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June 28, 2002
Happy Birthday, Tyson
By Robert Ecksel (robert.ecksel@gte.net)
It’s almost June 30. It’s almost Sunday. It’s almost your birthday. You lived your life to the max the past 13,000 days. You've literally done it all. You’ve been director and star of your own home movie. You’ve inhabited your life-form to the fullest for thirty-six combustible years. We tip our hat to your success and grandiose sense of theater. We’ve also brought a gift of thanks for the crazy times you willed us.
Happy Birthday, blessed Cancer! According to our records, you were born inauspiciously on June 30, 1966 in New York, just across the East River. We hear you were noisy at birth. And, perhaps worst of all, we hear you had the crummy misfortune be born into deprivation, depravity, rats and roaches. Although just spitting distance from the glossy towers of Manhattan isle, your ghetto, your home on the range called Brownsville, was borderline blight of the boroughs, a quintessential slum’s slum, a pimple on fair Brooklyn’s ass.
According to this book I found in a stall being manned by some wizard - “Seeing Stars: Astrology for Pugilists” - there are other media divas beside yourself who first saw the light of day on June 30. That sublime songstress Lena Horne was born on that date in 1917. (“In my early days I was a sepia-colored Hedy Lamar. Now I’m black and a woman, singing my own way.”). Justice Thurgood Marshall, the first African American to sit on the Supreme Court, was born on June 30, 1908. (“In recognizing the humanity of our fellow beings, we pay ourselves tribute.”) We’re not sure what that means. We’re not sure what anything means.
We understand there’s a rematch clause to your first pummeling at the hands of Lennox Lewis. We understand that you and Rasta walked away with a cool $30 mil each. We understand it was Team Lewis who requested the rematch clause in the first place, fearing (unnecessarily, as it turned out) that you might deck the champion. Logic suggests that the 1.8 million pay-per-view buys you attracted was an homage to your charisma. But that audience, like your future potential, has shrunk dramatically since June 8.
I can’t stop leafing through “Astrology for Pugilists” It says here that other people of renown who share your birthday are Princess Diana, born June 30, 1961, extinguished in 1997; Mick Jagger’s long-suffering bride, Jerry Hall, born June 30, 1956 (“Mick and I love each other. We’re great friends.”); and there’s Pamela Anderson, born in June 30, 1967, just a year after you, the blonde bombshell Baywatch babe with the ballistic ballooning boobs.
There’s no denying that your accomplishments are nothing to sneeze at. Yours is a remarkable achievement. To be frank, it’s unreal, it's altogether beyond the beyond. So many of us are barely out of the gate - and you’ve already won the race, lost your footing, look your fortune, lost your standing, and are facing the future with a handicap. But you’re not stupid. We don’t buy into your Neanderthal act. For argument sake, let’s say you get your rematch with Lennox Lewis. Nothing fundamental will have changed between now and then. You’ll get hurt again. The soft tissue of your brain will be like a bocci ball on a roll. You’ll get another payday. And, all things being equal, that should be that. Yet you intuit as we intuit that a year from now no one will remember quite what happened to Mike Tyson in Memphis. We’ll vaguely recall that you lost to Lennox Lewis, but the depth of that defeat will fade like the depth of all defeats over time. You’re the birthday boy who’s always played our short memory the way Jimi Hendrix played electric guitar. You’ve been a virtuoso in so many realms. And although no boy scout, you’re our one and only Mike Tyson. Which is why we fear, not unreasonably, that another beating like the one at The Pyramid will not just finish you as a coherent (if not quite comprehensible) companion, but you might even die in the process.
This dog-eared and yellowing paperback has some really amazing stuff in it. It says here than the man who discovered the wreckage of the Titanic in 1985, Robert Ballard, born in 1942, has the same birthday, June 30, as you, Mike Tyson. And, let’s see. What other jewels are buried in these crumbling pages? Ah, here’s one. Bummer! Wouldn’t you know it? Ron Goldman was born on June 30, 1968. We hope your end is less bloody than his.
You are Mike Tyson: the arrowhead riding shotgun on the octane of time’s arrow. And it’s been one helluva ride. We picture you cracking open some bubbly in celebration at having already lived this long, surrounded by strangers posing as friends, hemmed in by greedy entities disguised as loyal homies, and we see you’ve got yourself another marginalized, fractured birthday in a bubble. It behooves you, Mike Tyson, to break free while you can.
Go get therapy. Find counsel. Get born again. Do something. Don’t just stand there. Do anything. Be a man of action. Take care of bizness while there’s even an ounce of sympathy left for you in America. Let the chrysalis emerge from the cocoon and you can become one of our beloved old doddering grandfathers. You and George Foreman and Larry Holmes and Bill Cosby and can kid your way through old-timers day. Your wisecracks and innuendo and irreverence will be a meal ticket to maintaining the spotlight. For God’s sake, Mike, you’re already in the Pantheon. Just grabbed the dial and fine-tune your frequency. Before you know it, no one will remember or even care what kind of thug you used to be. You can become a talk show host, a shock jock, you’ll still be master of the outrageous. If you make even a halfhearted attempt at appearing as if you’re thinking of considering redemption, our Pavlov’s dog populace will greet you with open arms. You’ll cash in. You’ll earn a nice living. But if you maintain your course, the bling-bang-crash-splat of inhaling and exhaling headlines, you’ll head headlong into an early grave. It wouldn’t surprise us if that was all you ever secretly wanted. A finale to all the crap. Adios to the endless bullshit. Finally a little peace. Maybe a little quiet. So what if it’s for eternity, rather than for a minute?
“Seeing Stars: Astrology for Pugilists” is a book you gotta check out. The weird connects and disconnects one can glean from such an innocuous little pamphlet. Texas mother of the year, murderess Andrea Yates, was born June 30, 1964, just two years before you. Talk about the heavy price of fame! (“I realized it was time to be punished,” Yates confessed.) Another June 30 from Celebrity Fingerprint was born 1929 and named Imelda Marcos. First Lady of the Philippines and a vicious dictator in her own right, Imelda was nothing if not a piece of work. (“I did not have three-thousand pairs of shoes. I had one-thousand and sixty.”)
Mike Tyson. It’s your birthday. Thirty-six fun-filled years down. How may fun-filled years to go?
June 26, 2002
Let’s Go! Klitschko!
By Robert Ecksel (robert.ecksel@gte.net)
The Ukrainian heavyweight sensations are sky-high. Their long and winding road to credible contention has been a take-no-prisoners demolition derby. There’s not a trial horse alive who hasn’t been dragged kicking and screaming into the Klitschko Brother’s Kiev glue factory. Such immortals as Wolfgramm, David Bostice, Obed Sullivan, Phil Jackson, Charles Shufford, Vaughn Bean, Axel Schulz, Ross Purity, Orlin Norris, Herbie Hide and Frans “The White Buffalo” Botha were buffaloed by Vlad and Vitali. Two blood brothers, a couple of big boys in gloves and satin trunks, the type of boys to make a grown man weep, the kind of boys to make a mother proud.
Vitali Klitschko is in training for his July 20 fight in Dortmund, Germany with America’s own Larry Donald. But his baby bro’ Vladimir is here in the good old USA. Carefully handled and cautiously matched during the breadth of his career, Vladimir Klitschko has been overprotected by his Munich-based promoter Universum. Whether or not the Big U can help their pug on Saturday remains a bone of contention. The next man slated as a notch on Klitschko’s belt is the sometimes less than Merciless Ray Mercer. A former contender now impersonating the man who wasn’t there, Ray has been away too long to put much dent on Vladimir Klitschko.
Hailing from The Garden State of New Jersey, this former-Marine sergeant came to boxing a latecomer, but Ray Mercer made up for lost time. A 1988 Olympian, Ray burst on the scene when he bushwhacked Tommy Morrison in 1991. And no one socked Lennox Lewis as much as Ray Mercer at The Garden in 1996. But as so often happens to low-flying veteran pilots strafing hamlets for the freedom of the fight game, Ray Mercer fell off the radar screen. He was no stealth bomber, so perhaps he took a hit.
With dollar signs in his eyes and retirement in his future, Ray Mercer reappeared and signed to fight Mike Tyson on December 8, 2001. That date nosedived and the bout was fast-forwarded to January 19. Ray Mercer booked a one-way ticket on the Tyson Limited’s magical mystery tour to nowhere. Then the litigious Lennox Lewis intervened. Prodded by the strength of the champion’s argument, prodded by his squadron of ambulance-chasers, the court declared Mike Tyson vs. Ray Mercer null and void. Lennox Lewis vs. Mike Tyson was suddenly the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.
Vladimir Klitschko and Ray Mercer lace ‘em up Saturday night at the Trump Taj in Atlantic City. The mystery concerning Klitschko’s beard may finally be solved. Ray Mercer gives and takes a good shot. Vlad can also dish out it out. Dr. K is educated and knows it’s better to give than to receive. But Ray Mercer won’t quit without a fight. Vladimir Klitschko sees the heavyweight throne and imagines it’s almost his. Ray Mercer sees the leader of the pack and thinks that he’s green and hasn’t been tested. Ray Mercer can’t wait to get his shot at nuking Vladimir Klitschko. We hear from anonymous sources that Kid Klitschko feels the same way toward Ray Mercer.
June 24, 2002
Six Wishes by Lucius Shepard
After watching Erik Morales "lose" his title to Marco Antonio Housefighter, I left the country for Honduras. This was a planned trip, not a reactive one, but had I not been intending to travel, I almost certainly would have been tempted to go somewhere far away from the odious business of boxing--and that, the business of boxing, is what was on display last Saturday night in Las Vegas. I doubt very much that Mr. Chuck Giampa truly believes that Barrera won eight rounds, and I also doubt very much that his colleagues in malfeasance, Mr. Ford and Mr. Hallen, truly believe that Barrera won seven.
Do I think the fix was in? No, not really. But I do think that Las Vegas judges in general understand what is required of them and, if they wish to retain their priviledges, they act in accordance with those requirements. There have been so many awful decisions over the past few years in big time fights, it has become obvious that what happens during the fight is considerably less important than what happens prior to the fight. The marketers, not the fighters, have become the real arbiters of the sport. And everyone in the media seems just fine with that--I mean, there have been a handful of outcries, but the majority of boxing writers have chosen to downplay the injustice of the decision in Morales-Barerra II
and view it as "a make-up call."
A make-up call?
For a group prone to moralizing over the degenerate natures of certain athletes, this hardly strikes a moral tone--in fact, it smacks of utter hypocrisy.
Of course none of the above should come as news and it does no good whatsoever to moan about it--nothing anyone says will have the slightest effect on the status quo, unless one is fabulously wealthy and is prepared to pay the networks, the casinos, et al, a handsome sum in order to ensure honest judging and competent officiating. But if the sport is to be taken away from the fighters and the fans, then I feel we should be granted a few wishes by way of compensation. Everyone, of course, will have their own list, but for the record, this is my short list of things I would like to replace the pleasure that watching good fighters work once brought me.
June 24, 2002
Ringside Report - Barrera vs. Morales II
Ringside Report - Barrera vs. Morales II
By Steve Coughlin
Las Vegas Nevada, June 22, 2002
Epic battles between great fighters usually produce highly-anticipated rematches that have a hell of a time living up to the fans expectations. Add Barrera-Morales II to that list.
It was a good fight, but the first fight was so exciting it?s hard to believe that both guys are still at the top of the game.
For as much animosity as they showed each other in the months preceding the fight, one could almost feel the mutual respect between the two Mexican Featherweights as they entered the ring.
Barrera had nothing to prove. In his mind, and in the minds of most fans who were lucky enough to have seen the first fight, he won the first time around and went on to beat down Prince Naseem Hamed. But what makes a fighter great isn?t just talent. It?s a willingness to fight and beat the best. Morales had a lot to prove, mostly to himself. After the Barrera fight, Erik looked very average in going the distance in his next two outings. A win over Barrera would put him back at the top of the game and, to his credit, he wanted this fight badly.
The MGM was buzzing in anticipation well before the fighters climbed through the ropes. It was, without question, the loudest, most vocal fight crowd this writer's ever experienced. The chants of "Tijuana, Tijuana, Tijuana" from the Morales fans would be drowned out with
"Ba-rrera! Ba-rrer-a! Ba-rrer-a." The crowd was more than ready and it pumped up both men as they approached the ring. With both the crowd and the fighters juiced it was time to start the rematch.
Round 1
Barrera opens the fight as the aggressor landing hard rights & lefts to Morales's ribs. Morales lands his first hard shot, a right to Barrera?s waste with less than a minute left. Barrera's jab is keeping Erik at bey until Marco crashes a hard right into Morales's
jaw with 12 seconds left in the round. Barrera 10 - 9.
Round 2
Both fighter exchange single shots when Morlaes lands a hard right that has his supporters chanting Tijuana. Midway into the round, Barrera hurts Morles with a hard combination. Both fighter exchange big shots until Morlaes smashes another big right into Marco with 10: remaining. Morales 10-9; 19-19.
Round 3
Morales controls the early action with his jab. Barrera hammers a couple of more combos but Morales is just the busier of the two. Morales 10-9; Morales 29 - 28.
Round 4
Morales is now the aggressor and has Barrera throwing single punches. Barrera lands a clean right hand at the one minute mark, but he can't seem to land the much needed second shot. At 2:30 into the round, Erik hammers Marco Antonio with a left hook and closes the stanza with a hard right hand. Morales 10-9; Morales 39-37.
Round 5
Morales is pressing the fight and Barrera can?t seem to get loose. The action is kind of slow until Barrera goes below the belt. What follows is the best exchange of the fight so far. Erik is just landing more often than Marco. Morales 10-9; Morales 49-46
Round 6
Barrera must sense that the fight?s getting away from him. Within 10 seconds he lands a very hard jab and is moving forward. Barrera lands two hard shots to close the round, Marco?s best since the first. Barrera 10-9, Morales 58 - 56
Round 7
For the first time of the night, Morales is the last fighter out of his corner. Barrera goes low again, getting his second warning from Jay Nady. With a little more than 1:30 gone, Barrera lands the best punch of the fight - a crushing right hand that snaps Morlaes's
head back. Morales seemed to have scored a knockdown but Nadee was right on top of the action and correctly ruled that Erik was stepping on Marco's foot. Barrera rallying now. Barrera 10-9; Morales 67 - 66
Round 8
Barrera is still moving forward using his educated jab to keep Morales at bay. Midway through the round Barrera pushes Morales to the canvas. Morales seems angered but can't get off. Barrera closes the round with another hard combination that rocks Morales. Barrera 10 - 9; 76 - 76
Round 9
Barrera comes out strong yet again and has Erik on the defensive. Marco is pressing Morlaes and is hurting Erik with combination punching. Morales is attempting to use his jab, but Marco is just walking through it. With a minute to go Barrera lands a series of right hands shots. Morales counters with 5 hard shots of his own.
Marco finishes the round moving ahead and lands another hard right. Berrara's on a roll. Barrera 10 - 9; Barrera 86 - 85
Round 10
Morales decides to take charge. He's landing hard shots and moving forward for the first time in rounds. Both fighter trade bombs at 1:30 but it's Erik that's pressing the action. Morlaes hurts Barrera for the first time with a minute left and finishes strong.
Morlaes 10 - 9; 95 - 95
Round 11
Barrera comes out jabbing and lands a few hard right hands in the first minute. Has Morlaes blown his chance by not taking over the round after a good tenth? Morales lands another good right but Barrera's hook is getting to Erik. Now it's Barrera Moving ahead and that's the way the round closes. Barrera 10-9; Barrera 105-104
Round 12
Barrera gets off the first big shot of the round and hurts Morlaes. Morlaes gets his composure and lands his own hard right. With a minute gone the fighters engage in the fight's best exchange since the 5th round. With a minute left Barrera pounds Morales
with a left hook, hard right, left hook that has Erik on the defensive. Morales land one last hard right but it?s Barrera that finishes the late exchanges and pulls out what I feel
was the best round of the fight. Barrera 10-9; Barrera 115-113
In the end, there were almost as many unanswered question as there were after the first fight. More than a fair share of ringside observers felt that Morales had won the fight big and got robbed as badly as Barrera had in the first fight. Barrera's contingent
walked away feeling that justice had been served, but that it was indeed a close bout. I just felt that Marco had done a little more during the second ½ of the fight and deserved the nod.
Can you say Barrera-Morlaes III? Sure, I knew you could !
Undercard Results :
Saturday?s opening 8 round bout pitted Super Bantamweights Oxnard?s Jose Aguiniga against Mexicali?s Ruben Lopez . Aguiniga controlled the bout from the opening bell and scored a knockdown in the 1st. Jose kept the pressure on Ruben in the second & third rounds. Aguiniga finished off Lopez in the fourth round, when Jose landed
a hard right hand that was the effective end of the bout. Lopez?s corner mercifully threw in the towel a few seconds later at 1:55 of the fourth. Aguiniga moves to 14 ? 0, 10 KOs.
In a 4 round Jr. Featherweight bout, Orlando Curz of San Juan, Puerto Rico (3-0, 3 ) faced Alberto Cepeda of Ciudad, Mexico ( 17 ? 10 ? 1, 12 ). The first real action of the bout occurred when the crowd booing hit a fever pitch from the lack of action.
In the second Cruz picked up the pace and pushed Cepeda from post to post. Cepeda quits on his stool just prior to the start of the 3rd round.
The third fight of the night saw undefeated WBO champions Pedro Alcazar, Panama City ( 25 ? 0 ? 1, 14 ) take on Mexico?s Fernando Montiel ( 23 ? 0 ? 1, 17 ) for the sanctioning body?s Super Flyweight belt. Both fighter start off slowly but things really heat up in round two. With about a 1:30 left in the round Montiel lands
some VERY hard punches that are getting to Pedro. Alcazar comes out with a purpose in the third and fourth and is pressing the action to Montiel. Fernando regroups in the fifth, when he lands a hell of a shot into Alcazar?s family jewels. Montiel?s the hunter and he?s
catching his pray often. A series of hard combinations has Alcazar wobbling on the ropes, unable to defend himself, getting stopped at 1:16 of round 6.
Bout # 4 brought local veteran Justin Juuko ( 36 ? 6 ? 1, 26 ) in to test Puerto Rico?s latest rising star Miguel Cotto ( 9 ? 0, 7 ). Juuko looks the part of a tough fighter getting past his prime. Cotto drops Justin twice, once in the third and once in the fourth,
before he closes the show with a vicious left hook. Joe Cortez stops this rather one-sided affair with :14 remaining in the 5th round. Juuko may want to consider a career change after this fight.
Prior to the main event, heavy underdog Edgar Pedraza of Mexico City ( 1 ? 5 ? 2, 0 ) got knocked down by 9 ? 0, 5 KO favorite Luis Acero with :20 left in the opening round. Acero just kept pounding on Pedraza until Edgar was finally saved by Robert Byrd with 1:04 remaining in the fourth of a scheduled four round fight.
June 23, 2002
Barrera W12 Morales - Fight Reports
JUDGES TO BARRERA: SORRY ABOUT LAST TIME
Rematch fails to live up to hype
By Chris Bushnell
In boxing, rematches are tallied with big roman numerals (Holyfield-Tyson II, Ali-Frazier III, et. al.). But in the case of Barrera-Morales II, it would be more accurate to simply refer to the bout as Barrera-Morales Lite. Just like a watered down drink, this rematch had the look and smell of the real deal but only half the punch. Like the original, the fight featured dramatic shifts in momentum, a controversial “was-it-a-knockdown?” moment, and one of those special Las Vegas decisions that demands a return engagement. Unlike the Y2K Fight of the Year, however, the bout was plagued with long stretches of inactivity, much-deserved booing from the crowd, and an overwhelming sense of caution that betrayed the unusually vicious pre-fight banter. Barrera-Morales Lite may not have been an all-time classic fight, but it had its moments…
All expectations were that Barrera and Morales would go to war seconds after the opening bell sounded. After all, they had done so in their first meeting and two years of trash talking only seemed to stoke the hatred between these Mexican rivals. Once in the ring, however, all the machismo evaporated and the two featherweight powerhouses began a tactical boxing match. Maybe each man had planned on surprising the other by boxing around the brawl, and now both were shocked that the other wasn’t attacking. Or maybe they stood an arm’s length apart and suddenly remembered the pain and agony of their earlier war. Or maybe they were saving their energy for the later rounds. No matter what the reason, the bout started slow.
In the first round, Barrera began circling away from the taller Morales, and the WBC titlist was hesitant to follow too closely. When the fighters did get in range, they would exchange jabs upstairs or down before moving some more. Barrera landed a decent right hand by leaping in early the round and Morales clubbed Barrera’s noggin with power once later in the round. But that was about it in an unexpected feel-out round between two fighters who know each other quite well. Because Morales was the one coming forward, he banked the uneventful round in his column.
Barrera continued to move around the ring in the second round. At first it looked like he might be trying to bait Morales into walking into a punch as the Mexico City native clipped a jabbing Morales with a left uppercut and bloodied his nose. But it would be the only memorable punch of the round, as both fighters seemed to decide that the first round provided too much early contact. Barrera circled at will, keeping away from Morales’ long right hands and winning a nothing round with the uppercut.
The pace only barely picked up in the slow third round. Morales seemed prepared to use his height and jab to fend off a charging Barrera, but was caught off guard when Barrera opened the bout in near-retreat mode. As Barrera floated around the ring in the third, Morales was forced to fire first. Often in this round, he ended up being the one who lunged because Barrera was moving away so quickly. While not entirely fan-pleasing, Barrera’s strategy might have worked if he countered the off-balance Morales in these attacks. For whatever reason, Barrera either couldn’t or wouldn’t. He looked like a fighter struggling to warm up in the third. When he finally launched left uppercut, it sailed upwards with so little snap that Morales openly laughed at Barrera after the punch missed him.
If the third round was boring, the fourth was pure torture. Barrera continued to run away from Morales, who looked like he needed a breather from the track meet. Barrera managed to clip Morales with a light right hand, the only real punch thrown in the first half of this round. Morales tried to take away Barrera’s legs by jabbing to the body, and Barrera answered back with some belly shots of his own. The two traded downstairs jabs for most of the rest of the round. Morales had to be ruled the winner of this awful contest if for no other reason than he was coming forward and Barrera was retreating at every turn. Morales punctuated the round with a nice left hook to Barrera’s face. It wasn’t a particularly crunching blow, but it was enough to silence a crowd of 14,000 that had justifiably begun to boo.
The action picked up in the fifth round as both men landed big right hands in the first half of the round. Compared to the highlight-reel fifth round of Barrera-Morales I, this was a severe letdown. Barrera’s footwork began to slow slightly and Morales began to catch up with him more in the second half of the fifth. The taller Morales continued to diligently jab to the body, and pounded Barrera again with a big right hand after trapping him in a neutral corner. While Barrera calmly moved around the ring without throwing, he was on his way to giving away another round to Morales. Then, with ten seconds remaining in the round, the timekeeper sounded the clapper as he always does. Morales heard the clap and for some reason thought it was the bell. He dropped his hands and began turning to return to his corner. Barrera realized that the round was still going and jumped on his opponent. Morales barely had time to cover up as Barrera suddenly burst with energy and landed two blistering uppercuts and a left hook. Morales came out of his shell throwing, and for the final 10 seconds, the two fighters let it all hang out. The exchange woke up the crowd, and in many ways the fighters themselves. Morales earned the round on BoxingChronicle’s card, but Barrera no doubt stole it on several of the official judges’ sheets.
Barrera came out quickly in the sixth round, suddenly flowing with energy. Barrera still moved side to side, but held his ground more firmly as Morales stepped in to attack. Barrera timed Morales’ jab to the stomach perfectly, punishing Morales with a clean left uppercut to the chin each of the five times he attempted it. With Barrera more stationary, Morales was able to add in a few long right hands. The blows rocked Barrera’s head to the side, but he was not wobbled. The round was shaping up to be the fight’s most exciting, and most even, until Barrera slammed Morales with two big right hands. The punches came at the end of a clinch, and Barrera chopped into a bent-over Morales with each one. He followed a moment later with another sharp uppercut and a few body shots while Morales leaned on the ropes. Barrera had finally done his part to make this a fight, and the now-cheering fans were grateful.
Barrera came out throwing in the seventh, and quickly remembered how easy Morales was to hit. After only a few shots, the protruding cheekbones and eyebrows of Morales began to swell. One particularly beautiful Barrera right hand landed in the center of Morales’ forehead and pushed his head straight back. Throughout the incoming, Morales continued to fire jabs and rights to Barrera’s body. Late in the round, after Barrera had slowed a bit, Morales launched a long right hand. Barrera saw the punch coming and lifted his gloves up to his face. But the right was headed south, and it landed loud on Barrera’s left side. Barrera’s knees quaked, he took half a step back and fell to the canvas. Referee Jay Nady felt as though Barrera was off balance and had slipped. No knockdown. It was a questionable call, at best. After getting up, Barrera was back to moving, but showed the effects of the bodywork and was unable to glide completely away from Morales. El Terrible finished the round strong, adding in a series of long punches to the recovering Barrera.
Barrera needed to turn the fight around immediately. He didn’t get off to a great start in round eight. Morales opened the round by pumping his jab into Barrera’s mouth. The pace slowed again, with Barrera backing away and trying to catch Morales coming in. It was shaping up to be another uneventful round until Barrera unloaded on Morales with 15 seconds left on the clock. Morales was temporarily with his back to the ropes when all of a sudden Barrera opened up with a lightning fast double right hand followed by a left hook. The two rights landed loud on the center of Morales’ face. The hook opened a small but deep cut over Morales’ right eye, a nice match for the black mouse that had popped up underneath it. After the three-punch combo, Morales dove at Barrera and hugged his waist hard. Nady had to give hum a good tug to force the break, evidence that the punches hurt Morales. The sequence swung the round to Barrera.
Erik Morales’ corner spent so much time trying to stop the slow of blood from the cut that they didn’t really get a chance to ice the swelling on the bottom half of his eye. When round nine began, the bleeding had stopped, but the swelling had spread around to the side of Morales’ eye, which appeared to be nearly closed. With Morales visibly wounded, and overtly protecting the eye with a raised glove, Barrera fought with new passion. He quickly landed another left uppercut to Morales’ chin and then a big right hand. After each punch, a stunned Morales again grabbed on for dear life. After Nady forced a break, Barrera finally looked like himself and openly attacked Morales. Blood soon poured from Morales’ mouth as Barrera let both hands go in short, flush flurries. Morales fired back, landing several well-timed right hands. But he was the one moving backwards now, and the punches lacked the steam to slow a surging Barrera. If Morales’ eye wasn’t closed to open the round, it was slammed shut by the end. Unable to see the punches coming, Morales was getting hurt by Barrera’s onslaught, which included two more big shots near the bell that again forced Morales to clinch hard.
Going into round ten, Barrera seemed to have turned the tide. Although Morales likely retained a points lead, he was defenseless with his eye in such bad shape and seemed unable to last three more rounds. Barrera stormed out in the tenth to see what Morales had left and quickly ran right into Morales’ right hand. Morales was throwing the right with more than a little desperation, and he caught a careless Barrera with the punch a number of times. Barrera’s attack now stopped, and Morales returned to the body. Morales closed the round by focusing on Barrera’s ribs. At one point, Morales stepped hard into a navel-high jab and the punch hurt Barrera. He gingerly retreated as Morales came on to finish the round strong, nailing Barrera with one final right to the body as the bell rang. Just as Barrera was ready to claim the fight from a wounded Morales, the tables were turned again and it was Barrera who was stopped in his tracks.
The eleventh round was back to the slower pace of the early rounds, with each man looking to save a little something for the final stanza. Morales found Barrera with the right while Barrera’s own right started some fresh swelling over Morales’ good eye. It was a difficult-to-score round until the final seconds, when Barrera trapped Morales in a corner and nailed him with a short right hand. Again Morales grabbed Barrera’s waist and hung on for dear life.
Barrera needed to win the final round to salvage a draw on the Boxing Chronicle scorecard. His corner told him that he needed a knockout to win. He tried his best. Barrera came out in the final round and did more damage to Morales than he had in the previous eleven rounds combined. Barrera crushed Morales’ cheek with a hook in the opening seconds, and Morales again tried to clinch. Barrera was free swinging now, and landed two more blows that wobbled Morales. Morales would try unsuccessfully to grab onto Barrera for much of this round, while Marco Antonio was coming at him with both hands flying. With breaks only to comply with Jay Nady’s request for a break, Barrera hammered Morales from one side of the ring to the other. Morales was shaken by a several of Barrera’s punches, but he would no go down. When the bell sounded to end the one-sided carnage, a battered Morales shot his hands in the air. Barrera turned and causally walked back to his corner, hands down.
It appeared to be a sure-fire win for Erik Morales, even though the Boxing Chronicle scorecard read 114-114. Despite the fact that Morales looked like he had been in a car accident while Barrera was virtually unmarked, the Barrera-inflicted damage was confined to just several rounds. Barrera also won a couple of rounds that he was otherwise losing with bruising exchanges that hurt Morales. So when Michael Buffer announced scores of 116-112 and 115-113 twice, everyone assumed that Morales’ early lead had held up.
But boxing’s kangaroo court handed down another bizarre verdict, giving Barrera the unanimous decision. Morales couldn’t believe it. Tears running down his face, he stormed out of the ring in disgust. He would return moments later to prove his sportsmanship. The loss was his first defeat, blemishing his sterling record to a still-incredible 41-1/31. He now loses the WBC featherweight title (which Barrera refused to accept) and a likely showdown with Paulie Ayala. On the other hand, he probably gets a nice tune-up and then a big money third chapter with Barrera.
And so, Barrera won the first fight but lost the decision and lost the second fight but earned the decision. Can you say “rubber match?” Barrera-Morales III seems like a foregone conclusion. After all, both fighters have something to prove. Not only to each other… but to the fans.
Marco Antonio Morales
by Robert Ecksel
Victory comes in all shapes and sizes. So does losing. This is true of basketball, baseball, hockey and football. It might even be true of golf and tennis. Each of these sports can on occasion deliver thrills to their loyal fans, but the narrative which travels from game to game is rarely the subject of extremity. Whereas boxing, as we well know, specializes in extremes. Boxing is extremity in action, action in extremis. Maybe it’s not fair to compare any contest to something as deadly serious as the sweet science. But boxing, perhaps by design, perhaps by default, occupies the same virgin territory as the ball-centered pastimes just alluded to.
Hot on the heels of Lewis-Tyson, one week before the heat of Klitschko-Mercer, two Lords of the Ring met last night and a swell time wasn’t had by all. The most recent installment of fight for your life was beamed from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas and showcased the talents of Marco Antonio Barrera and Eric Morales. These scrappers might campaign as featherweights, but there’s nothing small-time about these pugilists. Men’s men, giants at their craft, Barrera and Morales are the kind of gents who’d rather ruin lives than simply live them.
Most of the commentary preceding this fight focused on the differences between our two warriors. (One would have thought that ‘the differences between the two warriors’ routine would have been played out before the showdown in Memphis.) Extra attention was paid to the featherweight superstars’ respective backgrounds. Eric Morales was born south of the border dirt poor in Tijuana. Marco Antonio Barrera was born into the upper middle-class comforts of Mexico City. (Or as Morales reminded us: "Kill a guy from the capital. Do something good for your country.") El Terrible began boxing in a gym above a whorehouse. Barrera, in keeping with his socio-economic good standing, began boxing in a gym where the words low blow had a different meaning.
Differences may exist between Srs. Barrera and Morales, but their similarities are even more striking. Naturally, both men are prizefighters. Naturalmente, both men are Mexican. Their heights and weights are about the same. So too is their marquee value. But the ultimate similarity between Marco Antonio Barrera and Eric Morales is that each fighter won a fight against the other which the Ray Charles judges handed to the loser.
Ordinary men live ordinary lives and it’s no crime to be chummy with desperation. Even those for whom success is a given, a proven fact, even those whose accomplishments exceed the norm of expectation, must be considered, in a CyberBoxingZone context, as runners-up, as also-rans, as contenders versus the glorification of the prizefighter.
Imperfect though they may be, Marco Antonio Barrera and Eric Morales are cats who’ve striven for immortality in the midst of mere mortals. These caballeros both quantify and qualify the world’s finite possibilities, as they knock our conventional aspirations down and out of contention. Of course, it’s all relative. The humdrum cadavers we’ll eventually become because of fate or nonchalance or carelessness or neglect may simply be an expression of the live fast, play hard, and leave a beautiful corpse ethos. But no matter how wild and crazy our lives might be or might have been or may yet become, they can’t hold a candle to the klieg light of life lived battling as a prizefighter. We may risk bankruptcy and disgrace and ignominy and ruin through the repetition of daily life, but boxers, our celebrated inverse role models, defy odds as they defy death as though it were a walk in the park.
Maligned harbingers of the belly of the beast though they may indeed be, boxers still hold pride of place in a cultural landscape beset by contradiction. We personally might not have chosen to sock other men or be rocked in return. Our desire to drop our foes is usually the province of language, the childlike ABCs, the world where actions speak not louder than words. Whereas the professional puncher, he who lets his fists do the talking in the silence of sublime cruelty, sets new standards for confrontation, relinquishes the old standard peace treaty, dissolves the comprehensible like a lump of sugar in a cup of simmering java.
We’ve grown to expect the unexpected from the fight game, just as we’ve learned to expect the unexpected from life. Bad decisions (i.e. official corruption) have become as commonplace as blood from a clash of heads. We no longer get upset or worked up or care or concern ourselves with the constant backdoor shenanigans. But as round blends into round, fight into fight, year after inexorable year, as some men are invigorated and others destroyed by the sacrificial rites within the squared circle, it sometimes feels as if our beloved boxing, the undisputed king of sport, willfully assembled a pick-up team comprised of Dale Earnhardt and Tony Canigliaro and Brian Piccolo and Darryl Strawberry and Tonya Harding and O.J. Simpson and Mike Tyson.
With the world aflame and reality a tragic farce of epic dimensions, have we any right to expect that boxing, dominatrix of the outer reaches of civilization, should be any different? The answer is, and will always be, an emphatic and unequivocal YES.
robert.ecksel@gte.net
June 22, 2002
Frazza W10 Watts
Frazza Wails on Watts; Wins NE title
By JD Vena
REVERE, MA – Coming off a disappointing split decision lossin his home state this past November, might have saddened some faces, but Jeff “The Hellraza” Frazza made a trimphant return to the ring last night that summoned smiles. In front of his supportive fiery friends from his hometown of Haverhill, Frazza shook off nearly 7 months of ringrust and shook up cross-state rival “Cocky” Kevin Watts of South Boston over 10 one-sided rounds to win his most significant fight of his career and the vacant New England jr. welterweight title at the Wonderland Ballroom last night. Frazza, 139 ½, who had made a slow start in his last fight a split decision loss to Andre Baker of North Carolina (who drew with South Boston’s Jim LeBlanc in the co-feature), didn't waste any time pressing the action throughout the exciting battle. Watts, 138 ¼, on the other hand was tardy on delivering his shots and allowed the stronger Frazza to begin and end nearly all of the exchanges. All three judges favored Frazza by marks of 98-91, 97-92 and 99-90.
The fight was to have originally taken place a month ago until Frazza suffered broken ribs from sparring with Micky Ward, but Frazza not only recovered from the injury, he looked better than he has ever looked.
Things just weren’t going well for Watts, now 16-2 (5 KO’s) who was cut over the left eye in the first round from what could have been a head butt. Even when Watts was able to plant his feet and throw, he wasn’t able to keep the determined Frazza at a comfortable range or do enough to steal rounds. Watts was more comfortable holding Frazza on the inside as a way of keeping himself from getting hit, and it cost him in the 9th when referee Ed Fitzgerald deducted a point as a result. It was simply Frazza’s night, who improved to 11-2 with 6 KO’s. Though it appeared months ago that he might not have the ability to compete with a world class fighter, last night’s performance proved that he may possess the fire required to diffuse some of the other up and comers of the jr. welterweight division.
In other bouts:
Jeff Jones, 206, of Brockton, MA TKO1 Dan Veskovic, 211 ½, Massachusetts
Martin Thornton, 163, of Dorchester, MA NC3 (bad cut) James “Rocky” McCray, Philadelphia, PA
Knowledge Bey, 209, Syracuse, NY W4 Steve Scigliano, Quincy, MA.
Jose Ortiz, 146, West Springfield, MA D4 Larry Green, Haverhill, MA
Jimmy LeBlanc, 144, South Boston, MA D6 Andre Baker, Lumberton, NC
Last night’s Mohegan Sun Fight Night card will be broadcasted on Fox SportsNet New England on Sunday, June 30th at 3:30 PM.
Promoter – Cappiello Promotions
June 21, 2002
Bert Sugar on Morales vs. Barrera
Bert Sugar and "Schoolboy" Steve Small have joined foces to provide an exclusive technical breakdown of the upcoming Barrera vs. Morales Featherwieght Match. read what they have to say then make your pick.
June 20, 2002
Welcome to Palookaville
by Robert Ecksel
When Leon Spinks beat Ali their first time around in 1978, when Larry Holmes put some serious hurt on Muhammad in 1980, when Trevor Berbick brought down the curtain on The Greatest’s career in 1981, I was a baby psychologically, king of the kindergarten, master of a teensy-weensy universe, but I was aware enough of the world around me, and Muhammad Ali’s place in it, to know that something real had died, that a big-league icon had fallen, that an era like none other had ground to a halt.
It’s been little more than a week since Lennox Lewis quashed Mike Tyson, soulful days spent nitpicking, another epoch is kaput. It wasn’t as though Mike Tyson was the end-all and be-all of existence. Nor that he was the greatest heavyweight in history. But Mike Tyson held the spotlight as effectively as Jack Johnson, Jack Dempsey, Joe Louis, Rocky Marciano and Ali. Which is not to say that Iron Mike was or was not their equal in and/or out of the ring. But Iron Mike Tyson was a media sensation. He was a man right in sync with his empty era.
What happened to Mike Tyson at The Pyramid on June 8 is no laughing matter. There's nothing funny about witnessing a man belittled. Many believe Iron Mike got what he deserved. Many felt that Tyson had it coming. But Mike Tyson - the heavyweight champion of trash talk - a pug who could offend almost everyone - was a man, is a man who has dignity and pride in fistfuls.
His defeat at the hands of Lennox Lewis was an appalling bit of retribution, one man paying for all of our crummy sins. Fight fans around the world eyeballed boxing as grotesque as it was not reciprocal. Just because one was a Tyson-hater didn’t make one a Lewis-lover. All of our feelings toward Tyson (and toward Lennox Lewis) were too tangled for easy answers. But Mike Tyson, of his own doing, of his own crazy choosing, came to exemplify so much that is wrong with the world, so much that is wrong with boxing, so much that is wrong with no restraint. The man may have inspired scorn and envy and loathing and thrill in equal measure. Yet the same man, Michael Gerard Tyson from Brownsville, Brooklyn, The Catskills, New York, America, The World, was always evolving, was always devolving, he became a mirror for our sorry delusions.
To see a prizefighter flat on his back, barely conscious and bleeding from his orifices is not a sight for sore eyes. The grueling beating Tyson absorbed wasn’t just an example of a boxer outsmarting a mere puncher. No, what we witnessed was deeper, darker than that. Mike Tyson responded to the call of the wild. He gorged in an orgy of incomprehension. With our brewskies and party favors and our congenital blood-thirstiness, we sat back and savored what became a rerun from Raging Bull. Jake LaMotta, to prove some pointless point that only made sense in a realm of senselessness, let Sugar Ray Robinson beat the shit out of him, so that after 15 Jake could mumble through swollen lips, almost as if to himself: "Hey, Ray, I never went down, man! You never got me down, Ray! You hear me, you never got me down." Although Lennox Lewis did indeed finally bring Mike Tyson down, the same masochistic spirit that inspired Jake LaMotta inspired Mike Tyson. It was like Jake and Mike were bad boys who needed to be punished.
But weren’t we punished, as well? We might not have been black and blue. We might not have needed stitches above both eyes or cotton in our noses. But we were hurting. We too had suffered. After all, we had ringside seats at a blood-spattered execution. What joy was there watching a human humiliated, homo sapiens beaten to a pulp? Few folks hoped Tyson would recapture the crown. But even fewer were the people who derived much pleasure from seeing a man so dramatically diminished. Lennox might have been pulling the wings off a fly for all the meaning the bout engendered.
Perhaps we’re beyond feeling sorry for Mike Tyson. But Mike Tyson, like it or not, notice it or not, is a brother, a kindred spirit, a fellow traveler on all our dreamy journeys, he is us, and we, at the end of time, are Mike Tyson.
robert.ecksel@gte.net
June 20, 2002
Gerry Cooney Comeback at BoxOpera 3 on July 11
June 20, 2002
WCOB Weekend Preview
Weekend Preview: Mexican fury in Las Vegas
Barrera and Morales meet again for honour and rank 1
by Kris Van de Velde
It took over 2 years but this Saturday Mexican ring stars Marco Antonio Barrera (#2, v1800) and Erik Morales (#5, v1200) are finally facing each other again in a long-anticipated rematch at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Their classic first fight concluded with a narrow points victory for Morales, but quite a few observers thought the more aggressive Barrera deserved the verdict. In any case, Barrera did not suffer a lot from that third loss in his career, as he went on to rise in the people's esteem by easily outpointing British hot shot Naseem Hamed last year. On the contrary, Morales had two rather disappointing performances against In Jin Chi and Guty Espadas in 2001, and people are wondering whether El Terrible is still as strong as before the first Barrera fight. Morales will surely need to be at his peak this weekend, because the controversy surrounding the decision in the previous encounter might not be beneficial for him, if the fight would again turn out to be close.
Whether the rematch will be just as spectacular remains to be seen. There's been a lot of hype preceeding this contest, emphasizing the existing rivalry between Mexico City - Barrera's native soil - and Tijuana - Morales' neighbourhood. Yet both protagonists have been out of the ring for a while. Barrera had his last bout in September last year, Morales had his as long as eleven months ago. One could thus expect a bit of ring rust initially.
Since the start of WCOB in January, the prolonged inactivity of the two alleged best featherweights in the world has provided the opportunity for others to take centre stage. Johnny Tapia, for instance, is currently leading both the 2002 World Cup series as WCOB's total ranking. In the latter, Morales has even dropped from second to fifth over the past few months. However, the winner of Morales-Barrera II will rather easily overtake Tapia and co again.
There's a very interesting bout on the undercard, too. It features two unbeaten WBO titlists squaring off against one another: Super flyweight champ Pedro Alcazar (#5, v1200) versus stylish flyweight Fernando Montiel (#5, v1200 at 118 lbs). It has everything to become a cracker on its own and the winner will become second to Alex Munoz in the 2002 WCup competition at super flyweight, as well as top 3 in the overall ranking.
On Friday, another high-ranked Mexican featherweight is making his second ring appearance of the year. Juan Manuel Marquez (#6, v1000) is currently fifth in the World Cup with 306 points, but will not improve a lot with a fight against #95 Hector Marquez (v15) at the Orleans Casino in Las Vegas.
An OPBF title bout at super welter takes place in Osaka, Japan, on Friday. It puts undefeated Australian Nader Hamdan (#37, v241) opposite Nobuhiro Ishida (#59, v115) and the winner will climb up to anywhere near rank 25 in WCOB's total ranking.
WORLD CUP OF BOXING
http://www.worldcupofboxing.com/
June 20, 2002
Nagase Retains Japanese Welter Title by Joe Koizumi
June 18, 2002
TOKYO, JAPAN-Underdog Teruo Nagase (21-5-2, 12 KOs), 147, impressively kept his Japanese welter belt as he landed many right crosses to WBA #10 ranked taller jabber Hiroyuki Maeda (24-7-2, 14 KOs), 147, and withstood his last surge to earn a split but well-received decision over 10 heats at the Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan.
Scored: 97-95 and 98-95 for Nagase, and 96-95 for Maeda, ex-national 135-pound and 140-pound champ, who failed to win his third different class title.
Nagase, making his third defense, had shown lackluster performances in his last two bouts, barely retaining it by a controversial nod over Motoki Sasaki and a draw with Yoshiaki Takenaka, so Maeda, despite a 10-month layoff due to a hand injury, was favored to capture the national title. But Nagase, a stocky puncher, was in command in the second through 8th, when he almost toppled the prefight favorite with solid right shots.
Maeda displayed his determination by landing good uppercuts to dominate the last two sessions, which was not enough to overcome his early deficits on points. It’s an upset result.
Undercard:
Japanese #5 feather Motokazu Abe (9-0-1, 7 KOs), 126, sank Thai #3 feather Thongcharoen Ausuwannasilp (9-7, 1 KO), 126, with a countering right at 3:10 of the 7th round. A haymaker was landed just at the bell.
Promoter: Kenji Yonekura’s Yonekura Promotions.
June 20, 2002
Budd Shulberg on Tyson-Lewis
Budd Shulberg on Tyson-Lewis
June 20, 2002
Record for Erik Morales
Record for Erik Morales
June 20, 2002
Record of Marco A. Barrerra
Record of Marco A. Barrerra
June 17, 2002
Satake kayos Park by Joe Koizumi
WBC #10 SATAKE KEEPS OPBF 140-POUND BELT BY 8TH ROUND KO OF KOREAN PARK
June 16, 2002, AKASHI, JAPAN-WBC #10 ranked elusive southpaw Masakazu Satake (16-2-4, 9 KOs), 140, kept his OPBF 140-pound belt as he impressively utilized his excellent reflexes in averting the constant attack of Korean champ Hwangyoung Park (12-3, 11 KOs), 140, and finished him with a single right hook to the bottom at 2:05 of the 8th round in Akashi, Japan.
Satake, making his 7th defense, made best use of his vaunted footwork and had the Korean hard-puncher missing almost all punches, piling up points with sharp counters. The 8th saw Satake connect with a countering southpaw right hook to the other lefty, Park, who fell and barely stood up wobblingly only to be counted out by the third man.
Satake, in his 7th defense, raised his stock by lopsidedly beating ex-Japanese champ Rick Yoshimura Roberts (who had kept his national title 22 times) into retirement last March. If Satake should fight and display his incredible reflexes based on his career as a basketball player in the US, he might be able to attract US aficionados with his remarkable agility.
Promoter: Kinya Yoshida’s Akashi Promotions.
Matchmaker: Joe Koizumi.
June 16, 2002
Lennox Lewis Retires!
by Robert Ecksel
No. Not really. Not yet. Just kidding. Just wishful thinking. Just hoping for the best. But after watching the champion take Mike Tyson apart at The Pyramid, after watching and/or reading about a number of top-notch pugilists who ended up down and out, we urge Lennox Lewis, with the utmost respect and gratitude, to hang ‘em up and get on with other things.
The Saturday night massacre was, as the champ put it, "a defining fight for Lennox Lewis’ legacy. You could say it’s the icing on Lennox Lewis’ cake." And so it was. Happy Birthday. Congratulations. We wish you well. We wish you a long and healthy life. And although our hopes for your well-being are heartfelt and sincere, it all adds up to one big zero if you insist on fighting.
Not every man you’ll meet in the future will be a pushover like Mike Tyson. Not every pug you’re likely to fight will show you the respect - or be hobbled by the crippling self-doubt - you encountered Saturday night in Iron Mike. Hungrier men with the same dreams you had are gunning for Lennox Lewis and have you in their sights. They know your history. Everyone has heard of Oliver McCall and Hasim Rahman. We needn’t waste our breath telling you one squeeze of the trigger is all it takes. Whichever sharpshooter gives it his best shot, whichever country or continent or corral he comes from, your next rival may catch you unawares and he might put you down, he might ice you, he might turn you into a trophy for his den.
Although they are few and far between, you wouldn’t be the first prizefighter to quit while he was ahead. We’ve grown accustomed to the norm: an aging champion fights past his prime and is rocked by guys he used to eat for breakfast. We love the cats who give their blood, sweat and tears to the sweet science. What we do not love, and in fact fear, is that monsters are trying to kill you - and sooner or later they will succeed.
You’ve been lucky so far. Only a couple of one-hit wonders ever starched you. Your cautious/thoughtful nature, your cautious/thoughtful ring-style, while never scintillating, has saved you from a pounding. We're glad you’ve not been beaten up. With a little luck, that will never happen to Lennox Lewis. But if you choose to play this game which is never play and not a game, if you decide, as we’ve decided, that you’re as good as any man out there, and decide, as we have not decided, that you can beat back every challenge, we suggest you prepare for the worst as we have prepared for the worst, with regret, with apprehension, with dread.
Admittedly, there’s no one on the horizon who looks too menacing. The one pug who could give you trouble, the troubled Ike Ibeabuchi, sexually assaulted an escort and is locked-down on anti-psychotics. The other contenders for your crown, while all are gifted, appear unequal to stealing your title. Evander Holyfield and the Klitschkos and Chris Byrd and Kirk Johnson are anything but knockabouts. One of them might just pop you from your perch. These gentlemen desperately want what you alone possess. Why risk upending your triumph?
Boxing history is littered with men who failed to get out while the getting was good. The exceptional Muhammad Ali is a prime example. Joe Louis is another. Sugar Ray Robinson another still. Even Commander Vander, everyone’s favorite warrior’s warrior, is a thirty-nine year young miracle worker, just a few years older than Lennox Lewis, and he flirts with danger every time he flirts with destiny. Like The Greatest and The Brown Bomber and Sugar Ray and The Real Deal and too many other pugs of genius to name, time is not on your side.
You are still young enough, smart enough, wealthy enough, to say goodbye to the fight game without regret and get on with the rest of your life. Few are the men who have the nerve to bail while they’re on top. These gents are the rarities, the exceptions to the rule. To turn your back on what has been good to you and you so good to it takes guts of gold. Why be carried from the ring when you can walk away of your own volition?
We concur when you contend, "It’s been a great long road and I finally completed what I wanted to do." We accept your assertion, "I just wanted to complete my legacy." We second that emotion when you profess, "I just wanted to prove to people that I’m the best fighter in the world, the best on the planet." We even raise a toast to your analogy, "I’m like fine wine, this is my time."
But Lennox, we love you like a brother and don’t want to see you hurt. Fine wine you may indeed be, but don’t get drunk on your own vintage hubris. Fine wine should be sipped, not gulped, savored, not abused. And even though the best grape comes to life in a vintner’s cellar, the last place we want to see you is in a room where it’s cold and it’s dark and it’s quiet. So please, Lennox Lewis, just retire, get out while you can. There’s nothing left to prove. There’s nothing left in boxing to accomplish. Your achievements are huge and will never be forgotten. There’s no fight out there that will exalt you more than you are exalted at this very moment.
robert.ecksel@gte.net
June 15, 2002
New England Chatta - By JD Vena
Well, time is drawring neah and on July 27th, we’ll find out what happens when John “The Quietman" Ruiz fights someone othah than Evandah Holyfield. The proud Pawtah Rican from Las Vegas (via Chelsea, MA) makes his second defense of his WBA title, the one Lennox Lewis withdrew in lieu of fighting Ruiz against the awginization’s numbah one contendah, Kirk Johnson. As predicted a few months ago, yaw writah still likes Ruiz in this one, not because Johnson, like my ex-girlfriend is from Nover Scotier, but because Ruiz has the tools necessary to defeat him. You haven’t been able to see these tools in Ruiz’ last three pahfawmances because he was fighting an undahrated old man named Holyfield, who a few weekends ago proved against Hasim Rahman that he is still a very much fawce in the division.
“So many people have asked us if we think Johnny is so good then why couldn’t he knock out a 39-year old Holyfield,” said Nahmin Stone, the vocal managah of Ruiz. “My ansah to them is, fight him! See faw yaself how good he still is. I was telling everyone how easy he was going to beat Rahman who knocked Lewis out cold last yeah.”
So why was it difficult faw Ruiz to look like a world beatah against Holyfield? Because Lennox Lewis didn’t even look like one when he decisioned Holyfield in November of ’99. Looking back, most felt that Holyfield won at least 5 rounds and had he possessed enough nitro in the tank could have pulled out a couple maw. At 39, Holyfield can still fight, just not as often as it would be necessary to best a giant like Lennox Lewis who fights too defensive-minded faw Holyfield. If you try to take Holyfield out you pose a significant risk as Lewis and Ruiz found out when they tried to become maw aggressive. Against Holyfield, Ruiz wasn’t able to move Holyfield backwids with the jab to set up his punches because Holyfield doesn’t back up – he slips and countas you to death. Ruiz had to adapt and shahp-shoot Holyfield with his undahrated jab and smothah him on the inside. As a result, we had a numbah of dull and ugly moments in theah 3-fight series.
Against Johnson, expect Ruiz to move Johnson backwids with his jab and set up a combination that knocks Johnson out within 8 rounds. Ultimately, as I had mentioned months back, Ruiz and Holyfield will gahnah respect by not fighting each othah.
In the next few weeks, boxing hits New England for some interesting fights. On Friday, June 21st at the Wondahland Ballroom in Reveah, Cappiello Promotions has set up a battle for the vacant New England jr. welterweight title. No, the combatants won’t be “Irish” Micky Wahd and “Sucra” Ray Oliveira as some, including myself have dreamed about. But the match-up is still intriguing.
“Cocky” Kevin Watts (16-1, 5 KO’s) of South Boston will face Jeff “The Hellraza” Frazza (10-2, 6 KO’s). The bout was to have originally taken place last month until Frazza had his ribs busted by Micky Wahd who was then preparing faw Gatti.
Like Wahd and Gatti, the Watts-Frazza match-up is a throwback match-up of Italian versus Irish heritage and guarantees excitement. On the undercard, prospects Aaron “Two Gun” Torres (9-1, 5 KO’s), the Philadelphian now fighting out of Brockton and Jimmy LeBlanc (9-1) of South Boston ah both slated to appeah in separate attractions. Faw maw infamation or faw tickets call (508) 587-5554 or (508) 587-3370.
The following Friday night (the 28th), two of the Boston areas’ most populah fightis, will engage in separate attractions in what Rhode Island promotah Jimmy Burchfield is billing as the “Battle at the Castle.” The historic Castle at the Park Plaza Hotel in Boston, will play host to an exciting 7-bout cahd. In the main event, Paz nemesis, “Dangerous” Dana Rosenblatt (37-1-1, 23 KO’s) of Malden, fully recovid from his injured shouldah will try to work off the ring rust against Colombian National Champion, Juan Cahlos Vilawria (Ed note: Juan Carlos Viloria). Vilawria (23-16-1, 13 KO’s) has been in with tough competition, including WBC super-middleweight champion Eric Lucas and WBA cruisahweight champion Gene-Mahc Mawmeck (Ed note: Jean-Marc Mormeck) of France.
In the co-feachah, the likable Richie “The Mountain” LaMontange (25-4-1, 20 KO’s) of Everett, MA will take on veteran journeyman Aht Jimmahsin (Ed note: Art Jimmerson) in a 10-round battle for the EBA cruisahweight title. LaMontange, who is rated #2 by the NABF, could be in position to fight for the title should he defeat Jimmahsin. Othah popular local fightahs, including Bubba Conway (2-0, 1 KO) of South Boston, Mike Culbert (25-4-1, 6 KO’s) of Brockton and Joey Spina (4-0, 3 KO’s) of Providence ah scheduled to appeah. Fah ticket info call (401) 724-2253.
Don’t ask why but on the same night, Doug Pendahvis (Ed note: Pendarvis) hosts a 6-bout show at the Roseland Ballroom in Taunton. Sweden’s Tonton Semakala (12-0, 4 KO’s) faces ever-tough Tommy Attahdo (10-8-1, 2 KO’s) of South Boston. Facing tough undefeated talent is nothing new to the light-hitting Attahdo (Ed note: Attardo), who has even gone up three weight classes to fight Olympian Jeff Lacy, but a month ago Attahdo did the unthinkable - he knocked out an opponent. Look faw Attahdo to have maw confidence faw this encountah. Semakala has a shaky chin and if Attahdo is on, he could pull off an upset. Wusstah (Ed note: Worcester) cruisahweights Roy “The House of” Payne (13-11-4, 6 KO’s) and Adam Harris (4-0, 4 KO’s) will also appeah in two of the othah 4 fights. Fah ticket info, call (617) 825-3283.
Recently, Hahtfid light-heavyweight “Iceman” John Scully, was hit with some disturbing news. No Joey DeGrandis didn’t retire – not yet anyway. Scully had aspirations of playing volleyball with some of the bunnies at Hugh Heffnah’s Playboy Mansion, but US Olympian Lawrence Clay-Bey, who is trained by Scully will not be fighting there on the July 9th ESPN show as expected. Accawding to Scully, Foxwoods and/aw ESPN has a written rule, which states that you cannot fight 45 days prior to the day you ah scheduled to fight. Clay-Bey is already penciled in faw an August 3rd bout at Foxwoods against an opponent to be named.
June 11, 2002
Say What! of the Week: Buster Douglas, Movie Star
June 10, 2002
Who Drugged Mike Tyson?
by Robert Ecksel
Now that the cheers and jeers and brickbats and smirks have returned to their place of origin; now that the smoke has cleared, now that the dust has settled; now that the remains of a former heavyweight champion have been dumped in a roadside receptacle; perhaps now that blessed silence has returned, we can consider the full extent of what we witnessed Saturday night at The Pyramid.
Admittedly, Mike Tyson looked bad, real bad, no, make that absolutely awful, dreadful, terrible, the worst, during his feeble challenge for the heavyweight title. Some of us who’ve been following Mike’s career for almost twenty years didn’t really expect anything else. But as rotten as Tyson has looked since he emerged from the joint, as woeful and pathetic and disengaged as he appeared against Peter McNeeley, Bruce Selden, Franz Botha, Orlin Norris and Brian Nielsen, Mike Tyson has never ever appeared as clueless as he appeared on June 8 in Memphis, Tennessee.
Except only once before.
We have to go back in time, way back in time to that day in the life and career of Iron Mike Tyson that he, and every lover of the fight game, has spent years trying to forget. Picture it: Mike Tyson and his spanking new bride, the smart as a fox Robin Givens, in a sit-down with Baba Wawa on ABC’s 20/20. That was the ignoble moment Iron Mike was put down, shot down, stripped of his dignity by a blabbing bride with a hunger to humiliate. That night Givens made some unsubstantiated claims (no doubt with an eye on their future divorce) which showed Mike Tyson in the worst possible light.
That marital moment, that martial moment, might have been the nadir of Mike Tyson’s trajectory. It was certainly the beginning of the end. Even though Mike had not yet been beaten in the ring - that was just around the corner - he was smacked around on national TV by a flyweight named Robin Givens. That was one night Mike Tyson didn’t fight back. It may have been the only time in his short, tumultuous life when Mike behaved like a pacifist. The problem with Tyson and Givens and Barbara Walters, we later found out, was that Tyson had been drugged, ostensibly for his own good, with a medical cocktail prepared by a honeymooner from hell.
Remember Tyson that evening? While Givens bitched and moaned and griped and whined and did all but castrate the heavyweight champion, Mike Tyson sat there stone-faced, he sat there like a bump on a log. He was expressionless. He was immobile. He was a zombie in the outer limits. To be fair, Robin Givens only called Mike Tyson a wife-beater and cur, a vicious animal and psychopath and manic-depressive. No doubt at her lawyer’s urging, Robin kept the really bad stuff to herself. But Robin Givens could have called Mike Tyson every name in the book that night with the legendary Baba Wawa. Tyson appeared to be man enough to endure any and every slight, every low blow, every slur, every aspersion cast on his character. Tyson looked like wallpaper or office furniture or a house plant. Mike Tyson did nothing - because he was too zonked to do anything. He was too doped-up on Thorazine or Paxil or Prozac or Valium or Effexor or Zoloft or Lithium or whatever Robin slipped him to raise a hand, or to even raise an objection. A low-rent Hollywood actress fed Mike some pharm-illogical substance that had turned the baddest man on the planet into the most passive man on earth. Mike Tyson? Passive? You had to see it to believe it. He was shockingly inert, and little else, against Robin Givens on ABC. And he was passivity itself in his "fight" with Lennox Lewis on June 8, 2002.
Now that the tears of joy and/or tears of sorrow have dried on our rosy cheeks, now that Mike Tyson has been knocked out of contention forever, now that we have a quiet minute far from the madness of civilization, it’s the perfect time to ask an important question: Who Drugged Mike Tyson?
This question isn’t asked to create controversy, nor voiced in the hope of creating buzz. Since most people have their heads up their ass, what difference would it make, anyway? We ask because we love boxing. We ask because we want answers. We ask because we want an explanation for Mike Tyson’s willingness to take such a ugly beating. At least when Tyson lost to Buster Douglas in 1990, he fought back, knocked Douglas to the canvas, and even after Iron Mike was floored for good, one eye closed, a broken pug with no illusions, Tyson, crawling on all fours, fumbled for his mouthpiece, put it between his jaws, so he could rise and continue fighting. This man, be he a winner or a loser, is the man we know as Mike Tyson.
Or consider his two bouts with Evander Holyfield in 1996 and 1997. The first fight was Holyfield’s night as he bullied and manhandled the former champion. But Tyson didn’t quit. He was knocked down midway through and beat the count to give it his best shot. If the ref hadn’t stopped the fight when he did, Tyson would probably still be gunning for Holyfield. Even during the two men’s second bout - where Tyson "snapped" and bit both The Real Deal’s ears - Mike showed us a desperate character, but a character who refused to say die.
Which brings us to the impossibly gross conclusion to the Saturday night massacre. It wasn’t only that Lennox is at the top of his game and Tyson is on the skids, nor that Lennox’s height and reach trumped anything Tyson had to offer. No, something else was going on. Something was seriously amiss. Something was wrong with Iron Mike Tyson. Since we were locked out of the closed door meetings preceding the fight, it’s our responsibility to blow the lid on what went down.
A few weeks ago Mike Tyson was photographed by paparazzi and he was flabby and out of shape. He had no handle on his love handles and he was smoking a doobie like some refugee from Woodstock. Then, almost overnight, Team Tyson threw open the doors to the media . . . and there he stood: A fit, trim, cut and developed Mike Tyson who was cruising for bruising. We can’t help but honor a man who can change his body in the blink of eye. We also can’t help but wonder which steroids spurred this radical transformation.
Although these banned substances have their place when it comes to building muscle, in the squared circle, when there is ritual and rules and regulations to temper the animal instincts, this junk can only drive a pugilist batty. Which, as we know, is Mike Tyson’s cross to bear; and boxing’s goal to avoid. After the Melee at the Millennium in Manhattan where Tyson exploded and bit the leg of Lennox Lewis, after Team Tyson hit the road in a frenzied search for a place to stage a prizefight, after the fighters weighed-in separately, after a wall of men stretched diagonally across the ring to create a barrier between Mike Tyson and Lennox Lewis, why leave to chance any possibility that Tyson might flip and begin fouling? The powers that be were plenty aware of the dangers that shadow Mike Tyson. But unlike us, who don’t have Tyson’s ear, who can’t threaten to withhold his priceless paycheck, these men in black understand there are forces that pack more punch than Mike Tyson or Lennox Lewis. After all, there’s MONEY to consider. No doubt this is the argument that was used to convince Mike Tyson to take his medicine like a man.
One needn’t be a conspiracy buff or a champion of Lee Harvey Oswald to know that something stinks in the state of Denmark. There is nothing most people won’t do for money, there’s no level to which most people won’t sink. And boxing, not surprisingly, where testosterone flows as freely as water, with its glorified half-wits clinging desperately to power, is more susceptible to shenanigans than most activities. Considering Tyson’s indebtedness, his explosiveness and his catalogue of vulnerabilities - considering all the greenbacks at stake - it’s completely reasonable to assume there was hanky-panky behind the scenes. (When isn’t there hanky-panky behind the scenes?) We won’t hold our breath for someone to step forward and confess that he slipped Mike Tyson a Mickey. But what we witnessed prior to and at The Pyramid in Memphis simply does not compute. Tyson was a man-eater one minute, a lamb led to slaughter the next. (After the fight, Tyson tenderly wiped a drop of blood from Lennox’s brow? After his loss, Tyson kissed the champion’s mother lovingly on the cheek?) This radical split was one of two things: It was either Dr. Jeckyl/Mr. Hyde in gloves and satin trunks or an example of better living through chemistry. Either way, the fight was a debacle. Either way, the sport of boxing needs to take a step back and take a good long hard look at itself and consider where the sweet science is headed. After the obligatory trip to the safety deposit box, the fight game’s next stop might just be to hell in a handbasket.
robert.ecksel@gte.net
June 10, 2002
Ring Officials Schedule Training Camp
The International Professional Ring Officials ("IPRO") group has scheduled its convention and training seminars for Saturday, August 17th in Seattle, Washington.
IPRO offers intensive training for professional boxing officials.
IPRO has established a training camp environment for professional boxing officials who want to improve their skills. "We believe that better officials make for better boxing and we need to be accountable for our actions. It's not enough for a referee to just have knowledge of the rules and good ring movement. He's got to receive training from doctors so he can recognize the danger signs of concussions and head injury to protect the health and safety of the fighters. Our goal is to establish consistent training and the evaluation and grading of boxing officials at the same level that exists in the NFL, NBA and Major League Baseball." says Larry Abbott, IPRO Vice President.
Scheduled speakers for the training seminars are Marc Ratner, Joe Cortez, Tom Kaczmarek, Dr. Margaret Goodman and Dr Flip Homansky.
Members can attend any or all of the training sessions, although for IPRO certification, ring doctors must attend the medical seminar, referees must attend the medical seminar and Joe Cortez' seminars and judges must attend Tom Kaczmarek's workshop.
The events will be held at The SeaTac Marriott Hotel, near the Seattle
Tacoma Airport. There will be a cocktail and dinner party Saturday evening. Rooms are available at the special rate of $79 per night for IPRO members.
Secretary-Treasurer Glen Hamada is arranging a Salmon Fishing Derby on
August 15th and a Golf Tournament on August 16th.
IPRO is a not-for-profit group. Annual dues are only $36, which includes the training seminars as well as newsletters, membership card and membership patch.
For additional information or to request a membership application for IPRO, contact Barry Druxman, President IPRO1@webtv.net.
June 10, 2002
Hall of Fame Inductees
A brief look at those inducted on Sunday into the International Boxing Hall of Fame. The info below is from the Hall, and may not match the Cyber Boxing Zone, which has more up-to-date research:
BENNY BASS — Born Dec. 4, 1904, in Kiev, Russia. Turned pro in 1921, fighting out of Philadelphia. Won the vacant NBA featherweight championship in 1927, which he later lost to Tony Canzoneri. Defeated Tod Morgan for the junior lightweight championship in 1929. Registered over 200 fights in 19-year career. Died June 25, 1975.
AARON BROWN — Born Dec. 23, 1883, in Fulton, Mo. "The Dixie Kid" was regarded as a clever boxer deft at counter-punching. Captured the world welterweight title in 1929 with a 20-round victory over Barbados Joe Walcott. A veteran of over 150 bouts. Died April 6, 1934.
JIMMY CANNON — Born 1910. Began his journalism career at age 17 as a copy boy for the New York Daily News. Earned distinction as a sportswriter for the New York Post, New York Journal-American and King Features Syndicate. Died Dec. 5, 1973.
IRVING COHEN — Born Jan. 2, 1904, in Vilna, Russia. One of the top managers of boxing's golden age. Began managing in 1935 and eventually guided nearly 500 pro fighters in a 35-year career, including Rocky Graziano. Died June 25, 1991.
PIPINO CUEVAS — Born Dec. 27, 1957, in Mexico City. Cuevas turned professional in 1971 after a modest amateur career. Known for an explosive left hook. Won the Mexican welterweight title in 1975. At age 18, defeated Angel Espada for WBA title in July 1976 with a second-round TKO. Successfully defended the title 11 times before losing to Thomas Hearns in 1980. Retired in 1989 with a 35-15 record with 31 KOs.
AILEEN EATON — Born Feb. 5, 1909, Vancouver, B.C. Eaton was promoter at Olympic Auditorium in Los Angeles from 1942 to 1980. Promoted more than 2,500 fight cards, 100 title bouts and 10,000 matches. Among the fighters she promoted were Sugar Ray Robinson, Floyd Patterson, Carmen Basilio, George Foreman, Joe Frazier and Carlos Palomino. Died Nov. 7, 1987.
SIXTO ESCOBAR — Born March 23, 1913, in Puerto Rico. Escobar was the first Puerto Rican boxer to win a world title when he KO'd Baby Casanova in 1934 to win the NBA bantamweight championship. Lost and regained the championship twice. Retired with a 45-22-3 record (22 KOs). Died Nov. 17, 1979.
JEFF FENECH — Born May 28, 1964, in Sydney, Australia. Regarded as an intelligent, aggressive boxer. Won three world titles in three weight divisions in only 20 fights over a 3 1/2-year period. Captured the IBF bantamweight title in 1985, followed by WBC junior featherweight crown in 1987 and WBC featherweight title in 1988. Quest for a fourth world title halted by Azumah Nelson in a controversial decision for WBC super featherweight crown. Retired in 1996 with a 28-3-1 record with 21 KOs.
VICTOR GALINDEZ — Born Nov. 2, 1948, in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Captured Argentine and South American light heavyweight titles in 1972. Won vacant WBA light heavyweight championship in 1974 with a 13th-round TKO of Len Hutchins. Successfully defended the title 10 times before losing to Mike Rossman in 1978. Regained it in a 1979 rematch before losing it again to Marvin Johnson. Retired with a record of 55-9-4, with 34 KOs. Died Oct. 26, 1980, in an auto racing accident.
REG GUTTERIDGE — Born March 29, 1924, in Islington, England. His grandfather was a renowned boxer and father and uncle were trainers. Became one of England's most popular boxing scribes and radio-television broadcasters.
HARRY HARRIS — Born Nov. 18, 1880, in Chicago. Exceptionally tall for a bantamweight (5-foot-8), he was nicknamed "The Human Hairpin." Won the world bantamweight championship in 1901. Retired with a record of 41-2-7. Died June 5, 1959.
JOHN HEENAN — Born May 2, 1835, in Troy, N.Y. Boxed from 1858 until 1863 and claimed the American heavyweight title following retirement of John Morrisey. In 1860, he fought Tom Sayers of England to a 42-round draw in what is considered the first significant international heavyweight championship contest. Died Oct. 28, 1873.
INGEMAR JOHANSSON — Born Oct. 16, 1932, Goteborg, Sweden. Was a 1952 Olympic heavyweight silver medalist. Carried a tremendous right hand knockout punch dubbed "Hammer of Thor" and "Ingo's Bingo." Captured the European heavyweight title in 1956. Johansson astounded the boxing world on June 26, 1959, by knocking champion Floyd Patterson to the canvas seven times in a three-round victory. Lost to Patterson in two subsequent rematches. Retired in 1963 with a record of 26-2, 17 KOs.
CHARLEY MITCHELL — Born Nov. 24, 1861, in Birmingham, England. Although he never weighed more than 160 pounds, Mitchell routinely fought bigger opponents. In 1883, he dropped John L. Sullivan in the first round of a fight halted by police in the third round. Drew with Sullivan in a 39-round fight in 1883. Died April 3, 1918.
OWEN MORAN — Born Oct. 4, 1881, in Birmingham, England. Was a world bantamweight champion, who caused a stir when he knocked out former lightweight champion Battling Nelson in 11 rounds in 1910. Died March 17, 1949.
DAMON RUNYON — Born Oct. 4, 1884, in Manhattan, Kan. Began his sportswriting career with Denver Post and later worked for New York American, covering most of the major fights during his career. Responsible for giving many boxers their nicknames, including Jack Dempsey (The Manassas Mauler). Died Dec. 10, 1946.
YOUNG DUTCH SAM — Born Jan. 30, 1808, in London. His father was famous Dutch Sam, another Hall of Famer. Fought as a welterweight and retired from the ring having never lost a fight. Died Nov. 4, 1843.
SAM SILVERMAN — Born Dec. 25, 1912. A promoter from New England who staged more than 10,000 fights during a 40-plus-year career, including 32 of former heavyweight champion Rocky Marciano's 49 pro bouts. Promoted 25 world championship fights. Died July 9, 1977, in an automobile accident.
June 9, 2002
Harrison Stops Santiago
Scott Harrison comes of age.
By Jim Dickinson.
GLASGOW, Scotland - Scotland's up and coming featherweight contender Scott Harrison overcame his toughest test to date against lively Victor Santiago, finally stopping the dangerous Puerto Rican at 2.22 of the sixth round. It was an absolute cracker of a fight, with fortunes swaying between both combatants until the British and Commonwealth champion strung together a sustained barrage that forced referee Paul Thomas to step in.
Harrison was due to face WBO champion Julio Pablo Chacon, who withdrew a couple of weeks ago, so Santiago stepped in for what was billed as the "interim" WBO title, a pointless championship, but in Britain there is an obsession with irrelevant belts. We have numerous WBF, IBO and IBC title holders and just as many intercontinental champions.
Scott, a genuine world class featherweight, is head and shoulders above such meaningless baubles and later this year he'll get the opportunity to dethrone Chacon in front of his vociferous fans, who sold out the Braehead Arena this evening. Chacon's no mug but I'd take Harrison to beat him in the later rounds.
Prior to the first bell, both fighters had identical records of 16-1-1. Harrison had beaten the better quality opposition (with wins over former world champions Tracy Harris Patterson, Tom Johnson and Steve Robinson), while Victor had, on paper, the bigger punch, with twelve stoppages to his credit.
The 24 year old hometown fighter started quickly, and after a solid right hand hurt the visitor, an early finish seemed on the cards, but confident Santiago had clearly not come over to lose, and he rallied towards the end of the round with some sizzling combinations. Scott found himself taking more clean punches than at any other time in his six year career, but he kept pressuring the Puerto Rican throughout the next three rounds.
Skillwise, it's been said that while he does nothing outstandingly well, he is very competent in all aspects of boxing, and in that regard his style is a bit like former super middleweight world champion Steve Collins. He simply maintained a frenetic workrate, took what was dished out to him, and a series of big punches almost brought matters to a conclusion in the fifth. Santiago gamely survived, but was hammered to defeat in the next round.
He is one of the most lively and dangerous overseas fighters to grace a British ring in recent years, and has nothing to be ashamed of. He gave it his all, and against a lesser opponent than Harrison, his effort would have been enough to pick up the interim championship and book a showdown with Chacon later this year.
With Prince Naseem Hamed in decline, and Lennox Lewis turning 37 in three months time, Harrison, along with Ricky Hatton, fronts the next generation of British stars forging their way into world championship boxing. He is physically strong at the weight, has a solid dig in both hands, a great chin, underrated boxing skills and a workrate that few can match.
HBO television are aiming to match Hamed against IBF champion Johnny Tapia for late summer. The once-untouchable Prince will be looking over his shoulder and this writer would take Scot to beat him right now.
Undercard results:
Hot super featherweight prospect Alex Arthur recorded his ninth inside the distance win in 11 professional contests with a routine victory over late sub Nikoal Eremeev. Alex, a former Commonwealth games gold medalist and quarter finalist at the world amateur championships, dished out a steady beating and the Russian did not come out for round six.
Arthur is a stable mate of Scott Harrison; they're the best prospects to come out of Scotland for many years.
Two local light welterweight prospects, Gary Young and Ricky Burns, impressed with first round stoppage wins over Daniel Thorpe and Gary Harrison respectively.
June 9, 2002
Death of a Barbarian King
By Monte Cox
There was once a young fighter who wielded fists of Iron and exploded with speed and a raging fury that has rarely been matched in the annals of boxing history. He spoke of driving opponents noses “into their brain”, punishing his opponents until they “began to make noises somewhat like a woman screaming,” and created a swath of terror in the hearts of his opponents. He truly was “the barbarian king”. Last night the barbarian king was laid to rest. The speed was gone, the fury dimmed, reduced from a man of Iron to a heap of rusty metal. His skills no longer sharp, but dulled due to age and inactivity.
Mike Tyson got old last night. It happened to Joe Louis, it happened to Muhammad Ali, and last night it happened to Mike Tyson. One needs to look no further than a review of the film of Tyson’s loss to Lennox Lewis. Watch Tyson’s right hand. Every time he stepped to throw his once favorite right to the body he missed, or landed with his forearm. Lewis did nothing special to avoid the punch. Tyson simply could not find the mark. When a fighter who depends on speed, explosiveness, and timing loses these attributes he is finished as a top fighter. Mike Tyson was not the young Iron Mike of old but an old fighter. It was as if his idol Dempsey had stepped in against Tunney. Tyson could not avoid his opponent’s jab, and he could not get off his own punches.
Lennox Lewis did what he had to in order to win. He kept Tyson at bay with his left jab, and landed strong right hands from the outside. Whenever Tyson tried to pressure his way inside he was greeted with short hard uppercuts that discouraged Tyson’s aggression. Unable to land cleanly Tyson was a fighter reduced to trying to land one big punch and with his skills gone he could not find the will to win.
The Barbarian King that exploded on the heavyweight scene as a dynamo in1985 became the youngest heavyweight champion in history at age 20. He unified the titles as a time when they were fractured seemingly beyond repair, and gained linear recognition when he annihilated Mike Spinks in 91 seconds at the age of 21 in 1988, which was his peak performance. The Mike Tyson of that night is still considered by many as one of the greatest heavyweight champions of history. Tyson was one of those rare fighters who peaked early like Wilfred Benitez. Benitez had been the youngest boxing champion in history at age 17 when he won the Jr. Welter title from the great Antonio Cervantes, he was Welterweight Champion at age 20, and Jr. Middleweight Champion at age 22, but he was shot as a fighter by age 26. So was Mike Tyson. Tyson’s skills deteriorated by his mid 20’s, his powerful punch still produced a number of sensational knockouts making him as Emmanuel Steward told him last night, “the most exciting heavyweight of the last 50 years”.
The once great barbarian king lost his throne in the eyes of the imagination of the public last night. He can no longer be called the “barbarian king”, he is no longer “Iron Mike”, he is simply a washed up old fighter. The Tyson of last night would be hard pressed to beat any top contenders with the boxing skills to evade his lunges. It is difficult to see the Tyson of 2002 defeating Chris Byrd, John Ruiz, Kirk Johnson, or either of the Klitchko brothers. Tyson needs a stationary target to have any chance. Should he continue to fight to make money Tyson needs a Ray Mercer, David Tua, Oliver McCall, or a Jameel McCline who will stand in front of him. They will not be intimated. A very good heavyweight champion laid Tyson’s mystique, damaged by his losses to Holyfield, to rest last night. The barbarian king is dead. May he rest in peace.
June 9, 2002
Lewis KO's Tyson - CBZ Reports
LEWIS BRUTALIZES UNPREPARED TYSON
By Chris Bushnell
Mike Tyson has always known that he couldn’t beat Lennox Lewis. He knew it in 1996, when he paid Lewis $4 million in step-aside money so that he could first face the softer Bruce Seldon for WBA title. He knew it a few months later when he vacated the WBC title rather than face Lewis, his mandatory challenger. He knew it in New York, when his press-conference scuttle with Lewis seemed like an easy way to get out of the fight. And he knew it in Memphis, where boxing officials had set up a ring in which Tyson would pay for his crimes against the sport. As the one-time Baddest Man on the Planet was lead to the ring by his team of yes-men, the aggressive scowls and overflowing energy Tyson flaunted at the weigh-in were replaced by a bounce-free stroll and a look of concern. Mike Tyson was in for a beating… and he knew it.
Tyson calmly ducked between the ropes as rapper DMX loudly requested that the Memphis crowd “Suck. My. Dick,” over the sound system. The gangsta rap was soon replaced with the more soothing grooves of Bob Marley as a robe-less Lewis confidently made his way to the ring. The squared circle was divided in half by a row of security men in bright yellow shirts. Lewis quickly made his way towards the human wall to get in a stare at Tyson. Meanwhile, another battle of champions was brewing. Michael Buffer and Jimmy Lennon, Jr. got into a war of catchphrases as they took turns announcing the sanctioning bodies, ringside officials, and eventually each fighter. In the end, it was Buffer by vicious knockout.
Eventually the fight was on. The ring cleared, the fighters passed on final instructions, and they met in center ring. For a few seconds, Tyson bristled with energy. His gloves shook in front of his face, and his head darted about. Both fighters threw jabs, and it was Tyson’s stick that landed clean, pushing a bouncy Lewis back a few steps. Lewis was on his toes, backing away from Tyson as Mike missed with a lunging overhand right. Lewis countered the whiff with a long right uppercut that also missed. Tyson crashed into Lewis after missing his right and the two bounced into the ropes. But as they bounced off, Tyson was turned to the right. Lewis jumped on him, throwing an overhand right and two uppercuts. The right was blocked by Tyson’s glove, but the left uppercut that followed landed flush on Tyson’s chin. Tyson stood still, his gloves pinned to his chin as Lewis immediately followed with a right uppercut. This punch also landed on Tyson’s face, and Lewis clinched to prevent a counter. Tyson would later tell ESPN that Lewis hurt him in the first round, and this sequence, 30 seconds into the bout, was the most likely source.
Tyson must have been rattled by Lewis’ power, because he immediately stopped moving his head. For the rest of the round, and most of the rest of the fight, Tyson would simply walk into Lewis (occasionally behind a jab) without moving his head at all. Four times in a row, in fact, Tyson simply threw himself at Lewis and ended in a clinch. The only punch Mike Tyson landed in these attacks was a nice headbutt on the fourth lunge. Already, Tyson was there to be hit. But Lewis was still antsy. He was on his toes, backing away from every Tyson charge. At one point, Tyson double jabbed him as he backed up and the resulting clumsy retreat drew a rise from a crowd that thought Lewis might have been wobbled.
Lewis wasn’t yet standing his ground in the opening round. He managed one decent right hand as Tyson was coming in head-first, but near the end of the round Tyson nicely hooked off the jab. The hook landed right on Lennox’s chin, but Tyson had failed to turn over his fist. While Lewis’ head snapped back, he had not tasted Tyson’s full power. After the punch, the two clinched yet again, and a frustrated Tyson pushed his forearm into Lewis’ throat. Believe it or not, it would end up being the closest Tyson would come to committing a foul.
Lennox Lewis did commit a foul in the first, although it was a minor one. After Lewis tagged Tyson with a short right and a bent-over Tyson fell into a clinch, Lewis did what everyone on the high side of a clinch does: lean down on your opponent until the ref calls for a break. Eddie Cotton didn’t warn Lewis this time, but he would later. The first round ended shortly after Cotton called for a break. Tyson had been the aggressor, and Lewis had nervously skirted away from his uninspired attacks, but the Lewis uppercuts were the only telling blows of the round, and tilted a close feel-out round to the champion.
Returning to his corner, Lewis was immediately told by trainer Emanuel Steward, “If you could see how bad he looks, you’d be surprised.” He was right. By round’s end, Tyson’s head movement was a rumor and he was looking winded. Back in his corner, Tyson was also looking discouraged. He complained to his trainer about Lewis’ holding, and asked Ronnie Shield to remind the ref to watch for it.
Tyson rushed at Lewis to open the second round and missed the jab he threw. He crashed into Lewis again, and Lewis simply caught him. As the ref moved in for a break, Tyson turned to him and began complaining about being held. Cotton forced the break, turned to Lewis, and gave him a stern lecture on the penalties associated with further holding. It seemed like an overreaction, especially given the manner in which the offending clinch had originated. Back in action, Tyson missed another jab and fell into another clinch. After a break, Tyson again came straight into Lewis without moving his head. This time, Lewis timed him with a right uppercut, and the punch landed hard and clean on Tyson’s chin. Lewis followed quickly by stuffing two loud jabs into Tyson’s face and then backing away as Tyson tried to answer with a Hail Mary hook. Tyson was already looking worn out. He stood at a distance with his hands at his chin, and again stepped into Lewis’ range. Lewis nailed Tyson with another jab-uppercut, and after a break timed another uppercut to Tyson’s body. After each of these short attacks, the men fell into what can only be described as mutually-caused clinches. But after the uppercut to the body, Cotton again called time and gave only Lewis a long warning about holding.
Lewis was beginning to realize that Tyson wasn’t going to suddenly start bobbing and weaving like the old days. He ended the round by pumping his jab and then landing a crisp right uppercut-left hook combo with 15 seconds to go. The post-uppercut clinch was broken, and Lewis again loaded up the uppercut. Tyson walked right into it just as the bell rang. Landing right on the point of Tyson’s chin, the punch swiveled his head to the side. When Tyson got to his corner, he slumped forward on his stool, looking as though he was already seriously discouraged.
Tyson came out jabbing in the third round, but couldn’t find his target and again fell into clinch position. Rather than risk another warning from Cotton, Lewis now openly shoved Tyson off him. Lewis now answered back with his own jab. Lewis pumped the punch into Tyson’s face with authority, and glanced a few right hands off Tyson’s head. Tyson’s only answer was a digging body shot on the break that Cotton didn’t see. Back at center ring, Lewis freely thrust the jab. It was a sharp contrast to the range-finding jab Lewis had used in the opening rounds. Three hard flush jabs landed on Tyson’s face. One of them opened a two-inch gash over Tyson’s right eye. Lewis targeted the cut with two lightly-thrown lead left hooks and locked Tyson’s right arm after landing them. But Tyson’s left hand was free and he looped a long left hook at Lewis and rocked the champion’s head straight back. It was Tyson’s best punch of the night, and Lewis seemed unaffected.
Tyson tried to follow-up with another hook, but like so many of his punches it was a wide, wild swing and Lewis was able to see it coming a mile away. Tyson was looking winded before, but after two huge blows he looked even more tired. For his next assault, he stood as still as possible and walked right up to Lennox Lewis without moving his hands at all. Lewis launched a downward right hand that crashed into Tyson’s face as he walked in. After yet another break, Tyson missed badly with an overhand right. Lewis again stuffed his jab into Tyson’s bloody face. Lewis closed the round with a series of unanswered jabs, following with the right hand only once: half-second after the bell. The blow landed square on Tyson’s nose.
Tyson had lost all three rounds on our cards, and he came out to start round four with a dazzling three seconds of head movement. But after bobbing his torso left and right like he were working on a drill, Tyson ended on the left and just hung there. Lewis jumped on his and powered in a massive right hand into his face. It was Lewis’ best clean punch of the night, but it was soon a memory as a much better Lennox Lewis right hand crashed into the side of Mike’s head and violently snapped it to the side. Tyson fell into Lewis, who now shoved him off. Tyson flicked a weak hook that missed and tasted a pretty decent Lewis left hook in return. Lewis followed with a long left hook to the body and Tyson had no answer. Emanuel Steward would have preferred Lewis jump on Tyson, but instead he returned to the jab. Time and again Lewis pumped a heavy jab into Tyson’s face and snapped his head back. At mid-round he finally followed these unopposed jabs with a vicious right uppercut that filled the Memphis Pyramid with the sound of snapping leather. Lewis followed with another uppercut with another series of flush, heavy jabs. Tyson simply stood there, unable to get out of the way. Lewis grew so confident that twice he left his jab extended and measured Tyson for loaded right crosses that busted Iron Mike right on the nose.
Tyson finally threw something in return after this one-sided assault. Twice he missed badly with a hook before falling into a clinch. But just as Lewis might have been getting cocky, Tyson slammed Lewis square in the mouth with an overhand right. It was a great punch, the kind that pushes the opponent’s chin straight in, but Lewis took it without shaking. There wasn’t much time left the round, maybe 20 seconds. But no sooner had Tyson landed a serious blow, Lewis answered. Lewis flicked two light jabs, then let go with a compact right cross. The punch landed on Tyson’s forehead, and his knees buckled. Tyson dipped to where he was bending over just as Lewis’ follow-through left him draped over Tyson’s back. Thinking that Tyson was bent merely to clutch his waist, Lewis once again began to lean down on Tyson. But Tyson was headed towards taking a knee, and Lewis’ extra pushing down accelerated his descent. Tyson flopped onto his back and referee Eddie Cotton ruled immediately that Tyson had been pushed to the canvas. It was a close call, but one in a string of decisions Cotton ended up making in favor of Tyson.
Tyson lay on the canvas for a few seconds, breathing very hard. He lifted his arms and gestured to Cotton as though maybe he might get a pull up to his feet. When Cotton wouldn’t help him, he slowly rolled over and raised himself up. Cotton had failed to stop the clock as Tyson went down and then walked it off. The remaining 10 seconds had ticked away, and a bell sounded to end the round. Lennox Lewis started to walk from a neutral corner, where he had stayed while Tyson loitered on the canvas, towards his stool when Eddie Cotton stopped him. Cotton grabbed his arm and signaled that Lewis was being deducted one point. It was a dubious decision, and one, which potentially made the fight close, especially if a scorecard had given the close first round to Tyson.
When Lennox Lewis finally did make it back to his corner, he quickly got an earful from Emanuel Steward. Steward was livid that Lewis hadn’t tried to finish Tyson in that round, and was screaming himself hoarse that Tyson was exhausted and finished. He was right.
Both fighters sensed that the point deduction put the momentum of the bout up-for-grabs and began the fifth round with a burst of energy. Tyson lunged with a laughable overhand right that missed, and Lewis tattooed him with a quick double jab. One of these two heavy jabs opened another cut on Tyson, this one over his left eye. After a brief clinch, Lewis jabbed at the new cut again and the blood began to trickle down the left side of Tyson’s face. Lewis wasn’t done jabbing, and he launched four more jabs. One of these was a stiff jab to Tyson’s stomach. The punch demonstrated the confidence Lewis was now fighting with. Lewis may have even crossed over from confident to cocky, as he now began keeping his hands down and jabbing from the waist. Cocky or not, it was working. Mike Tyson was not moving his head, and Lewis’ jab was busting up his face.
After half a round of jabs, Lewis followed up with another blistering uppercut. He jabbed again, and when his jab hung up on Tyson’s shoulder, he hooked his right into Tyson’s head. Tyson was hurting, and Cotton again called time to give Lewis a lecture. The crowd now booed what was beginning to look like an anti-Lewis bias. When the fight resumed, Lewis took his time, again throwing and landing a series of clean, head-snapping jabs. Tyson’s face now began to swell, his cuts growing wider as the lumps grew over each eye. There was still a full minute left in the fifth.
Lewis’ jab was looking spectacular, thanks in large part to Tyson’s inability to block the punch with his gloves. Near the 1:00 left mark, one particularly heavy jab seemed to rattle the winded Tyson, who took a wobbly half step backwards. Lewis jabbed out the remaining minute of the round, adding in only a single right hand and a single right uppercut to the mix. No matter, Tyson’s face was being mangled, and Lewis was setting a deadly pace. Back in corner after the round, Steward was still furious with Lewis. He wanted a stoppage, and he wanted it now. Lewis would later claim that he felt Tyson needed more softening up. In his corner, Tyson was being begged to start punching. Lewis’ jab was preventing Tyson from getting even a single punch off. But Tyson barely heard his corner as he moaned about his two cuts.
Lewis continued jabbing relentlessly in the sixth round. After 30 seconds of stick, Lewis launched a wicked one-two that landed flush and expelled sweat from every inch of Tyson’s head. Tyson simply stood there and took it, and so Lewis threw another. This second right hand landed with full force on Tyson’s left ear. Tyson’s was undefended when the punch landed, and his head was thrust so violently sideways that Tyson’s right ear actually touched his right shoulder. Say what you want about Tyson’s diminished skills, but his chin has always been first rate. Withstanding this punch alone was an amazing feat.
Tyson looked seriously weary, and he half-heartedly launched an overhand right that was so slow it had no chance of landing. Tyson came out of that clinch to find two jabs and two big right hands waiting for him. Lewis was really loading up with his shots, and Tyson was eating them clean. Tyson looked in a daze. It must have been instincts, because all of a sudden Tyson, who hadn’t thrown a two-punch combination since the first round, suddenly nailed Lewis with a beautiful left uppercut-right hook combo. It was as though Tyson’s body had suddenly remembered an old Catskills move. But Tyson was too tired at this point, and even though both punches caught a surprised Lewis on the chin, neither one had any effect whatsoever.
Lewis finished the sixth round strong, nailing Tyson each time he stumbled forward. Lewis landed another overhand right with 50 seconds to go, a glancing right with 30 seconds to go, and a picture perfect uppercut to Tyson’s chin with 15 seconds to go. Yes, they were fighting at the slow pace that you might expect from two 36 year-olds, but Lewis was still putting a serious beating on Tyson.
Tyson had absorbed a series of wrecking ball punches in the sixth, and he again slumped onto his stool in between rounds. His plastic surgeon raised him up to pinch his gaping cuts as everyone else in his corner simultaneously yelled instructions. The chaos got to Ronnie Shields who screamed that “only one fucking person talk at a time!” It didn’t help. Everyone kept talking at once while Tyson whimpered at the pain from his cuts.
The beating continued in round seven, again with Tyson simply standing there and taking his beating as though he expected it. Lewis opened with a well-timed one-two. He pecked Tyson with three jabs before landing another one-two. Two more jabs, and a one-two. Tyson was getting hammered. Lewis threw another one-two and the right hand missed Tyson’s head and landed on his right shoulder. As Lewis pulled his arm back, his elbow crossed in front of Tyson’s face. Referee Eddie Cotton now jumped between the fighters and started yelling at Lewis for elbowing Tyson. He was drowned out by the crowd’s boos. Lewis looked at him like he was crazy. It was another questionable move. Simply put, Tyson was getting beaten up, and Cotton gave him what amounted to a free standing-eight count.
After Cotton had finished his warning, Lewis and Tyson met in center ring for a telling moment. Both men stood with their gloves up, and for a moment they both froze while watching each other. After two seconds of stillness, Tyson twice feinted at Lewis, who immediately flinched. Even at this late stage of the game, with Tyson bloody and battered, Lewis was still showing tremendous caution. A short time later, however, Lennox again got the upper hand. He pumped two more ridiculously heavy telephone-pole jabs into Tyson’s face. Tyson nose began to trickle blood. Then Lewis pushed out a jab that he left extended to measure Tyson for a huge right. Tyson’s face was exposed and the right hand detonated on Tyson’s face. What was keeping Tyson standing? Lewis landed a few more jabs, easily controlling Tyson before trying a left hook. Tyson tried to clinch after the hook, but Lewis shoved him off. No sooner than Tyson was pushed back into range, Lewis fired two jab-crosses. The second one landed particularly flush and the blood now poured from Tyson’s nose.
Tyson was a complete mess. He was bleeding from two cuts and his nose, his eyes were closing, and he looked like he could barely hold up his hands to protect himself. Lewis showed no mercy, and three times nailed Tyson with one-twos. The third rocked Tyson’s head, but still he remained standing. Lewis jabbed again and hooked with his right hand. He punctuated the round with one more one-two and a seriously busted-up Tyson stumbled back to his corner.
The knockout seemed inevitable. Lewis shoved his jab into Tyson’s face six times to open round eight, and completed the sequence with two short body shots as Tyson came in close for a hug. After the break, Tyson came at Lewis with a right cross to the ribs that landed clean. Another break and Tyson again slammed his right into Lewis’ side. These were the only scoring punches Tyson had landed in several rounds. But after trying a third body blow, Tyson walked into a short Lewis uppercut. The blow landed clean but paled next to the left uppercut that quickly followed and drove Tyson’s head backwards. Lewis was only two-thirds of the way through his combination, and continued with a downward right hand that hit Tyson on the forehead and made him dip his knees nearly to the canvas.
We said “nearly” to the canvas. Tyson’s knees buckled in place and he dipped so low that his ass was only inches from the canvas. Tyson started to pop back up from this knee-buckle when Eddie Cotton jumped in and suddenly ruled that Tyson had been knocked down. He hadn’t. His gloves hadn’t touched the canvas. Neither did his posterior. Cotton was once again interrupting a Tyson beating. Tyson got the eight count, and a chance to catch his breath… but eight seconds was not going to save him now. He barely responded when Cotton asked him if he wanted to continue. Tyson’s right eye had swollen shut and his left eye was 75% there. His nose was still bleeding and he looked like he was done. Lewis clocked Tyson with a big right as action resumed, then hammered him with a right uppercut-left hook combo. Lewis missed with another right, but landed the follow-up hook as Tyson retreated to the ropes. Lewis followed him in… and ducked a sweeping Tyson right hand in the process. After missing the right, Tyson fell into a clinch with Lewis, and from that clinch stuffed the champ with a short right uppercut to the chin.
Cotton called for a break and pushed the fighters apart. Lewis sucked in a deep breath, readied himself, and then launched a long right hand. Tyson was one again hanging his torso in place to the left and the punch swept across his chin. Tyson’s head swiveled and his entire body froze in place. He began to slump to the canvas. Lewis was again draped over Tyson after the punch and his was just beginning to lean on a bent-over Tyson when Tyson fell out from underneath him. So, in effect, Lewis pushed him down… but only a little. He was already going to the canvas. Cotton thought about calling another foul on Lewis, but then he looked at Tyson.
Tyson was on his back on the canvas, holding his right hand over his hurting face. When Tyson removed his hand, his face was a mess of blood. The cuts on his eyes dripped lines of blood down each side of his head. Tyson’s eyes were closed. Yes, swollen shut, but closed also. Tyson briefly opened his eyes at the count of four, then closed the remaining slits again and rested his head back on the canvas. At six he reopened his eyes, and a seven-and-a-half he rolled over to try and beat the count. By nine he was still crouched on his knees. Before Cotton could call “Ten,” Tyson’s weight fell back into the ropes. Cotton waved the fight off. Tyson was not getting to his feet by 10. Lennox Lewis KO8.
Simply put, this was by far the worst beating Mike Tyson has ever taken. Worse than the Douglas beating, much worse than the Holyfield KO. And it wasn’t that much of a surprise. Tyson looked overweight and listless. He was exhausted after two rounds, and timid after only one. His skills have gone past eroded. Many of them are extinct. Lennox Lewis has been sporting some grey hair recently, but Mike Tyson looked older than George Foreman for much of this fight. For anyone who saw past the Tyson mystique and really looked at his recent outing, this was no surprise. Tyson has long been a shell of his former self, propped up by investors who want their end back. Perhaps the only surprise for Tyson-watchers was that he fought within the rules and didn’t quit on his stool. Then again, Tyson was beaten so badly that he probably wasn’t aware that fouling out was an option.
In fact, Tyson was beaten so badly that Lennox Lewis actually beat the mean out of him. After the fight, Tyson was extraordinarily gracious. He called Lennox Lewis “masterful,” and tripped over himself trying to give Lewis respect. At one point, as the two men stood next to each other calmly answering questions, Tyson reached over and wiped a bead of sweat off of Lewis’ face. It was a tender moment eclipsed by the sheer creepiness of Tyson’s new demeanor.
Okay, it wasn’t a completely new Tyson. He was quick to mention that he originally said he wanted two fights before facing Lewis and that he probably wasn’t fully ready. He also clamored for a rematch, although there is absolutely, positively no need for one. Lewis was gracious and gave Tyson a “maybe.” The real signs point to an imminent retirement from Lewis. He’s cleaned out the misfits (Golota, McCall, Botha, Akinwande, Tyson), the other titlist (Holyfield) and the #1 contenders (Grant and Tua) from the division. If he fights on, he has to face Chris Byrd, or else face an unmarketable Ruiz-Johnson winner. No one wants to see Holyfield III. The Klitschkos aren’t yet big box office draws in the U.S. There’s no one left for him. He’ll probably call it quits at the top of his game.
As for Mike Tyson, he needs another payday. But at the post-fight shindig, he mentioned that he might just “fade off into the sunset and just fly my birds.” That’s unlikely. Although he would absolutely prefer to retire from fighting, he needs the money… badly. Then again, there won’t be any big money waiting for him. He’s been roughed up by Lewis and is not likely to get in with a heavyweight just as big but 10 years younger. Tyson is probably finished, and that’s just fine with him. You know what? That’s just fine with us, too.
…..Chris Bushnell
http://www.boxingchronicle.com
Memphis Tempest in a Teapot
By Robert Ecksel
There were seven so-called wonders of the ancient world. The Hanging Gardens of Babylon. The Lighthouse of Alexandria. The Temple of Artemis. The Statue of Zeus. The Mausoleum of Halicarnassus. The Colossus of Rhodes. And The Pyramids of Giza. Six of the seven wonders of the world were destroyed by earthquakes and fire. Only the Pyramids in Egypt remain standing. Only the Pyramid in Memphis sponsors prizefights.
What has four eyes and pees? Mississippi? Or Mike Tyson and Lennox Lewis? Such beautiful mind equations must be asked after sitting through the Memphis Tempest in a Teapot. Along for the ride on pay-per-view to check out Saturday’s fistic fantasy, we got to eavesdrop on a epic sitcom, a newsreel of salesmanship and self-delusion. We were privileged to watch Lennox Lewis rope-a-dope and drop the curtain on the Mike Tyson Roadshow. Reality TV we’re already used to. Surreality TV won’t be the next attraction.
Boxing’s ultimate tour de force will finally be forced to tour. Kicked out of cities, burbs and hamlets, out of bus stations, out of shelters, out of town, former champion Mike Tyson now becomes landlord of an asteroid. Our Moonman, this otherworldly spectral presence, after his swan song Saturday night, is now fodder for telepsychics, instead of fodder for fight fans. After successfully hoodwinking the public, bulldozing loyalists, black-bagging diehards for as long as we can remember, the Iron Mike Tyson house of cards collapsed with a bang, with a whimper, with a thud.
We watched his emergence from the slum of the slums. From down and out in Brownsville to a starry world of glitz. From roachville karma to a cosmology of bling. Despite the caper quotient of his bad boy masquerade, we’ve followed Mike Tyson’s every move, hung onto every word, savored every left, every uppercut, every knockout. We always suspected there was something more we were supposed to learn from Iron Mike Tyson. We knew he was here because he had something to teach us.
(It turns out that all Mike could reveal was what we already knew, but might have chosen to forget: That talk is cheap. Don't believe the hype. Silence speaks volumes. That actions speak louder than words.)
The possibility of another Tyson reign has finally, perhaps eternally, perhaps for evermore been put to rest. Thanks to the heavyweight champion of the world, thanks to that gentleman Lennox Lewis, the thunder and plunder and blunder and wonder is finally six feet under. There’s no possibility of ever taking Mike Tyson seriously again. Not, at least, as a prizefighter. Mike will always be around, he'll come and go, he’ll remain a celebrity, he'll lurk in the shadows. He’ll become captain of his very own nostalgia industry. Tyson's place in boxing history is reserved for his retirement, it's assured, it’s well-deserved, his legend is a dead certainty: the youngest man at age twenty to ever hold the heavyweight title. But to believe in Mike Tyson after all is said and done is like believing in Santa or Area 51. It’s the fetish of the tooth fairy amidst decay.
Lennox Lewis brought the curtain down on the Tragedy of Iron Mike Tyson. We’re not surprised it has come to this. We sometimes refuse to see what’s in plain sight because it’s painful, it's melancholy, it’s perception. We want to believe because we need to believe because if we cease to believe we’ll believe in nothing. Once we start challenging thought-patterns, jabbing, countering, bobbing and weaving and bitch-slapping our baser instincts, then everything begins to wobble like Mike Tyson at The Pyramid in Memphis.
Michael Gerard Tyson. Mike Tyson. Kid Dynamite. Iron Mike. The Baddest Man on The Planet. The Greatest Show on Earth. From Brownsville to Mudville in three-plus decades. A high-life lived high-speed like a roadhog with road rage in a cotton-pickin’ summer. It’s the arc of Tyson’s destiny that sets him apart from other men. Life is about survival of the fittest. It’s always been dog-eat-dog. Mike Tyson, among other things, proved Darwin right. Only the strong survive. Mike Tyson clawed his way from the primordial sludge of Brooklyn to the bright lights of the big city. He fought his way to the mountaintop. He entered the pearly gates of heaven.
But what goes up must come down. And this, too, with a nod to Sir Isaac Newton, Mike Tyson has also proven. Mr. T disintegrated, with insistent prodding from Lennox's fists, and was bleeding over both eyes and from his nostrils. The once-feared and ferocious Iron Mike Tyson was a beaten man before the opening bell sounded. And, to steal a quote from Rocky Graziano, "when he hit the deck he splashed on it like an egg droppin’ on a sidewalk from an eagle’s ass." That’s Da Rock for you. The essence of eloquence with a punchline. What Lewis did to Tyson wasn’t pretty to look at. It was anything but sunnyside up.
The exquisite and transparent Lennox Lewis is a man as good as his word. He said it was his goal to shut down Mike Tyson. It’s quiet at the moment. At the foot of The Pyramid lays a ruin once known as Bummy Ike.
June 6, 2002
Who Will Win Lewis vs. Tyson? The Experts Decide
The CBZ’s Lewis-Tyson Prediction Poll
Conducted By JD Vena
Lewis Picks: 18
Tyson Picks: 9
Well folks, it’s Friday and it seems that tomorrow’s heavyweight championship bout, what many (for some outlandish reason) have called the biggest heavyweight prize fight in years, may actually take place at the Pyramid in Memphis. Don’t get me wrong,
it’s certainly a big one as any fight involving Leg Iron Mike (as the Ol’ Spit Bucket likes to call him) but this one has some real hair on it Though both fighters, particularly, Tyson have seen better days, the man credited as being the youngest heavyweight champion in history, will step into the ring for the first time as an underdog when he challenges for Lewis’ title. That’s why this fight is more than just a fuss. Some feel that Tyson will get blown out, something that has never happened thus far in his career. Some have even called this fight a mismatch and pointed to the fact that Tyson shouldn’t be licensed to fight. Whether you believe the fight should have been allowed or not, this fight is hardly a mismatch, especially when the man he will be fighting crumbles whenever he’s hit on the chin.
After recent performances, it’s hard to imagine Tyson resembling the form that made him the most fearsome heavyweight since George Foreman. Logic says that Lewis is simply too big and will be at the top of his game when the first bell tolls. But that sounds too perfect. I don’t think for a minute that Lewis is scared of Maniac Mike, but he will fight him scared. In the past Lewis has blown out weak opposition like Michael Grant and Frans Botha because of their limited defenses, but he is tentative to move forward with his power shots when he faces a dangerous opponent. And whether you like to admit it or not, Tyson is still very dangerous, especially in the power department.
Lewis’ power is practically absent when he decides to not move forward with his punches. You’d think that Holyfield would have been decapitated had Lewis’ punches been moving through him. But they weren’t, mainly because Lewis was content with keeping the much smaller Holyfield away from him. My guess is that he’ll use the same approach with Tyson who is the best aggressive fighter that Lewis has ever faced. People often say that Lewis was undertrained when he fought Rahman in South Africa. It makes sense because Rahman is no premier heavyweight. But in reality, the reason why Rahman won is because for a moment in their first fight, he decided to back Lewis up while throwing punches. Backing up creates problems for the giant Lewis, as he’s susceptible to lose his balance. If Tyson presses Lewis and gets him off-balance then my guess is, one of Mike’s haymakers catches Lewis clean on the chin and knocks him flat in round two. Call me crazy but it’s just something I can forecast.
I leave you with the bold predictions of some of boxing’s best.
JD Vena,
Associate Editor,
The CBZ
“Unless Lewis gets mugged on the way to the ring, I like him to win in 11 rounds.”
Bert Randolph Sugar,
Author & Historian
“Chris Dundee always told me never to bet on a heavyweight fight, where logic often goes out the window. On paper, Lewis would be a logical choice to win by a KO or on points. He is taller, hits very hard and is motivated to put the hurt on Tyson; Lewis has also fought a higher level of quality and performed better than Tyson over the last few years. Although I pick Lewis, I do believe that there's a high level of probability that the fight will end with a Tyson disqualification. If Iron Mike can not put the hurt on Lewis at once and finds himself on the long end of that pesky jab and hard right hand, his cromagnon instincts might kick in and he might go munching on human flesh or decide to test his power shot on Lewis' protection cup or go after the ref....”
Enrique Encinosa.
The CBZ
“Lewis KO 3 - Lennox needs to get his respect from Tyson early - it's his only way to win, and I think he'll do it with his right hand, early and often.”
Thomas Gerbasi,
Associate Editor,
MaxBoxing.com
“Tyson by kayo -- Tyson is still a dangerous guy, even though most people seem to overlook that fact. I believe his punching power, speed, and desire are going to carry him to a major, upset win over Lewis. I see Tyson stopping a tentative Lewis in one or two rounds. I don't think Lewis, for all his size and weight, can keep Tyson off of him.”
Michael DeLisa,
Founder/ Co-Editor,
The CBZ
“I am taking the 'road less traveled' for this fight. As the fight draws closer, I am drawn more and more to Mike Tyson. I like how Mike has handled himself to this point leading up to the fight. Of course, that could just mean Mike knows he is being sent to the proverbial slaughter - but I really think Lennox Lewis will push the issue early and get caught. Tyson will drop Lewis in the second round with a left hook and for the next round or so, Lewis - knowing that Tyson can hurt him - will attempt the old ‘clutch and grab.’ Tyson will again hurt Lewis in the fourth and finish him off with a stunning display. After the fight, Tyson will embrace Lewis and agree to give him a rematch later this year. Of course, officially my money is on Lewis and the under.”
Mike Nosky,
SecondsOut.com
(Self-proclaimed Tyson's Biggest Fan)
“This is a toughie for me, since I don't care much for either guy. Since Lewis has all the advantages--height, reach, activity, better competition--it's hard to pick against him. But this fight is really all about who lands first, and Tyson's hand speed gives him a legitimate shot. I've got a funny feeling, but I guess I'll be conservative and say Lewis in seven rounds.
Lucius Shepard,
The CBZ
“I really believed, like Lewis, that there should have been a clause in Tyson's contract, disallowing his purse if he fouled out in some outlandish way -- by either biting or kneeing or butting or kicking or God knows what. Hitting Tyson in the wallet these days hurts him much worse than in the head. I thought such a purse-snatching/foul clause would have been the best deterrent for keeping Tyson's behavior in some kind of check. Without one, he can quit in a variety of ways if the going gets rough. Without one, he may do something outrageous by the end of the first round. There is no way that Tyson will stand for any elongated punishment in this contest and I fear an early DQ. I expect Lewis to establish his jab and reach early and to back Tyson up. Tyson doesn't fight well that way. I then expect Tyson to leap forward with very rough tactics. I expect 20 seconds of fierce warfare, then a shoulder roll from Tyson, knocking Lewis down. The ref will warn Tyson, who will shrug. The round will settle into Lewis outboxing him. Toward the end of the round, Tyson will leap in with his left hook followed by his head. If he connects, Lewis will go early. If he misses, Tyson will go early by his own strange means. The public wants to see Tyson knocked out but, as you know, the boxing public rarely ever gets what it wishes for. Lewis wins on a foul, Round 2. In my head, Lewis stops Tyson after 8 rounds, but Tyson won't stand for it.”
Jamie Merolla,
The CBZ
“I like Lewis in 9. I think that he's much closer to his prime than Tyson and much more well conditioned the last few years against tougher opposition. I think he does enough to keep Tyson at bay early and then he steadily comes on.”
Steve Kim,
MaxBoxing.com
“Lewis by KO in round 6”
Dave Iamele,
The CBZ
“Lewis by 12 round unanimous decision. If you saw Lewis-Tua, you've seen Lewis-Tyson.”
Stephen Tobey
MaxBoxing.com
“I haven’t got one right in a year but I like Lewis inside of 5 rounds, possibly in the 1st.”
Eric Jorgensen,
The CBZ
“Everybody from Memphis to Maui, every writer, butcher, welder, and stripper with a beating pulse is looking forward to it. We’re all looking forward to these two archenemies finally stepping into the ring come Saturday night. Everybody except for one guy. And although Tyson will quickly discover what 250 pounds of Lennox Lewis feels like when it leans on you like an oak tree, everybody at least back up Iron Mike with that overused “puncher’s chance” cliché. They give Tyson a chance despite a thick layer of ring rust, shaky balance, waning speed, a Swiss-cheese defense, and a bum-of-the-month resume. But everybody from the fans to the media gives Tyson at least a chance of connecting one crushing haymaker on Lewis’ questionable chin and reclaiming the heavyweight crown for the third time in his troubled career. Everybody except for one guy. It’s the same guy being forced into a fight that down deep, he truly doesn’t want –
Mike Tyson. At the core of all the hooks, crosses, and uppercuts that start flinging from the opening bell, this fight will come down to one thing. Confidence. Mike Tyson is stock out of it. Lewis wins by 2nd round DQ.”
Ted Bodenrader,
The Ring Magazine
“Lewis comes out cautiously, and tries to handle Tyson's charges. Tyson tries hard for 3 or 4 rounds, but doesn't make much progress. Then, Lewis gets lazy in the 5th, and Tyson strikes quickly, dropping Lewis. Lewis gets up, but Tyson swarms him, causing Eddie
Cotton to stop the fight with 1:00 to go in the 5th.”
Knucklejunction,
The CBZ
“Lewis by DQ in 5.”
George Kimball,
The Boston Herald
“I'm fascinated by the building frenzy that is surrounding this fight. It wobbles the mind to realize that there are a TON of people who really believe Ol' Leg-Iron Mike is going to win. My problem with that is how a fighter who hasn't had one good performance in over 12 years is going to beat a legitimate champion like Lewis. Not to equivocate but I see 3 scenarios. 1- Lewis wipes the floor with him. I see it much like the first Foreman-Frazier fight. 2- Before Lewis
can KO him, Tyson goes mental & forces a DQ. 3- The fight devolves into a Bonecrusher Smith type cure for insomnia & Lewis wins by decision.
At any rate, I don't see how an unstable, undisciplined, head case,
who has hardly fought any rounds the last few years & is more than 12 years past his prime can win against a legitemate heavyweight champion with skills & power like Lennox Lewis.”
Gordoom (a/k/a the Ol’ Spit Bucket),
Managing Editor,
The CBZ
“Tyson by 7th round KO”
Fred Sternburg,
Public Relations Savant
“Tyson starts strong and hurts Lewis But Lewis then takes advantage of reach and frustrates Tyson. Eventually Tyson gives in and gets KO’d in the later rounds.”
Dom Forticella.
The Herald (New Britain, CT)
“Tyson by 5th round KO.”
Scott Ghertner,
MGM MIRAGE
“ Lewis by KO inside 8 rounds. Lennox will come out cautiously & box from the outside for the first round or two. Tyson will become frustrated getting peppered with the jab and will start throwing wild shots while leaving himself wide open. And that WILL cost him dearly. I just see this fight being a replay of Foreman - Frazier I with Lewis playing the part of Big George, except that he'll outbox Mike before he smashes him into next week. By Sunday morning, Tyson will no longer be a threat to the Heavyweight Championship again and may well retire if he gets the beating I'm almost certain he'll get Saturday night.
Let's get real for a minute here folks, Tyson was past his prime a FULL DECADE AGO ! His last impressive win was against Frank Bruno in the 1996 rematch, and in my opinion it had more to do with Frank soiling himself than Mike's ability.
And while Mike's been feasting on guys like Julius Francis, Lou Savarese, Brian Neilsen, Orlin Norris and Bruce "Well, she LOOKED 18" Sheldon (looking average while doing in), Lewis has fought and dominated Evander twice, destroyed Michael Grant & Frans Botha, and took some real hell from a motivated Ray Mercer. While Mike's been fighting opposition that would have trouble getting rated in the IBO's top 10, the fighters that Lennox has beaten are/were real threats to win a title.
Also, the only times Lennox has lost was due to his own carelessness and overconfidence. And he avenged both losses. I doubt seriously that he'll be either careless or overconfident for this fight. And to make matters worse for Ol' Leg Iron ( big ups to 'Bucket) is that Lennox is angry & motivated for him. When Lewis is in this state of mind, he finishes the job quickly & brutally.
This could be every Tyson haters favorite fight.”
Steve Coughlin,
The CBZ
“THE X FACTOR IS THE LEWIS CHIN, if he had Holyfield's chin we would be asking if Tyson could take the Lewis right for 12 rounds. Neither fighter is at his peak so that's a wash. Who ever is the winner should be regarded the better fighter. I have said since 1986 that Tyson is overrated, nothing that happens in this fight will change that. However right now I think he's a little underrated. Say what ever you want about Tyson, he was a force because he could really punch and get his punches off quickly. He still can do both if he is in condition. I have to believe he will be at his best for this fight. I've been terrible picking fights in which Lewis was a participant. When I have felt he wins easy he has struggled or lost. When I felt he was going to get beat he has fought well. I just can't pick his fights. Right now I think Lewis is slightly overrated, coming off his knockout of Rahman, and Tyson slightly underrated coming off his fight with Neilson. Call me a cynic but, I just have a feeling I'll be back to 1988-89 defending my opinion on Tyson as to why I think he is one of the three most overrated heavyweight champions in history along with Johnson and Dempsey. After seeing Rahman fight Holyfield this past weekend, knowing he has a knockout win over Lewis, could you honestly say a Tyson knockout over Lewis is a reach in this fight? NO, TYSON KO in 3.”
Frank J. Lotierzo
ESPN Radio 1490
"Toe to Toe"
& The CBZ
“Lewis by 2nd round disqualification. Mike is too crazy to be in a boxing ring at this point. This fight shouldn't even be taking place.”
Kurt Emhoff,
Maxboxing.com
“Like many, I'm kind of on the fence about the Tyson fight...my head says Lewis but my gut says Tyson in a shocking KO. I'll go with Tyson by knockout, early. If it doesn't happen early it won't happen.”
Ted Kluck,
The CBZ
“I would think Tyson's window of opportunity is rather small, based on his recent outings and the mystery of his current training. First off, if he weighs more than 230 his chances are much reduced, but below that he's in shape and would be quicker than Lewis, which could be interesting. Tyson's power can potentially spring the upset anytime over the first three rounds, but after that his focus and stamina are highly suspect. And of course, if Tyson's eating Lewis' left jab all night---and he should be, given the size differential alone--his focus will depart much earlier. Lewis has had some alarming low points against subpar foes like McCall and Rahman, but he's usually ready for the big ones like Golota, and Holyfield. He may not come out like a barnburner but he doesn't have to, just consistent boxing will be enough to let Tyson self-destruct. But Tyson probably won't allow himself tobe knocked out ala Buster Douglas, so I'd predict Tyson does something squirrelly to get DQ'd in round 6.”
Jay Miller,
Quincy (Mass.) Patriot Ledger
“I will go with the upset and take Tyson to win. He SEEMS motivated for this fight and I think his lack of size compared to Lennox could really work in his favor. If Tyson can get his head moving and fight with intensity I think he will be too quick and too strong for Lennox.”
“Ice” John Scully
Former World Title Challenger
“Lewis is victorious one way or another. The particulars of this contest are still very questionable to me. Tyson has IMO laid the groundwork necessary to quit this contest and in my opinion will do so if Lewis frustrates him with his superior skills. Short of Tyson landing the homerun bomb early in the fight, something Tyson could do, I don't give him much of a chance against Double L.”
Jack Dunne
MaxBoxing.com
June 5, 2002
Golden Boy Promotes at the Rose Garden
By Katherine Dunn
The Portland Rose Garden arena will be the site of three upcoming pro fight cards as announced Wednesday, June 5. Oscar De La Hoya’s "Golden Boy Promotions" will stage the first in the series on Thursday, July 18. Headlining will be WBO Intercontinental bantamweight Champ, Carlos Madrigal (21-2, 14 KO’s) of Oxnard, CA. The 24 year-old Madrigal will meet 25 year-old Alejandro Barrera of Culiacan, Mexico. Barrera’s record is 14-0, 10 KO’s.
Also appearing on the July 18 card will be IFBA bantamweight champ, Bridget "Baby Doll" Riley, against an opponent yet to be named.
Oscar De La Hoya told the assembled reporters that he would not be attending the July kick-off show in the Rose Garden because he would be in training for his bout with Fernando Vargas, which is scheduled for Sept. 14.
The Rose Garden press conference declared a cooperative venture featuring the sponsorship of the Spirit Mountain Casino run by the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde, for the Golden Boy Promotions events at the Rose Garden.
Golden Boy has been promoting in five other venues in California and in Talahassee, Florida using what the company chief operating officer, Roy Englebrecht referred to as "the Golden Boy program." All the events run on Thursday nights, so as not to compete with other entertainment options. They feature reasonable ticket prices. Tickets at the Rose Garden will range from $15 to $75. Golden Boy pledges to use top rated fighters in their main events, and to feature local talent on the undercards. The promotional company is also committed to having at least one women’s bout on every show.
In addition to the July 18 date, Golden Boys is scheduled for pro fight cards at the Portland Rose Garden on September 19, and November 14.
---30---
June 4, 2002
Kong by Lucius Shepard
I have no doubt that when the definitive film about Mike Tyson's life is made, the plot will greatly resemble the plot of King Kong. Taken from a jungle where if he did not rule, he was at the least a contender. His career guided by a white man, his soul nourished by the ministrations of an elderly Italian Fay Wray. Exploited, put on display and encouraged in his beastlike violence. Cheered, goggled at, then ridiculed. Always the symptoms, the warnings, that one day he might break the bars of his cage and turn on his keepers. Inflamed by beautiful women, often to the point of apparent criminal behavior. Enraged by the flashbulbs of the media. Slowly driven mad, the victim both of his nature and of ours...That is the simple skeleton Hollywood will unearth from the technicolor corpus of Mike Tyson's life. A more exhaustively researched and carefully crafted project, whether film or book, would likely reveal the skeleton of an entirely different creature, one that might surprise us. But Hollywood will surely seize upon the superficial similarities between last century's great ape and the millennial version, and enshrine that statue in our minds. That is how we will see him. That is how history will see him. Indeed, that is how many of us see him now.
We have always been passionate about Mike Tyson. Like any truly
larger-than-life figure--and in this regard, Tyson is the only other member
of a pantheon that includes Muhammad Ali--he is less a man than a repository
for our passion, a focus through which we pour the excess of our emotions,
the extremes of feeling that we cannot or are not permitted to express
toward those we know. We can rise to our feet in wonderment at what he
does, we can talk excitedly about him, we can revile him, we can personify
him in any way we choose, inject him with our hope, our self-loathing and
self-approbation, our perverse urges, our sin. And eventually, should he
survive to this, we will perform the ultimate cruelty and ignore him. He
has for us the importance of a vast target, a Macy's parade balloon floating
overhead, a face in the clouds. We are free to feel toward him as we accuse
him of feeling toward us. (Does anyone not believe that Tyson has directed
toward his audience every emotion his audience has directed toward him, and
done so for much the same reasons and with much the same explosive passion,
reacting to what he perceives as our reaction, both parties essentially
ignorant of the other?) If we are interested in Tyson, it might be
instructive at this moment to step back and make a last attempt to discover
who he is and was, and what he meant to the world we invented for him to
rage in. We should listen to those among us who have known him and those
who understand the sport of boxing and what he has accomplished; but we
should notice that even their opinions of the man are widely varied, and
that many of these opinions, like Tyson himself, have grown large and
distorted and acquired a lurid and practiced coloration under the promptings
of countless television interviewers and chat room hosts. If we are not
interested in Tyson, then we should quit saying we are not interested or
--a more honest choice--admit that we have lied. Certainly anyone
interested in boxing is interested in Tyson. How could we not be? Our
attitudes toward him have always been generated by the same battery that
generated his attitudes toward us. We are--to one degree or
another--accomplices in each other's lives, distant cousins in a kind of
diffuse, electronically united family, and in the end we will listen to none
but our own emotional and unanalytic voices concerning him. Between Tyson
and us, it's personal.
When he was a young fighter, obeying the rules, speaking in even tones to
reporters, acting the good ape, it was the potehtial lawlessness of Tyson's
style that excited us. The shattering outcomes of his bouts, the
possibility of bone, of gross anatomical insult. That he could do these
things, commit these offences, yet still wear a suit and spell his
name--this charmed us. The thought of all that violence civilized! Yet
even when we claimed to love him and stood in awe of his performances, we
nourished the potentials of our hatred and disgust. The histories of all
great bone-breakers are essentially the same. Sooner or later we turn on
them and demand their blood, just as the crowds in the Collossieum once
demanded the lives of their ex-favorites. Perhaps we do this in part
because we are guilty at the pleasure they have given us, at the hint of
bloody voyeurism that attaches to our witness. Perhaps we feel that such
brutality, even in the service of our entertainment, deserves a cruel
punishment. But why we do this is unimportant--the important thing is that
we do it, that something in the style of these men makes us yearn for their
destruction.
The fact that in Muhammad Ali and Tyson we have created two icons of such
imposing and opposing character (not made them out of whole cloth, but
enabled them, encouraged them in their ways), doubtless speaks to some
unsavory cultural determinant. A study of the changes in our society viewed
through the lens of these two men and how we related to them might well be
illuminating, but even on a superficial level it's interesting to
contemplate the demonization of Tyson, his seeming transformation into a
grotesque, in contrast to the process by which Ali achieved cannonization.
Ali came to us out of the delirium of the 60s, from the city of sweet julips
and fast horses, bearing a noble Roman name, looking like a young movie
star, and possessed of a beautiful style. His speed and fluidity were
balletic, an art, and for this we forgave him what he did to other men. The
beatings and the humiliations. He won a gold medal at the Games of Rome and
defeated the monster Sonny Liston for the championship of the world. His
politics and his glibness attracted displeasure for a while, but his
politics were validated by history and his glibness grew on us in time. He
seemed to become, eventually, something of the man we wanted him to be. He
became Ali, an ambassador to the world, a figure ennobled by his wars. He
ascended marble stairways and spoke with kings. Along the way he had a
life, made bad mistakes in marriage, committed dishonorable acts, most of
which will remain his secret, and now, his voice muffled by the gray silk of
his disease, he cannot tell us who he was or is. We venerate him, we pity
him, this old man who plays magic tricks for children. We think we know
him, but we are wrong.
Tyson, on the other hand, came to us from Brownsville, as hard, drab, and
tore-down a place as the name implies. He was lifted from the criminal
streets, from a prison road, and brought before us shy, sullen, and
uncommunicative. His speed was the speed of a crocodile striking and his
style was a slaughterhouse hammer. He won no medals, and his championship,
albeit well-earned, had more the feel of an execution than an ascendancy.
His bad intentions were a metaphor for the smash-and-grab economics of the
80s. His left hook was Greed. We winced when it connected. We forgave him
nothing. Through death or duplicity, his handlers abandoned him in
mid-career, and these and other betrayals--both real and imagined--served to
unhinge him. He seemed to become the animal Destructor robot we wanted him
to be. He became Iron Mike, assaulter of women and men, the deranged victim
of his past or--more pertinently--his nature. Then he fell apart. He
descended into prison, reclaimed his title, let it slip away. Along the way
he had a life, made hideous mistakes in marriage, committed many
dishonorable acts, most of which have been televized. Now he squints and
grimaces at us, a gold-toothed mask with a feral smile, and when he tells us
who he is, we only hear the expletives and think the rest a con. We abjure
him, we deride him, this borderline psychotic who takes happy pills and
boasts of fornication. We think we know him, but we are wrong.
Perhaps these men would have achieved exactly what they have if we had not
elevated them and wedded them to our expectations. Again, this is
unimportant. That we have done so unites us in a public whisper that
insists upon completion for the arc of our expectations, and thus the fight
that will take place on the night of June 8th is not merely a fight--it is
on some level a celebration of hubris, the final act, perhaps, in a play
that we have helped author for the past twenty years, the ritual destruction
of a devil made from the raw materials of a man. If it proves not to be the
final act, if Tyson wins, not to worry. It won't be long before he'll make
that climb to the top of the Empire State and either die for us or destroy
himself in some suitably post-modern fashion. A night like that is written
into our contract with him--its inevitability is guaranteed. But the
likelihood is that Lennox Lewis will serve as the executioner of our
consensus and knock Tyson from his height, leave him twitching and rumbling
on his back. Then someone will mouth a platitude that serves as epitaph,
the lights will go down, the crowd will go home, and all that will remain of
what once seemed so monstrous, so irresistable in its natural force, yet was
so pitifully vulnerable despite this, will be the dead flesh, the official
cleaners, and an awful stink ripening in the streets.
June 3, 2002
WCOB Weekend Round-up
Sven Ottke new supremo at super middleweight
Leonard Dorin new World Cup leader "All Weights"
Evander Holyfield still in the game with deserved technical win over
Rahman
by Kris Van de Velde
Leonard Dorin (#2, v1800) gave Rumanian professional boxing a welcome boost in Bucharest on Friday, when he outscored Raul Balbi (#6, v1000) for the second time in five months to retain his WBA belt. His undisputed victory made the Rumanian lightweight star again the sole World Cup leader in his division and the new leader in the "All Weights" category. Dorin added 1000 points to his points tally and thus now exceeds Vernon Forrest's mark by 800 points. The year is far from over, but already now it is clear that Dorin could be a strong contender for the primary WCup honours at the end of December.
The rematch versus Balbi did not deliver the same spectacle as in January. This time, Dorin was simply too strong and peppered the Argentinean with right hands from the start. Balbi had a brief moment in the eighth, but couldn't turn the tide. Dorin still floored his foe in round 11 before taking the unanimous decision: 118-111, 117-112 and 118-110.
Also on Friday, James Toney (#8, v800) kept his hopes of a shot at a recognized cruiserweight belt alive when he stopped Michael Rush in the tenth round after an entertaining contest. Rush actually did a fine job against a once again heavy Toney (198 lbs), but a well-placed body shot floored him. Toney will most likely rise to seventh place in WCOB's total ranking.
Moving on to Saturday, the results of which will be processed in view of the July ranking, most attention obviously went to the heavyweight showdown in Atlantic City between veteran warrior Evander Holyfield (#4, v1400) and Hasim Rahman (#10, v600). Rightfully so, because the two former champions delivered a good, fast-paced and clean fight, rather ironically halted due to an alleged accidental headbutt. In round 8, the swelling above Rahman's left eye had become so tremendous that the ring doctor had no other option but to advice a halt to the bout. The scorecards up until that point were consulted and two of the three judges correctly had Holyfield clearly in front.
The third judge strangely had a point in favour of Rahman.
After an even opener, Holyfield took control with great left hooks and his traditional combination-punching. Rahman had no definitive answer to that, until he turned on the aggression in round 5 and began landing some good right hands. But one round later, Holyfield showed his still exceptional determination and physical condition with an assault that brought the Rock on the ropes. Although he mostly didn't do enough to earn a round, Rahman was surely not out of his depth against Holyfield, and he may still have a future at top level. He also joined a growing list of fighters who blame Holyfield for excessive use of his head.
Thanks to his technical decision win, Holyfield becomes second in the
running World Cup series at heavyweight with 600 points. Leading is David Tua with 900 points after his k.o.-win over Oquendo. In the overall standings, Holyfield temporarily moves up to a joint-second place with Lennox Lewis. But as everyone knows, Lewis is fighting Tyson next week and can earn 1600 points in that one...
In Nuremburg, Germany, Sven Ottke (#3, v1600) retained his IBF super
middleweight title with another easy points win over #5 Thomas Tate
(v1200). The scorecards read 119-111, 116-111 and 118-109. Ottke also
scored a knockdown in round 2, while the American challenger had a serious lack of ideas against the awkward titlist. The unbeaten German superstar takes over from his English rival Joe Calzaghe in both the WCup as the total ranking. The gap in the WCup is slightly over 300 points, so it should not be too difficult for Calzaghe to retaliate. It will be interesting to see how this competition further develops and eventually determines who of the two can rightfully claim to be the best super middle in the world.
Super lightweight Ricky Hatton (#6, v1000) will climb to the very top of his division's rankings after a convincing but tough 12-rounds win over Irishman Eamonn Magee (#13, v470). Things looked horrible for Hatton initially, as he was dropped on his back by a perfect counter-right and rocked badly again in the second. Afterwards however, Hatton changed tactics and outboxed Magee with straight blows and superior speed for the remainder of the fight.
Magee lured too much for the knockout blow and basically gave many rounds away by trying to trap Hatton. The outcome was thus never contested: 116-111 (twice) and 115-112 in favour of the 23-year-old rising star, who surely had a great learning experience.
On the Manchester undercard, well-ranked middleweight Anthony Farnell (#31, v283) controversially lost a 12-rounds decision against South African Ruben Groenewald (#61, v106 at 168 lbs). Farnell scored knockdowns in rounds 9 and 12, but also lost three points for hitting below the belt.
June 3, 2002
Friday Night Fights in Oregon
by Barry Stephen Hanley
One quality fight and two instantly forgettable ones took place at the Chinook Winds Casino in Lincoln City, Oregon on Friday Night. In the main event James Toney beat Michael Rush in a cruiserweight bout that ended by TKO at 2:10 of the 10th. A thrilling rematch of the Balbi/Dorin battle was scheduled but ESPN refused to show the bout because Dorin bore a Golden Palace.Com temporary tattoo on his back. This caper is strictly forbidden by the powers that be at ESPN. Heaven forbid that a guy that puts his life on the line should try to make a few unfiltered bucks. Anyway, highlights were shown and Dorin won in his home country of Romania.
The first and best fight of the evening featured another Romanian. The Junior Middleweight bout had Tony Badea (28-5-1, 15 KO's) versus Darrell Woods (19-6-0). Woods won by stoppage at 2:29 of the 7th round. Badea, a tough Romanian cut from the same cloth as Dorin, took the fight to the taller and rangier American fighter from the opening bell. In the second, Badea hurt Woods with a series of quality combinations on the inside. Woods, reminiscent of Tommy Hearns failed to capitalize on his physical advantages choosing to fight Badea's fight on the inside. Ironically, this proved to be an effective strategy. Woods accurate power shots on the inside had more snap and the cumulative effect began to hurt Badea. The Romanian was then utterly psyched out. He had managed to tailor the fight to his strengths but was still on the losing end of the exchanges. Referee Jeff Macaluso called it off in the 7th after Badea was subjected to a par! ticularly savage battering.
The next fight of the evening fell into the instantly forgettable pantheon of the busted beak business. Two relatively unknown Welterweights, Eduardo "Mama's Boy" Mendivel ( 8-3-3, 1 KO) and Daniel "Big Red" Sukerow (10-7, 5 KO's). Despite the presence of top caliber Oregonian fighter Greg Haugen in his corner, Mendivel didn't show anything impressive. Both men fought a dull, unimaginative fight in which Mendivel took a unanimous decision.
On to the main event featuring the mercurial James "Lights Out" Toney. Toney has gone through more reincarnations and reinventions than Madonna. In his bloated Cruiserweight version, he looks sluggish and lackadaisical. Toney, is capable of flashes of brilliance though. His defensive expertise gives a tantalizing glimpse of what could be.
Prior to the Rush fight, Toney was ranting and raving about Roy Jones Jr., " I don't kiss nobody ass like Roy. I'll fight anyone, anywhere." When queried on a fight with Jirov he was adamant, "It's the only fight that anyone wants to see in the Cruiserweight division." Toney may be right but his surly attitude and unappealing braggadocio will not endear him to the fans.
He coasted through the fight never looking remotely in trouble. During the fight, Toney began posturing as if he was on a carefree walk in a park somewhere. He seemed bored and unchallenged and so was everyone who saw the fight.
Toney scored a knockdown in the 10th with a vicious left hook to the body a la Mickey Ward. The body blow knocked the fight clean out of Rush and Ref Mike Fisher called it off at 2:10 of the 10th and final round.
June 3, 2002
CBZ Ringside Report: Holy Rolls The Rock
By Robert Ecksel
Certain entities rise and fall and rise theatrically from the ashes. Take Atlantic City, for instance. From happy hunting ground for Absegami Indians to newfangled resort to fool’s paradise in a century, AC has had more reversals than the warrior Evander Holyfield.
From the 1880s to the 1940s, "The Queen of the Coast" was a Mecca for sweaty Northerners. Desperate to escape the sizzling city in the old days before there was coolant, thousands fled New York and environs to a town boasting world-class entertainment. Stars from stage and screen made Atlantic City an A-1 destination. And many icons graced the piers which perched above the Atlantic: Al Jolson. Amos ‘n Andy. Bob Hope. Frank Sinatra. Jackie Gleason. Benny Goodman. Burns and Allen.
As if all that showbiz wasn’t enough to put Atlantic City on the map, there was also the mother of all beauty pageants to lure bored citizens seaside. Begun as a lark in 1921, Miss America paraded moral standards while half-dressed women hinted otherwise. In a time before cable and internet and Playboy magazine, Atlantic City’s Miss America Pageant was the hottest thing going.
But things change. Times change. Tastes change. Atlantic City changed as well. By the late 1950s, AC was on the skids. It’s former glories, such as they were, became a shadow of an echo of a memory. The city’s crumbling infrastructure and fleeing population were evidence of paradise lost.
A couple of diehards clung to a past that was untenable, unrecognizable and beyond resurrection. These attractions were a sexy blonde on a snow white steed doing swan dives in a tub of cold water and a maudlin memento of ragged strippers mourning vaudeville at the Globe Burlesque Theater. Two noble institutions tried to keep hope alive, but it was futile, there was rock ‘n roll, there were TV dinners. These postcards, a heartfelt tribute to a bygone era, were only relevant to an anthropologist or a wrecking ball.
As if in celebration of the bicentennial itself, in 1976 the founding fathers rolled the dice on a bet that gambling was good for Atlantic City. The place was such a slum that anything had to be better. So up they went, casino after casino, and down they came, neighborhood after neighborhood, and in their wake there was avarice, along came vice, along came boxing.
Former champions Evander Holyfield and Hasim Rahman met Saturday night in Atlantic City’s Boardwalk Hall. Ostensibly an IBF/WBA elimination bout, the two pugilists about eliminated each other. Holyfield is a full-fledged warrior from his head down to his toes. Hasim Rahman is a rugged bruiser with more courage than he has talent. We knew these two pugs would duke it out. There was a shot at the title at stake. Holyfield gave 200%. The Rock must return to the drawing board.
What about the single right which dropped Lennox Lewis in Johannesburg? Was that just a lucky punch? A shot in the dark? Was it Hasim Rahman’s Oliver McCall moment? Is Lennox actually as china-chinned as these hits suggest? Will Mike Tyson . . . ? Thoughts like these troubled us as Hasim Rahman came up short, they annoyed us as he came away misshapen.
Holyfield is as Holyfield does. He was masterful. He was in control. He was the ring general. And his crisp, compact, short left hook remains a thing of exceptional beauty. Evander didn’t completely dominate the challenger Hasim Rahman, but the fight was too one-sided to generate much enthusiasm. Holy’s desire to win at all cost is a part of boxing legend. Vander’s speed and experience and confidence and connects were helped by headbutts in Atlantic City.
Both men knew that this bout’s winner gets a shot at the big kahuna. Considering all that’s in the balance, it’s hard - no, make that impossible - to understand what Hasim Rahman thought he was doing. Team Rahman had no strategy, no comprehensive fight plan, for countering Evander Holyfield. Holy does what he’s always done. We thought The Rock knew better than to spend the evening headhunting. Evander Holyfield is way too smart to fall for that old ruse. Way too smart for Hasim Rahman.
Holy’s skull bonked The Rock’s forehead several times. Occasionally Rahman was struck and dazed, now and then he bled, and sometimes he was wobbled. But The Rock is no sissy. He gave it all he had. Unfortunately what he had wasn’t nearly enough. To add to his troubles, a grotesque hematoma began to emerge as a lump above his left temple. This orb grew bigger and bigger round after round until it looked like a hardball. Former heavyweight champion Hasim Rahman had turned into a gargoyle. (Or as The Rock described it at the post-fight press conference: "I got this extra head on my head.") The ring physician, with a little prodding from Larry Hazzard and HBO, stopped the experiment and went to the judges’ scorecards. Commander Vander strolled away with a win and hopes for a fifth heavyweight title. Hasim Rahman walked away with more questions than he had answers.
If Evander Holyfield is Atlantic City, Hasim Rahman might be Trenton.
June 2, 2002
Holyfield Revives Career with Headbutt Win over Rahman
By Chris Bushnell
Evander Holyfield is back. He’s back in the ratings, back in contention, and back to his old form. Well, almost. The three-time legitimate heavyweight champion (and one time illegitimate heavyweight champion) has risen from the ashes of the John Ruiz series with a startlingly fresh performance against recent heavyweight champion, Hasim Rahman.
The pushing-40 Holyfield may have looked old against Vaughn Bean, been outclassed by Lennox Lewis, and looked completely shot against the aforementioned Ruiz, but with his career on the line, Holyfield battered Rahman around an Atlantic City ring for eight rounds before a grotesque swelling on Rahman’s head sent the fight to the cards early. In short, it was Holyfield’s best outing in five years… and more than enough to secure another shot at a heavyweight championship belt. Holyfield had insisted that Ruiz’ awkward style, flagrant holding, and epileptic punching were the cause of his lackluster showing.
Against a conventional boxer-puncher like Rahman, Holyfield would be given every opportunity to prove his point. Holyfield met Rahman in center ring moments after the opening bell, and immediately established a superior jab. But Evander was not content to simply feel Rahman out. Early in the opening round Holyfield began countering Rahman’s jab with a short left hook. Time and again, Holyfield slipped right, watched Rahman’s jab sail past and then fired a short hook into the center of Rahman’s face. At first this seemed like a mere reaction to Rahman’s stick, but after a short period of time it became clear that the hook was a major part of Holyfield’s gameplan. If Rahman passively stood there, Holyfield’s short hook, which nearly morphed into an uppercut at times, would dig hard into Rahman’s body. More often, however, Rahman ducked right into the path of the punch as he dipped his head behind the jab. Holyfield had clearly spent some quality time watching Rahman on video. Rahman wasn’t completely ineffective in the first round. He landed a solid right hand on Holyfield in the final minute of the round. But beyond that shot, most of Rahman’s punches were slaps to Holyfield’s arms as the bout moved to close quarters. In close quarters, Holyfield continued to throw and land his short hook, including two crunching shots to Rahman’s mouth that were landed when Hasim was facing away from all three judges. It wasn’t surprising to see Holyfield land punches on Rahman, but no one was expecting Holyfield to be controlling the action, fighting with vigor, and maintaining a busy pace.
After only one round it was clear that Holyfield was looking more like his younger self. In round two, Holyfield further established his dominance as the fight turned into a rough slugfest. Time and again, the fighters would come together, fists flying. Rahman mostly missed. Holyfield was landing. At first he threw a long jab-cross, but by mid round had changed it up to short one-two that loudly crashed into Rahman’s mug. Holyfield filled the space in between with a steady diet of short left hooks. Plenty of these shots landed on Rahman’s right side. Others landed on the upper ribs. Rahman even ducked his head into the path of a few incoming hooks. In short, Holyfield was doing a number on him. Rahman desperately needed to establish the jab, but every time he reached out, Holyfield found a way to put his hands on him. While Holyfield may not have been unleashing the most unique series of punches, he successfully changed up his offerings often enough that Rahman didn’t know what to expect. By mid-round, Rahman was getting that look on his face… the one that looks like he might rather be elsewhere.
Midway into the third, a round in which Holyfield was already winning, Rahman found himself typically off-balance after missing with a big bomb. As a bent-over Rahman started to stand upright, the back of his head ran into a big Holyfield right. A rattled Rahman grabbed on for dear life. Since he was bent forward, he ended up grabbing one of Holyfield’s legs, and the ensuing bear hug briefly lifted Holyfield off the mat. Sensing that Rahman was hurt, Holyfield jumped on Rahman after the ref forced a clean break. Coming at Rahman, Holyfield landed a perfect left to the body before following with a long right hand to the head. The punches further shook Rahman, who now began backing up into a neutral corner. You should never retreat against Holyfield unless you’re setting a trap. Rahman wasn’t. As Holyfield charged forward, throwing punches all the way, Rahman tried to cover up and weather the storm. A big Holyfield right hand wove through Rahman’s guard, snapping Rahman’s head back and drawing huge cheers from the crowd. After another half-dozen punches, only a few of which landed, Holyfield needed a breather. He backed towards center ring. Rahman came out of his corner, but was too gun-shy to attack. While Holyfield caught his breath, Rahman simply stood there and watched. The result was a huge round for Evander Holyfield.
The fighters had maintained an intense pace through three rounds, and it wasn’t surprising when the pace slowed in the fourth. Both men jabbed ineffectively for a minute before a Rahman right cross (his only real weapon) caught Holyfield on the face. Evander backed up a few steps towards the ropes. There, he blocked a few more Rahman attempts before another sizzling right hand found it’s way through Holyfield’s cross-arm defense. With Holyfield taking a break on the ropes, the blow looked eerily like the punch that knocked out Lennox Lewis. Indeed, it landed loud and flush as sweat flew from Holyfield’s shaved head. Unlike Lewis, however, Holyfield did not fold up. In fact, Holyfield immediately fought back. Still on the ropes, Holyfield took two more rights before countering with a right uppercut that landed clean and allowed him to shuffle away from the ropes. Holyfield now hooked off the jab, and then buried his right hand into Rahman’s side. Holyfield’s answers had discouraged Rahman from attempting a finish, and the fight returned to a slower pace. For the final minute of the round, Rahman tried (and failed) to get in a hard head shot to Holyfield while Holyfield focused almost exclusively on body shots to close out the stanza. Rahman’s big right hand was enough to give him this very close round… but Holyfield’s bodywork looked like it would pay bigger dividends down the road.
Between rounds, the experience gap between the two fighters was immense. While Holyfield would return to his corner and calmly absorb advice and fluids, Rahman usually sat in his corner wide-eyed and nervous, a cornerman trying to calm him about Holyfield’s alleged headbutting, or a small cut that had briefly appeared on Rahman’s forehead. Rahman came out for round five in a malaise. As he has in past bouts, his face (if not fighting style) seemed to say, “I’d rather be fishing.” Holyfield controlled another slower round for over two full minutes before Rahman finally woke up and remembered to land his right hand. The punch was Rahman’s best of the night: a well-timed counter that sailed over Holyfield’s jab. The blow landed hard, and while the granite-chinned Holyfield wasn’t wobbled, he did briefly stop punching. As the round ticked out, Rahman finally followed up with a second jarring right hand… but Holyfield answered this final blow with two rights of his own. Rahman’s haymaker, the defining blow of the round, stole the round from Holyfield. It would be the last Rahman would win. As Holyfield came out for round six, the tide looked like it might be shifting. Holyfield, who had started so incredibly well, had slowed. Worse, Rahman was just beginning to time his right hand. But the rally was over no sooner than Holyfield swiped Rahman with a right hand and left hook early in the sixth. The Rock drifted back a step to the ropes and covered up as a lively Holyfield began letting his hands go. After a half-dozen unanswered shots to Rahman’s sides and head, Holyfield again needed a short rest. Rahman simply couldn’t capitalize. He would let Holyfield hold on after a flurry, and then bounce away after the ref finally called for a break. Rahman waited until Holyfield was recovered before finally launching a huge right hand. The punch crunched Holyfield in the mouth and could have been a deciding blow… had Holyfield not also thrown a beautiful right hand at the exact same time. Holyfield’s punch landed simultaneously, and with equal devastation. Afterwards, it seemed like neither man was aware that the other might be hurt, and 30 seconds of inactivity followed the double-punch. Holyfield secured the round in his favor when, with 10 seconds to go, he nailed Rahman with a heavy right hand. By this time, Holyfield had taken over the bout. He was landing more often, and his punches had more of an effect. And while Rahman remained dangerous, Holyfield only had one punch to look out for: the right. Rahman tried to fire his money shot home, but rarely jabbed before launching. Holyfield would simply let Rahman miss, then unload while his opponent was off-balance.
Midway through the seventh, Holyfield caught Rahman with a left hook, followed by a sharp right hand. The punches hurt Rahman, who again retreated to the ropes and covered up. Holyfield once again exploded in a flurry of punches, battering Rahman on the ropes with a vigor not seen in years. At one point during Holyfield’s smothering assault, the fighters clashed heads. More specifically, the top of Evander’s tucked head clashed with the side of Rahman’s forehead. Coming in the middle of both men swinging for their lives, it was a classic example of an accidental clash of heads. The problem was that within a half-second of the butt, a small bubble appeared just on the front of Rahman’s temple. Within less than a second of the bubble’s appearance, Holyfield landed a downward right hand right on the swelling, and soon clipped the spot with another heavy shot. The two punches aggravated a mouse that was growing just fine on it’s own, and within seconds Rahman was sporting a fierce four-inch hematoma on his left forehead. Rahman survived the flurry, but was in no condition to pound Holyfield back as he rested up again. Rahman pawed at the swelling, aware that something was wrong but unable to detect the size of the large growth on his head. The swelling distracted Rahman from rallying, and Holyfield landed a few more right hands to the spot before a bell sent Rahman back to his corner. Cornerman Miguel Diaz immediately applied a freezing Enswell to the flesh bubble, trying in vain to disperse the fluid accumulating on Rahman’s head. Rahman groaned in pain as Diaz did his best… but when round eight began, the swelling clearly looked larger than it had when Rahman first arrived in the corner. If Holyfield was looking young before, he was looking particularly sprite in the eighth round. Rahman was clearly in distress as the round began, and his condition seemed to spur Holyfield on. Evander wasted no time in launching the overhand right, and within seconds he had landed three heavy flush shots right on the point of swelling. Rahman’s demeanor quickly switched from distracted to resigned. He backed away from Holyfield as he pawed at his head, pausing only to glance towards his corner for help. But this was not Rahman dogging it and looking for a way out.
The hematoma on his head had grown a large as a normal man’s fist, and after little more than a minute of Holyfield aggression in round eight, a doctor was brought in to look at the inflating wound. In a neutral corner, Rahman was told that the swelling was merely an accumulation of blood under the skin, and that if he could see he would be allowed to continue. Rahman probably could see just fine, but he opted out anyway. In this case, he could not be blamed. The swelling was abnormally grotesque, and the thought of Holyfield landing punches to the spot at will was just too scary. The doctors shouldn’t have made Rahman make the choice… but he did, and we went to the cards. With round eight partially completed, the judges should have scored it and included it in their tallies. For some reason they didn’t, reading off the scores of only the seven completed rounds.
One judge had Holyfield ahead 69-64. Melvina Lathan, one of the worst judges in the history of the sport, had Rahman ahead 67-66. The third and deciding judge gave Holyfield a technical decision with a score of 69-64. Boxing Chronicle had Holyfield ahead 68-65 after seven rounds. If the final round had been scored (and there was no way to score it for anyone but Holyfield), the scores would have been 79-73, 79-73 and 76-76, still a victory for Evander, although by majority decision instead of split. And so Evander Holyfield (now 38-5-2/25) has once again injected new life into his career. Although there was talk of a rematch from the Rahman camp, it’s unlikely. Holyfield has his mind set on the title, which means that he’s gunning for the winner of either Lewis-Tyson of Ruiz-Johnson. Since no one really wants to see Lewis-Holyfield III or Ruiz-Holyfield IV, we all know who Evander will be rooting for. This version of Holyfield might be able to take on the inactive Johnson… and we all know what would happen in Holyfield-Tyson III. So just when you though Evander was done, he’s back in line for a world title. He will be 40 before he fights again… and damn if he didn’t look better than the heavyweights who are 10 years his junior.,, for one night, anyway. As for Rahman, he’s still at the crossroads. He claimed he would retire if he lost to Evander Holyfield. He lost, but the headbutt-stoppage gives him an excuse to continue. But headbutt or not, Rahman is going to have to cope with the fact that he was losing by a wide margin to an aging Holyfield who was considered shot. It’s one of many things Rahman will have to cope with. Another is his flagging career. After his upset of Lewis, he was offered a five-fight deal with HBO; a deal that would have paid him tens of millions. Instead he was swayed by Don King and a duffle bag stuffed with cash. Now he’s lost twice and seems headed back to the bottom of the heavyweight barrel. Maybe Rahman can turn it around by facing someone like an untested Jameel McCline or heir-apparent Wladimir Klitschko. More likely is that Rahman will pull a Larry Donald and creep into the bogus Top Tens with a steady diet of Don King-supplied B and C level fighters. Who knows? Maybe Rahman can defy the odds and create his own spectacular comeback…. but let’s face it: he’s no Evander Holyfield.
…..Chris Bushnell http://www.boxingchronicle.com
June 2, 2002
Hatton W12 Magee - Fight Report from Manchester, England
Hatton Tops Magee
By Jim Dicksinson
Britain's top fighter, Ricky "Hitman" Hatton (29-0), came through the toughest test of his five year career, outpointing fierce rival Eamonn Magee over twelve hard fought, thrilling rounds in what was, for all intents and purposes, a world title eliminator between WBO#1, WBA#5 and WBC#3 Hatton, and WBC#5 Magee. The score cards read 116-111 (twice) and 115-112; both fighters were cheered on by a twenty thousand strong sell out crowd at the M.E.N. Arena.
The fight, and the occasion, deserved to be for more than the lightly regarded WBU light welterweight championship, of which Hatton was making the sixth defence.
He was the 1997 British amateur champion, and over the past eighteen months good fighters like Tony Pep, Freddie Pendleton, Justin Rowsell and Mikhail Krivolapov have all been stopped inside the distance.
The unbeaten Manchester star burst out of the blocks, and promptly hit the deck for the first time as a professional in the opening 60 seconds, but he wasn't badly hurt and bounced back to his feet at the count of three. The southpaw Irishman's tactics were based upon his impressive counterpunching, and he was content to rest on the ropes and try to catch his younger opponent on the way in. It worked then, and Hatton was hurt in the second round too, but he managed to modify his tactics from the third onwards, and pulled away down the stretch. Magee was pinned to the ropes for much of the fight, and was always trying to react to attacks from Hatton, instead of taking the initiative, which resulted in him losing too many rounds to have a chance of winning by decision.
In round four, Ricky suffered a nasty cut beneath his right eye, but thankfully for him previous cuts above both eyes never reopened. His excellent workrate and accuracy won the day, and few light welterweights will be able to survive his relentless bombardments of punishment to head and body.
On reflection, Eamonn may think that he could have done more, but he proved beyond doubt that he's world class, and a rematch somewhere down the line is likely.
For Ricky, a WBO title shot beckons later this year, but the ultimate goal is a crack at undisputed champion Kostya Tszyu. He would be favoured to dethrone DeMarcus Corley, although victory would automatically remove him from the rankings of the WBA, WBC and IBF, thus depriving him from attaining mandatory challenger status, which is probably his only way of getting a fight with the Australian based superstar.
In the meantime, this win should move the "Hitman" even higher up the main three rankings, and in my view Hatton (and Magee, for that matter) would make mincemeat out of Tszyu's next challenger, Gianluca Branco.
In the past, Britain's top promoter Frank Warren has brought stars like Mike Tyson, Marco Antonio Barrera and Acelino Freitas to our shores, and he will relish the challenge of staging Tszyu vs Hatton in an open air venue, perhaps next summer since the undisputed champion appears content for his mandatory defence against Branco to be his only other fight of 2002.
For now, 23 year old Ricky can enjoy his deserved status as Britain's most popular fighter. Prince Naseem Hamed is on the decline, while Lennox Lewis has fought just once in Britain in recent years.
Undercard results.
Local favourite Anthony Farnell lost a second attempt to become a WBU champion. Last year, he was knocked out in the opening round of a challenge for the light middleweight version; he moved up to 160lbs and after a few warm up contests, Frank Warren matched him against London based South African Ruben Goenwald as the chief supporting contest to Hatton vs Magee.
After 12 hard fought rounds which "Arnie" generally dominated, Goenwald was awarded a controversial decision that left ringsiders scratching their heads. The local fighter had three points deducted for low blows, yet he decked Goenwald in rounds nine and twelve and, for what it's worth, was a clear winner on my scorecard.
Warren was seething afterwards, and assured a close to tears Farnell that a rematch would be quickly arranged. There has been a feeling among British fight fans that Anthony is something of a manufactured boxer, who has benefited from careful matchmaking because he's a popular lad with an exciting style, who sells tickets by the sack full.
His devastating first loss, against WBO#2 light middleweight Takaloo, was a real shocker and critics argued that he'd finally been exposed. On this occasion, he was the moral winner at least, and his incredible effort should earn some well deserved sympathy, so when the dust settles Farnell may realise that it's not the end of the world.
His vociferous supporters will turn out in their droves for the rematch, which will probably see him reverse this loss, although Anthony will have to learn to keep his body punches above the waistband.
A third WBU title fight on the show saw another local ticket seller, Michael Gomez, retire on his stool after eight rounds against up and coming Kevin Lear at super featherweight. Gomez, WBO#4, is a former British champion and appears destined to remain at domestic level. It was Lear's 13th straight victory.
June 1, 2002
Klitschko-Mercer To Duel Later This Month
By Frank Lotierzo
WBO Heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko of the Ukraine met with former WBO champ "Merciless" Ray Mercer at a press conference today at the Taj Mahal in Atlantic City. Their meeting was to announce their upcoming match which will take place on the 29th of this month at the very same casino. This will be the second major heavyweight fight in A.C. this month, including tonight's heavyweight title elimination between former champs Evander "The Real Deal" Holyfield and Hasim "The Rock" Rahman. Both fighters spoke after promoters Cedric "I sound like Alfred Hitchcock" Kushner and Diane Lee Fischer. Mercer spoke first, saying that he considers this "a do or die fight" and that he's "in shape" and expects to win. Klitschko said that he is working on his English and said that if we can't understand him like we should, we will know what he means through his fists on the 29th.
Both fighters were asked their predictions on tonight's Holyield-Rahman bout. Klitschko said Holyfield is a friend of his and he expects him to win. Mercer said Holyfield will win because he doesn't think Rahman has paid his dues. After the press conference I spoke with Mercer who told me he expects Tyson to beat Lewis. Mercer said Tyson told him after he beats Lewis he will give Mercer a shot at his title since the two were supposed to meet last year.
Wladimir Klitschko is 38-1 with 35 and Mercer is 30-4-1 (22).
June 1, 2002
Commotion At The Ocean Results
By Katherine Dunn
Friday, May 31, 2002
Chinook Winds Casino
Lincoln City, Oregon
ESPN2 Friday Night Fights
Promoter: Sugar Ray Leonard Promotions
Matchmakers: Ron Katz and Bob Oleson
Referees: Jim Erickson, Mike Fisher, Jeff Macaluso,
Judges: Greg Baker, Bob Flamme, James Howard, Trevor Lewis, Denis Ryan
James "Lights Out" Toney, 197.25 lbs (Now 64-4-2, 41 KO’s) 33 years, of Detroit, MI continued his cruiserweight comeback with a TKO win at 2:10 of the 10th round over 34 year-old, Michael "Gold" Rush, 188.25 lbs (Now 23-6-1, 13 KO’s) of Tampa, Florida. A chubby Toney dominated Rush from the opening bell, and gave the impression he could have gotten rid of Rush at any point. He didn’t choose to put a concerted attack together until the 10th round when a hook to the liver stung Rush hard. The following barrage went unanswered so the ref stopped the fight.
In the Junior middleweight co-main event, the scheduled Verno Phillips was replaced by Darrell Woods, 154 .25 lbs, (now 20-6, 15 KO’s) of St. Petersburg, FL. With one weeks notice, the 6’3" Woods took on 28 year-old, 5’10", Romanian Tony Badea (25-4-1, 15 KO’s) now fighting out of Edmonton, Canada via Los Angeles. Woods used a long jab and his reach to keep Badea at bay, but even when Badea managed to get close, Woods out fought him on the inside despite an ugly cut and swelling over his right eye. Badea went down toward the end of the 4th round and survived by beating the count just at the bell. In the 7th round, with Badea soaking up punishment on the ropes, ref Jeff Macaluso stopped the fight. A TKO win for Woods at 2:27 of the 7th.
In a six round welterweight bout, light-fisted 28 year-old boxer Eduardo Mendivil, 148 lbs, (now 9-3-3, 1 KO) of Hemet, CA.
won a unanimous decision over 26 year old Darrell Sukerow, 147 lbs, of Edmonton, Canada, now fighting out Portland, OR. Scores were 59-55, 59-55, and 58-56.
In a middleweight four round bout 21 year-old Mark Woolnaugh, 168.25 lbs, of Vancouver, B.C. moved to 8-3-1, 2 KO’s, with a unanimous decision over 38 year-old Victor Branson, 166.25 lbs, of Willamina, OR who devolves to 3-3-1, 1 KO.
26 year-old Jr. middleweight William Chapman, 150 lbs, of Portland, OR improved to 4-0 with a four round unanimous decision over Jeff Horan, 153.5 lbs, (now 5-5, 4 KO’s) fighting out of Seattle.
Louis Sargeant, 174 lbs, of Richmond, B.C. won a unanimous 4 round decision over James Partch, 175 lbs, of Portland, OR.
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