Boxing News

Proud Lisa in the Rumble at the Reef

As a three-year-old casino, the Silver Reef prides itself on customer service. Near the U.S. and Canadian border, this Washington State gaming institution provides a lap of luxury in the boxing arena. Plush chairs and wallpaper take you back to the remembrances of the 1930’s. VIPs arrive to overflowing Saturday night fights. Casino management staff Eric Larsen and Lenny Kellum greeted all the guests personally upon arrival for the Rumble at the Reef. These hotel executives created the old style competitive match ups that were to take place this evening while Jim Beam whisky, sponsor of the gorgeous ring gals, poured and gave away promotional items throughout the fights. Fight promoter Patrick Ortiz, (Ringside Tickets) met with this evening's main event attraction, Lisa Holewyne. More...

"Better Kill Me" or how Jesse Feliciano beat Rafael Ortiz

Many of us escape to TV reality shows and boxing matches. Such was the case on Saturday night, when the ten year old Lucky Eagle Casino in Rochester, Washington enjoyed a packed house for what the popular gaming destination termed Fight Night 51. The venue was overfilled, even though it takes two hours to drive down from Seattle. The casino allows youth to attend the fights and it was nice to see families in the audience.

Nobody in the audience loved Jesse Feliciano from Las Vegas. When Rafael Ortiz, 11-7-1 (11), jumped into the ring, the crowd cheered their Oregon based local fighter. All eleven of his victories had come by knockout and everyone there wanted a local boy to win. Jesse, 12-4-2 (7), had lost his previous three fights but his eyes sparked determination and a “better kill me” attitude. Jesse’s father and corner man believed in his son while Pat Doljanin, his manager, hoped that his 23-year-old fighter could win. Feliciano's team needed a win, bad. If not for boxing, Jesse might turn back to a street life. More...

Brian Halquist Productions produced an excellent fight card at the Emerald Queen Casino on Saturday night and all in attendance benefited from a superb night of entertainment.

The main event featured Spokane’s Chauncy Welliver and Travis Fulton, from Iowa, in a ten round heavyweight bout. Chauncy began the fight with the added edge of the fan's backing as he's a longtime favorite of the Northwest faithful. Travis stepped into the ring with some experience in Ultimate Fighting competitions and sported a nasty cauliflower right ear which he attempted several times to rub in on Welliver. But Welliver largely stayed away and out of range of the UFC fighter. A big man, Chancy moved agilely around the ring and landed a few bombs even in the opening round. Headshots kept coming and by the third round, Travis sprayed blood into the audience with more pounding taking place. By the fourth, the referee called the fight, taking Chauncy up the ranks in the heavyweight division. More...

“Sometimes you get so down, inspiration comes from anywhere. You make decisions, take action, and in the long run you win. You discover your heart.” –Dr. Joe de Beauchamp.

“Boxing is an unnatural act,” whispered Frankie Dunn (Clint Eastwood) cut man and trainer. “Understand me kid. You want to move to the left, you don’t step left, and you push off on the right toe, like this. To move to the right, you use the left toe, like this, see?” The old man drilled glances through your eyes to the back of your head. “Instead of running from the pain, which is the natural thing in life, in boxing you step into it, getting me? So now, once you’ve made the decision to be a fighter, now you gotta know how to fight, because no matter how tough you are, my friend, these dudes…knock you out.” Frankie’s voice pierced. It boomed up harsh in the gym. It moved around the ring like the old tune “Body and Soul” right down to the bones. His voice growled down deep as a grizzly bear. The whisper moved sideways on you, then curled back on itself, as if it were smoke from a dying fire. Images floated out, the old man painted pictures, gave you dreams and heart. It fell to flesh and bones with powerful magic. Frankie loved warriors. More...

Battle at the Boat XXXIV took place in Tacoma, Washington on Saturday 8th of January at 7:30 pm. The Emerald Casino lined up customers and the house received a large gate. Most fans waited in line for over forty minutes to get to valet parking. The indoor stadium filled to overflowing. The card showed promise while there appeared more testosterone in the room than the entire area of 3.5 million people. This was the thirty-fourth installment of a series that comes every six weeks. They saved the best on the card for the last. Emmett Linton went toe-to-toe with Marcos Primera. His win over Dorian Beaupierre was telecast on the ESPN 2 show last July at the Emerald Queen Casino. Marcos Primera, originally from Venezuela, is now calling Durham, North Carolina home. Primera's manager, Steve Tannenbaum, said his boxer has had some tough breaks in the past, but that Marcos had changed his training rituals. "He would often train for fights by hanging a heavy bag from a tree", said Tannenbaum. Primera's sports a 150-11 amateur record with 80 KO's. Primera kept up a good jab during the fight, and took some powerful shots from Linton. Linton figured Marcos out by the fifth round and started to apply pressure and not backpedal. More...

Born in 1930 in Flatbush, a section of Brooklyn, he watched his father go to work at the Department of Sanitation. His father supported four boys, the family got by okay on their finances. His father fought under the name Eddie Martin. Even though his father fought,

his father never trained his son, Joey. Carmine or Joey grew up in the Italian neighborhood in an Italian family. He joined the army and got out to fight, and stayed in Philly throughout his life. He weighed in most of his boxing career around 160-pounds, and stayed in shape his entire life.

"Nobody showed me nothing," Giardello said, "I'd box and then stick around and watch guys box. I'd pick up moves just by watching. I never had any amateur fights."

In 133 professional bouts, Giardello had 100 victories, thirty-two by knockout, and he lost twenty-five. The tough, gritty Giardello slowly, but steadily, fought his way up the ranks until he won the world middleweight title at the end of his sixteenth year as a professional. Giardello actually started life with the real name Carmine Tilelli. He turned professional in 1948 at age eighteen. He fought primarily in Philadelphia, and built his record, and reputation in the "City of Brotherly Love" and other East Coast towns. In 1951, he entered the world rankings with a ten-round decision win over contender Ernie Durando in Scranton Pennsylvania. With the exception of one year, 1955, Giardello fought and beat at least one ranked contender every year until 1966. More...

The movie of the life of James J. Braddock starts in a few weeks, titled the “Cinderella Man.” The big screen depicts Braddock and his family going through the hard times of the great depression. His struggles helped many unemployed rise above the poverty of the times. He gave them hope. Bankers and the rich looked up to Braddock as he hit

hard to climb into the seat as world champion. The nation's economy placed over twenty percent of the population in bread lines. Rather than allow his family to starve, he boxed to win the heavyweight championship of the world. Mr. Ron Howard always makes movies true to life. The movie holds on to the facts of the real life hero Braddock. The Braddock family watched the filming on location at the very old Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto. The Maple Leaf Gardens still shows athletic events, one of the oldest stadiums left standing today. Ron Howard found and decided to film on this location since it looks much like the former Madison Square Garden Bowl. Madison Square Garden Bowl held thousands of fight fans when Braddock won the heavyweight championship of the world from Max Baer in 1935. The Braddock family plans to take part as extras during the very exciting fight scenes in the movie. More...

A birth occurs commonplace on every moment, on everyday in every corner of the earth. The spinning planet offers few explanations of life, tragic or heralded. On Christmas day, we receive a reminder of an ancient metaphor of birth. Although birth appears ordinary, no person replicates another. Birth never repeats the same pattern of the soul, ever again. The wonder of birth turns not this world of the billions of shapes, not of the flesh and blood. The nature in all of us gives us blessings, and torment. Might we ever rise above abandonment, abuse, cruelty and ignorance? How we handle this in life allows us to transcend the commonplace, and show the miracle of life. On October 26, 1906, the first Italian stallion boxer felt life in northern Italy. He weighed twenty-two pounds, and grew up to reach nearly six-feet-six-inches. When his mother realized the child of enormous size, she called him “number one,” or Primo. Mother Giovanna or father Sante never realized this out-sized baby was already set apart in many ways. Most of Primo Carnera’s life represented mocking of his freakish size and shape. His entire family and village saw the giant baby and later a monstrous man, standing out. More...

Born in November 1949, Larry Holmes keeps poking at George Foreman to draw him out. After his first fight, he went home with only sixty-three dollars, and now hopes to make twenty-million with Foreman. With eleven kids at home and his mother on welfare, Larry learned how to fight his way to the top. He dropped out in the seventh grade, but got a PhD in common sense. Recently, his brother Jake’s wife received funds to help on her health care needs. He raised himself out of welfare, and bought his mother a new home when his fight career started to pay off. Larry keeps quiet about helping out his large family. Larry never needed charisma to earn respect in the world. After a certain age, ring rust sets in regardless of opponents. He wants to rouse George Foreman or Gerry Cooney out of retirement. If not with George, Larry wishes to take a rematch with Evander Holyfield, or attempt to get younger fighters back in the ring like Hasim Rahman or Lennox Lewis. Larry and “Big George” were scheduled to fight on January 22 1999 - Foreman's fiftieth birthday; the fight was cancelled when time ran out on a contractual stipulation related to financing. Now, Larry wants to challenge George Foreman. Gerry Cooney recently expressed willingness to take on Holmes in a boxing exhibition, though he commented, "Larry might take it too seriously." More...

On March 3, Baby Joe Mesi fought with Vassiliy Jirov in Las Vegas. The fight went all Joe’s way until the final round. Joe pounded away taking almost every round in the fight, and in the last round, his head felt a crushing upper cut. Baby Joe took a couple of shots in the head and went down hard. At first, Joe kept coming forward, since he does not believe in stepping backward. Towards the end of the round, Joe hung on and finished the fight out. He showed us how he can take a punch. He graciously accepted the win over Jirov, and told us that he learn a lot from the fight, and would do better next time. Few boxers would rise off the mat to finish the round. Showing ring wise behavior, he finished with a few of his special hooks. He won on points. Later in the week, some rumors floated around that Joe developed a bruise on the brain. After a few months, this problem received confirmation by the Mesi camp. More...

When I was eleven, the best movie ever came out. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1960) showed in the theaters and was a great Walt Disney first. Having my mother reading us to sleep, one of our favorite stories continued night after night the Mark Twain classic. We all loved Big Jim in the book, and when we saw him on the screen

for the first time, we just knew that this Jim appeared to us exactly like the book. The lovable giant in the movie showed us a big man, and a gentle man. Archie Moore played the kind Big Jim in the movie. We never guessed that this fellow really carried a past around with him: a record of 194 victims in the ring. Who believes in anyone ever coming close to the all time victim record in the ring? Who ever suspected that Huckleberry’s best friend showed no hint of the killing machine in the ring? His 141 career knockouts are still a boxing record, one considered unbreakable. After retiring from fighting, he stayed involved in boxing. He spent time training the likes of George Foreman (young and old), heavyweight contender Earnie Shavers, and the Nigerian Olympic boxing team. Born on Dec. 13, 1913 in Mississippi, he appeared a natural for the movie roll of Huckleberry Finn. With 229 bouts, he won 194 times, laying a foundation for an all time record of this number of victims. More...

He saw the cottage, a proud slate roof from the last century. The stonework weathered silver subsiding into angles in a bed of lichen-smeared rock. Bushy hedges bristled on the windswept remote isle. The stone cottage whitewashed against the pewter sky. The saltbox cottage stood with weathered shingles against stripped blown trees. Two hours ago, when she called on the phone about selling, sharp crackling jolts of static kept her crying to a murmur over the line. His voice creaked like oarlocks straining above the bay's tempest. She needed to sell her home. His unpacked trunk rode in the back seat, garlanded with yellow travel stickers. A scarred leather attache bounced with all the paperwork. He feared nothing, and she felt a failure, once. The water chopped from the cold wind. Rocky Graziano sat in his car with the engine-running, heater full blast while the ferry slammed through the seething white roil of waves. The island thrust a craggy face into the hostile boiling waters. The rain spattered up, moving a scrim spray over an opaque windshield. The pitch of the deck lulled him with hazy light. More...

Big George Foreman pounded the pulpit and preached Christianity to the congregation while we sat on the wooden pew. Thumping meaning into words, feelings of peace and love, the former champion hammered out points. Cleaned up, glorious George wooed the crowds with smiles and friendship. He chewed each word, as if steak-gravy

worked on mouthfuls in a meditative way. Almost hulking, as though burdened by heavy muscles, he gleamed from a face put in long years from the squared ring; an aggressive jaw smiled fresh-shaven, sprouted skin folding into a coffee grin. “Keep your chin up, but not too high. When life knocks you to the canvas, get back in there. No bell saves a chump. In 1977, after my fight with Jimmy Young, I became reborn again in the locker-room. The sleeper awakened. Reborn, and I retired from boxing.” George Foreman raised his heavy arms in the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ. George broadcast over the radio waves, counseled prisoners, and spent time in his youth and community center. Life of his arteries, veins stood up in the backs of his hands, large swollen knuckles, smashed and battered, a testament from the old days. Stretching the elasticity and pumping the blood flows, he pointed towards the stain-glass window of Christ. The big money, sharp glorious fighter, the 45,000 hours for the weary fifteen rounds, he heard nothing but his words boom, no yelling houses of whirlwind finishes. Brain and bones finished eloquent, helping the old guard see the light. More...

Rocky Marciano awoke slowly, the champ always slept before a fight. His eyelids kept falling shut again and again before they finally stayed open. He knew this was his last fight; the first thought crawled across his sleep-thickened mind. He wanted to stop this business, he’d probably tell his wife Barbara tomorrow. He slept on the gym bench, tumbled out of sleep, shivering in the fall air from the open windows. His last fight with Archie Moore loomed outside the steel doors. He needed to ready himself for the fight. His mouth tightened looking out into the bleak frosty night, making his blood run slow and deadening his reflexes. Lack of sunshine hurt his vision. Tonight, when his eyes must work perfectly, or lose, maybe die. Die. He pushed the thought away quickly. A groan rumbled in his chest. A full rest and still tired. He dropped his hands, sat staring at his veined hands, their backs almost bronze from the training camp. He flexed the blunt fingers, tried to work limberness into them, heard popping from hands to shoulders. The flesh felt stiff, something from his leather hide and bones. More...

Most fight fans never remember Kenny Norton as the real reason for the movie Rocky. We would never have had the great movie Rocky without his fight with Wepner in 1970, which created the spark for Stallone to make this fine film. Yes, Kenny Norton is the real Apollo Creed. Kenneth Howard Norton was born on August 9,

1945 in Jacksonville, Illinois. He fought at 210-pounds and was 6' 3" (1.91 m) in the ring. He become the World Boxing Council heavyweight champion in 1978, and was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in1992. His son worked as a linebacker with the San Francisco 49ers. He entered into the World Boxing Hall of Fame in 1989. He was an aggressive fighter who could move with a confusing fluidity and he commanded a dangerous repertoire of punches. Unlike many fighters, Norton did not grow up boxing or dreaming of becoming a fighter. He played football, basketball, and track in high school and received a scholarship to Northeast Missouri State, which he attended for two years. More...

Jack Dempsey, the movie from 1983 stars Treat Williams and Sally Kellerman. The “Manassa Mauler’ walks across the screen and shows the life of Jack Dempsey. With him in the movie, it represents the last picture show of him since he died that year. The film opens in Utah in 1911, where the teenage Dempsey works out in hopes of cracking the big time. Eight years later,

Dempsey enters into his famous bout with reigning champion Jess Willard. From 1919 through 1926, Dempsey keeps the heavyweight championship title; he also carries on a wild and profligate private life, including an expensive marriage and even more expensive divorce with silent film star Estelle Taylor, his second wife and played by Victoria Tennant. Deanna Piatelli stayed with him until his death and she was the most loyal of his four wives. He also married Hannah Williams. Maxine Gates, played by Sally Kellerman and first of his wives, married Dempsey from 1916 until 1919. Treat Williams trained with Al Silvani, who worked with Stallone on the earliest Rocky epics. An excellent movie to watch and gather the facts of Dempsey’s life. He appears in the movies as himself and archive footage. More...