not stopped the venue from having the most exciting cards in all of boxing.
This coming November that tradition continues when WBA Welterweight Champion Miguel Cotto, 30-0 (25), puts his title on the line against "Sugar" Shane Mosley, 44-4 (37), in a bout that many are already predicting will be one of 2007’s fights of the year before it has even taken place, although the main event of the evening is only one of several top bouts to take place on the card.
Aside from Cotto vs. Mosley we will see the return of former WBO Welterweight Champion Antonio "Tony" Margarito, 34-5 (24), in his first bout since losing the title to Paul "The Punisher" Williams earlier this year.
Margarito will face veteran contender and current NABF Welterweight Champion Golden Johnson, 25-7-3 (18), for the vacant WBO Inter-Continental Welterweight title. Margarito is in search of another world title and promises to make a statement on November 10 in hopes of a shot at the winner of the Cotto/Mosley bout.
Also on the undercard that night, we will see the return of Joel "El Cepillo" Casamayor, 34-3 (21), in his first fight since beating the late Diego Corrales over a year ago. Casamayor will not only be debuting under the banner of his new promotion company, Golden Boy Productions, it will also be his first fight back with Joe Goossen as his trainer since his first fight with Diego Corrales.
Casamayor, looking to make a statement of his own, will lay his Ring Magazine lightweight title on the line against Jose Armando Santa Cruz, 25-2 (14), the tough Mexican-American warrior who is perhaps best known for his performance against David Diaz in 2006. More...
Is it time for "The Baby Faced Assassin" to retire before he ends up on everyone's hit list?
Marco Antonio Barrera's career has been a storied one to say the least, Barrera, who unlike many young men from his native country of Mexico, did not enter the sport of boxing in to make a financial future for himself and family hoping to escape a poverty stricken existence.
His background is from the upper middle class, Barrera every opportunity to attend college and obtain a professional degree of some sort like his siblings had. In fact rumor has it Law School is what Mr. and Mrs. Barrera envisioned for young Marco, except the idea of studying counter suit processes and trial procedures did not appeal to him quite like the thoughts of hand wraps and heavy bags did.
So on November 22, 1989 in Mexico City, a young Marco Antonio Barrera entered the pugilistic world to begin his career as a professional fighter. A career not even young Marco could have imagined would go so well.
Barrera would begin his career with a win over David Felix then continued on with a 40 plus bout unbeaten streak. It would not be until 1996 that Barrera suffered his first loss at the hands of bantam and super bantamweight sensation Junior "Poison" Jones, first by disqualification then again by decision in their rematch.
This would do little to discourage the young man with fist of a warrior and face of a high school student, a characteristic that would earn him the moniker "Baby Faced Assassin".
Resuming his career right where he left off before the Jones bouts, Barrera would embark on a seven fight win streak picking up the WBO Super Bantamweight title in the process before losing a decision to fellow countryman and then undefeated Erik "El Terrible" Morales. More...
A few weeks back I had been sitting around thinking about 2007 thus far in the sport of boxing and the fights yet to come in these last few months when I decided for a change of pace.
I wanted to do an overview of the sport and direction it could be turning within the next year or two, be it for better or for worse. Except this time, instead of any other old boring recap/overview, I figured it might make for a more interesting read if I could get someone else, involved in the sport with a well known name, to share an opinion or two.
That's when I opened up my contact list to see who I could possibly get a few opinions from, that would catch the interest of our readers by name alone to sort of help add a bit to the article.
I usually do a mid year report and a year in review, faithfully, but seeing how it was September, the mid year report was out. I also knew that a recap of things that have been posted or published in every media outlet, day in and day out, since the Floyd Mayweather vs. Oscar De La Hoya bout earlier this year would be pointless.
What I needed was a name that people respected, yet the person would not spend every chance they got plugging one of their fighters or making excuses about some event or another that did not go the way it was planned.
After drawing blanks, I was just about to give up on the idea and had popped in a tape of some ESPN classic episodes I recorded a while back, figuring maybe an idea or two on something different would come about. Then while half paying attention to the fights and browsing through my e-mail there was a voice on the tape that solved my dilemma. John Scully! More...
On 8 September at the Staples Center in Los Angels, two of boxing's most well known all out action fighters will face off in what is billed as “The Brawl”, but a better title for this event may be, “It’s All About Pride”. Seeing how thus far there has been enough insults and accusations to force each man to step in the ring for just that reason, “PRIDE”.
On one side of the ring we will see former two time world champion, “Ferocious” Fernando Vargas, 26-4 (22), stepping into the ring for what will be the last time, win, lose or draw.
The soon to be 30 year old fighter has had the kind of career that makes best selling box set DVD’s. Vargas, the youngest 154 lb world title holder in history, has made a storied career with his 100% heart invested performances. Even in a loss, Vargas has kept the fans entertained and knowing full well what the true spirit of a ring warrior is about.
In his career, Vargas has claimed wins over such great fighters as Yori Boy Campus, Winky Wright, Ike Quartey and Javier Castillejo. His only losses have come at the hands of our truly elite at their best; Felix Trinidad, Oscar De La Hoya and Shane Mosley (twice). All of which Vargas stood toe to toe with until the end.
On the other side of the ring, we have boxing's "bad boy", so to speak. Former two time welterweight and former WBC 154 lb world champion, Ricardo “El Matador” Mayorga, 28-6-1 (23).
Mayorga, despite winning his first title 2002 with a fifth round TKO over Andrew “Six Heads” Lewis, did not make it to the mainstream until 2003. It was in January of that year that he dethroned then undefeated Vernon “The Viper” Forrest in a third round TKO upset. More...
On Sept 8 Fernando Vargas faces off against Ricardo Mayorga on PPV in a bout of egos and will. Although there is no title at stake, it promises to be an all out war for what many are predicting to be a short night. While the two former world champions are going to be the headliners, it is the undercard that may be where all the drama lays as it is those fighters that have the most to gain in their matchups that night.
Roman Karmazin, 35-2-1 (22), the former 154 IBF Champion from Russia is on the comeback trail looking to secure another title shot for himself. Karmazin will be taking on Italian born fighter Luca Messi, 30-7-1 (11), a former Italian Welterweight Champion and former WBA Intercontinental titlist at 147 lbs.
It will be that same title that he and Karmazin face off for on Sept 8 except that this time around, the gold is at the 154lb version and may lead to a world title shot for the winner, raising the stakes for both menʼs careers even higher.
Also on that same card, IBF Welterweight Champion Kermit Cintron, 28-1 (26), will make the second defense of his crown when he faces Jesse Feliciano, 15-5-3 (9).
Cintron, who is coming off a spectacular second round KO victory over Walter Dario Matthysse this past July, wants to establish himself as a top star in the boxing world and put out of everyone's mind his loss to Antonio Margarito back in 2005.
Cintron, a strong power punching champion, has every intention on using this night to help catapult his status to headliner instead of backup. His opponent Jesse Feliciano has a questionable record on paper but is a capable fighter with wins over former world champion Vince Phillips More...
Where would boxing be without rematches and trilogies? Can you imagine how much less interesting our sport's history would be? Could you imagine the great moments that we would have missed? In fact, if not for rematches and trilogies, there would not only be a lot less history in our sport, but there would be many a fighter who may have faded into obscurity.
Those who hadn’t faded into obscurity would not have developed into the all time greats they became due to that certain second meeting. Especially since we as fans have a tendency to be unforgiving sorts when it comes to losses; these men who had not been able to redeem themselves would always carry that black eye from the loss that occurred.
What if Joe Louis had not had a second fight against Max Schmeling? Would he have became the great champion that he went on to be? Of course, it's possible, since Louis won the title before they faced off for a second time but the question is would he have been as endeared to the public if he had never beaten the German symbol of boxing superiority?
If Ray Robinson had not met Jake LaMotta six times, there would have been no "St Valentine"s Day Massacre", one of the sport's most memorable fights throughout history and one that that to this day is used as a measuring stick for ring brutality.
Where would Muhammad Ali stand in the history books if not for rematches? So many of us would have written off his first win over Sonny Liston as a fluke. Ali would of been left with a loss at the hands of Joe Frazier that was never redeemed. There would have been no third title reign. More...
This Saturday, former three division world champion Erik “El Terrible” Morales, 48-5 (34), faces David Diaz, 32-1-1 (17), for the WBC version of the lightweight title in what at one time would have been a bout with little interest other than to see just how dominant Morales was going to be.
In that statement, I am not trying to take anything away from Diaz or his abilities, rather what I am implying is that Morales was just that good.
Was, a key word often used when referring to warriors past their peak. It is with that word that as a writer, I often develop my most detailed topics. Right now, I am in limbo as to whether or not word applies to Erik Morales.
Erik Morales' career is a storied one. At one time he had been on a path to becoming another great Mexican legend. A legend like his countrymen, Julio Cesar Chavez and the late Salvador Sanchez, had become.
In 2002, Morales was 41-0 with names on his resume such as Wayne McCullough, Junior Jones and Daniel Zaragoza. It was a resume that was anything but padded and he also had a win over fellow Mexican legend in the making, Marco Antonio Barrera, the same man he was facing in the ring for the second time on June 22, 2002, the night that Morales tasted his first professional defeat. More...
