HBO Boxing: Is Mayweather’s Return Among Other Great Comebacks?

By Boxing Press September 9th, 2009 All Press Releases

It's the year of the sports comeback with Tiger Woods, Pedro Martinez, Roger Federer, and Tom Brady all coming back to their respective sports in attempts to reclaim their places in sports history.

Joining the roster is Floyd "Money" Mayweather, already a six-time world championship in five weight divisions, coming back to the sweet science, after a nearly two-year layoff against five-time world champion in three weight divisions Juan Manuel "Dinamita" Marquez on Saturday, September 19 at MGM Grand in Las Vegas. More...

Tickets Available For “The World’s Greatest Boxer Ever” Weekend

By Boxing Press June 23rd, 2009 All Press Releases

The age-old question about who the all-time greatest boxers are will soon be answered thanks to The World’s Greatest Ever Boxer promotion, presented by Greatest Ever Enterprises.

Muhammad Ali was the self-proclaimed Greatest. Was it really Ali or Joe Louis, Sugar Ray Robinson, Willie Pep, or Henry Armstrong? How about modern day boxers such as Joe Calzaghe, Floyd Mayweather, Jr. or Manny Pacquiao?

On-line voting at www.GreatestEver.com allows boxing fans from around the world to weigh in on the greatest boxer in each of the original eight weight classes from, heavyweight to flyweight, highlighted by the all-time pound-for-pound “Greatest Ever”. More...

Boxing Perspective: Does Hatton vs. Pacquiao Parallel Pryor vs. Arguello?

By Daxx Kahn March 18th, 2009 All Boxing Articles

Just under 27 years ago, two men stepped into the ring and created the most memorable 140lb bout to ever take place when former three division champion Alexis "El Flaco Explosivo" Arguello stepped up to challenge then reigning WBA light welterweight champion Aaron "The Hawk" Pryor in his quest for a fourth division championship.

Arguello, the crowd favorite by far, had not lost in five years and was widely considered one of boxing's pound for pound greats, while Pryor was undefeated and had developed an aura of invincibility, stopping 29 of his 31 previous opponents.

The bout did not disappoint onlookers in any way, shape or form as the two men went to war, giving it all they had until finally Arguello had enough and the bout was halted in the 14th round.

Until this day, no other 140lb bout has captured the heart of boxing fans the way Arguello vs. Pryor had, nor to this date has there been another light welterweight bout which produced the same amount of electricity that circulated through the air of Miami's Orange Bowl on November 11 1982. Not even when Julio Cesar Chavez faced off in the first of two meetings with Meldrick Taylor.

Some fans had even come to believe that we might not see another bout of that proportion in that division for another 50 years, if ever! This of course has little to do with the fact that talent has been scarce at that weight because the light welterweight division has been anything but lackluster in talent over these past 25 plus years. More...

Remembering A Boxing Legend: Jose “Chegui” Torres 1936-2009

By Daxx Kahn January 21st, 2009 All Boxing Articles

Jose Torres was a man who went full circle in the boxing world, from amateur boxer, 1956 Olympic Light Middleweight Silver Medallist, Puerto Rican Middleweight Champion, WBA and WBC Light Heavyweight Champion, New York State Athletic Commission Chairman and WBO President.

He was also an author of two top selling biographies, "Sting Like a Bee: The Muhammad Ali Story" and "Fire and Fear: The inside Story of Mike Tyson” and a 1997 Hall of Fame inductee as well as an all around goodwill ambassador of the sport.

Torres accomplished so much in boxing that his accomplishments almost seem embellished.

It is not often we can actually look back at an athlete and say that during their duration in the sport they did nothing but continually improve its standards, representing the sport as a whole to the fullest and striving constantly to make sure it was viewed in the most positive of images.

Jose Torres was one of those athletes.

It was in 1964 when Jose’s pro career really began to soar as he scored a first round KO victory over former middleweight champion Bobo Olsen, earning a title shot with the great Willie Pastrano just four months later.

In that contest, Torres again shined when he knocked Pastrano down in the sixth round, continuing his onslaught until referee Johnny Bianco was forced to stop the bout at the end of the ninth, making Torres the new light heavyweight champion. More...

Hofstra University Hosts Conference on Boxing Legend Muhammad Ali

By Ginamarie Russo November 6th, 2008 All Boxing Articles

For all of those who would like to go back in time and hear about Muhammad Ali through they eyes of those around him at his most pivotal and thrilling moments, you can. My school, Hofstra Univeristy on Long Island, is hosting an incredible two-day event, and here is all you need to know. Hope to see you there!

The Hofstra Cultural Center of Hofstra University in Hempstead, NY has presented international conferences on a variety of public figures such as the U.S. presidents from FDR through Bill Clinton, Margaret Thatcher, Babe Ruth, Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby and John Steinbeck, now turns its attention to boxing legend Muhammad Ali for an in depth examination of his life and impact on the world of sports, November 13 and 14, 2008.

This two-day conference is titled The Greatest: From Cassius Clay to Muhammad Ali.

As a brash young man, Cassius Marcellus Clay was known as "The Lip from Louisville, Kentucky." Over the years, he has inspired millions of people throughout the world not only with his boxing prowess, but also with his courageous opposition to war and other violence, his faith and his humanitarian efforts. He has also made his mark with his words, which are now in vogue even among the hip-hop generation.

The Hofstra conference features the participation of Ali’s former trainer, business manager, other colleagues, noted sports print and broadcast journalists, sports and pop culture historians and even the author of On the Waterfront. Featured speakers include:

• The New York Times Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Dave Anderson
• Sports journalists Bill Gallo, Stan Isaacs, Wallace Matthews and Phil Pepe.
• Boxer Chuck Wepner, who fought Ali in March 1975 in Cleveland. That fight is said to have inspired
Sylvester Stallone to write the movie Rocky.
• Author of The Contender and Free to be Muhammad Ali, Robert Lipsyte
• Boxing referee Arthur Mercante - refereed Ali/Norton, Ali/Frazier, Frazier/Forman fights
• Ali business manager Gene Kilroy
• Ali trainer Angelo Dundee
• Boxing Guru and Historian Bert Randolph Sugar and HBO Sports Commentator Larry Merchant
• CW 11 sports anchor Sal Marchiano
• Screenwriter and author of On the Waterfront and author of Loser and Still Champion: Muhammad Ali, Budd Schulberg More...

Where Are They Now? Earnie Shavers

By Shawn M Murphy August 5th, 2008 All Boxing Interviews

Recently, I spoke with former heavyweight contender Earnie Shavers. Shavers, dubbed "The Acorn" by Muhammad Ali, had an incredible sixty eight KO's in seventy four wins during his career.

He is often regarded as one of the hardest punchers in boxing history. He would fight twice for the heavyweight title, losing to Muhammad Ali and Larry Holmes. Shavers beat such notables as Jimmy Young, Jimmy Ellis and Ken Norton during his career. Shavers retired in 1995 with a record of 74-14-1.

Shawn Murphy: Earnie, you got a late start in boxing didn't you?

Earnie Shavers: Yes, I was about twenty-two when I started. You know, I'm glad I did because all the guys who started very early on lost interest after a few years. At twenty-two, it was all new to me. I had a family, I was mature and I did what I had to do.

SM: How did you first get started in boxing?

ES: A good friend of mine, Vincent Austin, kept bugging me to go with him to the gym. After he bugged me long enough, I agreed. When I walked in the gym the trainer looked and me and said "Oh boy, we gotta heavyweight here. You could become a champ and make a lot of money". That got my attention. So on that same day I started boxing.

I fought a guy who would be a champion the following year. He out boxed me, but every now and then, I would land some good right hands and he would go flying across the ring. The guy told me I was gonna hurt somebody with that right hand. I went home and talked to my wife because I already had a good job at General Motors. She had a fit. I begged for a whole week until she said yes. More...