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05/13/2008 Archived Entry: "Ring Rhyme & Reason May 2008"
Ring Rhyme & Reason May 2008
By Stephen B. Acunto
Tailor Made
When an individual purchases a tailor made suite it fits to perfection. This could describe the boxing match between Oscar DeLaHoya and Steve Forbes on Saturday, May 2nd. Tailor made was the shorter Steve Forbes; DeLaHoya could not miss him with short jabs and combination punches, winning all twelve rounds in a shut out. Shock absorber Steve Forbes must be credited with assimilating tremendous punishment and not going down. Believe me, Forbes caught as many punches as Jorge Posada catches pitches from the New York Yankees. Fighters like Forbes are more prone to sustain injuries because they have a lot of heart. De La Hoya played out his game plan for the entire distance of the fight. Forbes was a well-paid sparing partner. Possibly, De La Hoya could put the kibosh on Floyd Mayweather and then retire to continue promoting boxing as well as he has been doing.
Fans should study the styles and ring generalship of boxing and not be deluded by misinformation and compulsive diatribe that has been the fight analysis of certain commentators.
Joe Calzaghe, who is not particularly stylistically interesting to watch, thrashed the forty-two year-old Bernard Hopkins in an exciting fight. We question the allegedly low blows, which give rise to what really constitutes a low blow to the groin. Surely an uppercut delivered directly to the groin is extremely hurtful.
Let’s get it on
Let’s get it on between Kelly Pavlik and Joe Calzaghe. Another bout worth considering would be Roy Jones Jr. versus Bernard Hopkins. A peaked Roy Jones had decisioned Hopkins in the past. Could he do it again?
Having seen a picture recently in one of the boxing magazines of Slapsie Maxie Rosenbloom reminded me of the skill that he had. Slapsie boxed with his hands opened, cuffing his opponents. There were others of the same era and before, such as Tony Canzonari, who possessed speed and good combination punching, another speedster named Sid Terris and the incomparable Benny Leonard, who was a master boxer.
Max Baer, who was a mediocre heavyweight champion but who had the props of having a perfect build, good looks and who hobnobbed with the Hollywood Stars and (once even having co-stared in a movie with the great Myrna Loy; ”The “Prizefighter and the Lady”, seemed to have had his appeal sustain his mediocre career. He did have a lethal right hand which he had developed swinging a sledgehammer at steer in a Chicago Slaughterhouse. When he was finally paired with Joe Louis and was seconded by Jack Dempsey, he offered the “Brown Bomber” little or no resistance. When James “Cinderella Man” Braddock returned from the docks to the ring to earn some money and got a match with Baer, when fighting him, Braddock circled to Baer’s left, thus making Baer’s the use of Max’s right hand obsolete and the rest is history. Baer even claimed that he was Jewish which was exposed as untrue by the great trainer Ray Arcel. Perhaps, Max Baer, who lived in a time when ethnicity attracted fans in small communities right to main events, felt it was to his advantage.
The AAIB is proud to share its concern on how boxers perfect the skill and science of the sport and therefore established the “Will ‘O The Wisp” Award in honor of Willie Pep. The first awardee to receive this honor was awarded Paulie Magliaggi who has displayed these skills in the ring. Paulie was honored at the annual Boxerama in February.
