Shadow Boxing at the Golden Gate, Part 1

Published

12 years ago

July 5, 2012

“The San Francisco fog has never been sufficiently glorified. The fogs… come in, not an enveloping blanket but a luminous drift, conferring a magic patina on the most commonplace structures, giving them an air of age and mystery.”

—Arnold Genthe, As I Remember, 1930.

San Francisco, California. On the morning of January 26^th 1975, a half-blind, fifty-seven-year-old hardware store clerk suffered cardiac arrest and collapsed at home. He died as quietly as he had lived. There were no public vigils, no testimonials about his contributions to society; few outside of family to mourn his loss. The man was also a fighter in the 1930s and 40s and this earned him a brief tribute in the sports section of the San Francisco Examiner. For a few aging readers, familiarity with the name may have fluttered in grainy memories before the page was turned. A service was held and the man was buried. Dust and silence descended.

The morning fog lifts like a curtain over the bay as the sun greets the Golden Gate Bridge. Five miles south is the old San Francisco Civic Auditorium, the site of some of the dead man’s biggest fights. A young boxing writer known for his cigar and ever-present fedora before Bert Sugar was born was there for all of them.

As it was, the writer never forgot him.

Archie Moore never forgot him either. Counted by many among the top ten greatest boxers who ever lived, the four-decade career of the Mongoose saw him roar through three divisions to become history’s king of knockouts with 131. Along the way he faced not one but two legendary heavyweight champions in Rocky Marciano and Muhammad Ali, though his hair was turning gray by the time he did.

This kind of longevity is rare. What allowed him to compete at such a high level for so long? The answer is found in choices made during his prime. Moore was a man who would walk out on Algebra and take Calculus simply to avoid being just another student. He’d face opposition everyone else sidestepped simply to avoid being just another pugilist. Moore earned his Ph.D in hard knocks from several hard men whose yellowed fight reports can still chill the spine. We call them “Murderers’ Row.”

Eddie Booker was among them.

“I’ve had some rough fights in my time,” said Moore, “but all things being equal, when I was in my prime, one of my toughest had to have been against Eddie Booker, a fighting machine… who shot out punches with deft precision.” He met Booker three times between 1941 and 1944 and knocked him down three times. Booker returned that favor twice plus one. The “dreaded Eddie Booker,” Moore remembered, “was one of the great fighters of my time. He had me fighting for dear life.”

The dreaded Eddie Booker of Murderers’ Row, a man the Mongoose could not beat—and probably the finest contender you’ve never heard of.

Sitting a few rows back from the action at key bouts during his career was Eddie Muller, boxing writer extraordinaire for the San Francisco Examiner. No film of Booker exists but this eyewitness also happened to be an expert analyst. Muller is our man on the scene.

On September 28^th 1942, Muller pointed his cigar at Lloyd Marshall and proclaimed him the first real middleweight test for Booker. “This fellow,” Muller warned Bay Area boxing fans, “can box or punch. He has more class than all of Booker’s middleweight victims.” That evening he watched the event at the Civic Auditorium and his cigar fell out of his mouth. A fighter forced by color and circumstance to moonlight as a redcap porter over at the depot on Third and Townsend, was launching himself into greatness.

“If there is a middleweight in the world who can beat Eddie Booker, we can’t name him,” Muller wrote. “After the masterful performance he turned in when he decisively outpointed Lloyd Marshall, he would be the odds on choice if he were to fight Tony Zale, division boss.”

Marshall, a 2010 International Boxing Hall of Fame Inductee, recovered from the loss and went on to beat Charley Burley and stop Ezzard Charles to become the number one-ranked contender within twelve months. He was considered by Muller to be about the best puncher in two divisions and the fact that he knocked Burley and Charles down a total of ten times confirmed that notion. It also confirmed that Booker had the kind of chin found in a quarry: Marshall landed three house-wrecking rights in the last round and Booker neither staggered nor blinked. Incredibly, Booker went straight from the auditorium to the sick bed after his victory —he had the flu.

And then fate stuck out its foot and tripped him.

In January 1943, he faced unorthodox speedster Jack Chase and was surprisingly outboxed, taking four of fifteen rounds. He was in the hospital for a damaged eye soon afterwards. A previous eye injury had been suffered, though his family believed that foul play was afoot this time. Booker’s step-daughter recalled talk of scissors being used to remove stuffing from the offending glove; It was assumed that this happened before the second fight with Archie Moore, but Booker faced Chase only a month after that and he would be the likelier suspect. Chase was a shady character, Archie was not.

Chase spent most of his younger years in an industrial school for boys, a state reformatory, and a penitentiary in Colorado for crimes ranging from assault to vagrancy. Thirty-nine bouts into his professional career he earned a two-year bid for burglary. Two years after his release he shot fellow Murderers’ Row member Aaron “Tiger” Wade in a bar on Fillmore Street. They took it to the ring six months later in what must have been ‘the grudge match di tutti grudge matches.’ The end of it raised eyebrows. Chase was hopelessly behind on the cards when Wade was suddenly blinded in the last round, floored, and after informing the referee he couldn’t see, the bout was stopped. Chase won on a technical knockout.

Chase’s disposition and prior history point toward his being responsible for Booker’s eye injury. The timing is right too. However, the real story may be less dramatic—Muller mentioned that Booker sustained the injury on a shipyard job that he had taken to support the war effort.

Whatever the truth is, the fighter languished for twenty-four days in a San Francisco hospital in February 1943. He was faced with a grave decision, though it wouldn’t be an uninformed one: Doctors warned that returning to the ring after eye surgery invited blindness. The boxing commission chimed in and said that he would have to submit to an optometrist’s exam after every bout.

Eddie Booker made his decision; he would tempt fate and storm the gates.

The San Francisco Bay Area would be the battleground.

__________________

Check back soon for Part 2 of “Shadow Boxing at the Golden Gate.”

Opening graphic (“San Francisco, Golden Gate in fire chamber”) courtesy of Ali Ertürk and artofhdr.com.

Springs Toledo can be contacted at scalinatella@hotmail.com.

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Springs Toledo

Haney-Garcia Redux with the Focus on Harvey Dock

Published

7 hours ago

April 22, 2024

Arne K. Lang

Haney-Garcia-Redux-with-the-Focus-on-Harvey-Dock

Saturday’s skirmish between Ryan Garcia and WBC super lightweight champion Devin Haney was a messy affair, and yet a hugely entertaining fight fused with great drama. In the aftermath, Garcia and Haney were celebrated – the former for fooling all the experts and the latter for his gallant performance in a losing effort – but there were only brickbats for the third man in the ring, referee Harvey Dock.

Devin Haney was plainly ahead heading into the seventh frame when there was a sudden turnabout when Garcia put him on the canvas with his vaunted left hook. Moments later, Dock deducted a point from Garcia for a late punch coming out of a break. The deduction forced a temporary cease-fire that gave Haney a few precious seconds to regain his faculties. Before the round was over, Haney was on the deck twice more but these were ruled slips.

The deduction, which effectively negated the knockdown, struck many as too heavy-handed as Dock hadn’t previously issued a warning for this infraction. Moreover, many thought he could have taken a point away from Haney for excessive clinching. As for Haney’s second and third trips to the canvas in round seven, they struck this reporter – watching at home – as borderline, sufficient to give referee Dock the benefit of the doubt.

In a post-fight interview, Ryan Garcia faulted the referee for denying him the satisfaction of a TKO. “At the end of the day, Harvey Dock, I think he was tripping,” said Garcia. “He could have stopped that fight.”

Those that played the rounds proposition, placing their coin on the “under,” undoubtedly felt the same way.

The internet lit up with comments assailing Dock’s competence and/or his character. Some of the ponderings were whimsical, but they were swamped by the scurrilous screeching of dolts who find a conspiracy under every rock.

Stephen A. Smith, reputedly America’s highest-paid TV sports personality, was among those that felt a need to weigh-in: “This referee is absolutely terrible….Unreal! Horrible officiating,” tweeted Stephen A whose primary area of expertise is basketball.

Harvey Dock

Dock fought as an amateur and had one professional fight, winning a four-round decision over a fellow novice on a show at a non-gaming resort in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania. He says that as an amateur he was merely average, but he was better than that, a New Jersey and regional amateur champion in 1993 and 1994 while a student New Jersey’s Essex County Community College where he majored in journalism.

A passionate fan of Sugar Ray Leonard, he started officiating amateur fights in 1998 and six years later, at age 32, had his first documented action at the professional level, working low-level cards in New Jersey. The top boxing referees, to a far greater extent than the top judges, had long apprenticeships, having worked their way up from the boonies and Dock is no exception.

Per boxrec, Haney vs Garcia was Harvey Dock’s 364^th assignment in the pros and his forty-second world title fight. Some of those title fights were title in name only, they weren’t even main events, but, bit by bit, more lucrative offerings started coming his way.

On May 13, 2023, Dock worked his first fights in Nevada, a 4-rounder and then a 12-rounder on a card at the Cosmopolitan topped by the 140-pound title fight between Rolly Romero and Ismael Barroso. It was the first time that this reporter got to watch Dock in the flesh.

Ironically (in hindsight), the card would be remembered for the actions of a referee, in this case Tony Weeks who handled the main event. Barroso was winning the fight on all three cards when Weeks stepped in and waived it off in the ninth round after Romero cornered Barroso against the ropes and let loose a barrage of punches, none of which landed cleanly. Few “premature stoppages” were ever as garishly, nay ghoulishly, premature.

With all the brickbats raining down on Weeks, I felt a need to tamp down the noise by diverting attention away from Tony Weeks and toward Harvey Dock and took to the TSS Forum to share my thoughts. Referencing the 12-rounder, a robust junior welterweight affair between Batyr Akhmedov and Kenneth Sims Jr, I noted that Dock’s Las Vegas debut went smoothly. He glided effortlessly around the ring, making him inconspicuous, the mark of a good referee. (This post ran on May 15, two days after the fight.)

Folks at the Nevada State Athletic Commission were also paying attention. Dock was back in Las Vegas the following week to referee the lightweight title fight between Devin Haney and Vasyl Lomachenko and before the year was out, he would be tabbed to referee the biggest non-heavyweight fight of the year, the July 29 match in Las Vegas between Terence Crawford and Errol Spence Jr.

The Haney-Garcia fight wasn’t Harvey Dock’s best hour, I’ll concede that, but a closer look at his full body of work informs us that he is an outstanding referee.

—

While the Haney-Garcia bout was in progress, WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman threw everyone a curve ball, tweeting on “X” that Devin Haney would keep his title if he lost the fight. Everyone, including the TV commentators, was under the impression that the title would become vacant in the event that Haney lost.

Sulaiman cited the precedent of Corrales-Castillo II.

FYI: The Corrales-Castillo rematch, originally scheduled for June 3, 2005 and aborted on the day prior when Castillo failed to make weight, finally came off on Oct. 8 of that year, notwithstanding the fact that Castillo failed to make weight once again, scaling three-and-a-half pounds above the lightweight limit. He knocked out Corrales in the fourth round with a left hook that Las Vegas Review-Journal boxing writer Kevin Iole, alluding to the movie “Blazing Saddles,” described as Mongo-esque (translation: the punch would have knocked out a horse). After initially insisting on a rubber match, which had scant chance of happening, WBC president Jose Sulaiman, Mauricio’s late father, ruled that Corrales could keep his title.

Whether or not you agree with Mauricio Sulaiman’s rationale, the timing of his announcement was certainly awkward.

Haney’s mandatory is Spanish southpaw Sandor Martin (42-3, 15 KOs), a cutie best known for his 2021 upset of Mikey Garcia. A bout between Haney and Martin has the earmarks of a dull fight.

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In a Shocker, Ryan Garcia Confounds the Experts and Upsets Devin Haney

Published

2 days ago

April 21, 2024

David A. Avila

In-a-Shocker-Ryan-Garcia-Confounds-the-Experts-and-Upsets-Devin-Haney

Its good to be crazy. Like a fox.

Ryan “KingRy” Garcia knocked down WBC super lightweight titlist Devin Haney three times to remind everyone of his fighting abilities in winning by majority decision on Saturday.

“I just knew what I could do,” Garcia said.

Fans will not forget the lanky kid from Victorville, California now.

Garcia (25-1, 20 KOs) fooled everyone in playing crazy weeks before the fight, then showed shocking power to hand Haney (30-1, 15 KOs) his first loss as a professional at Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

Haney’s WBC super lightweight title was not at stake for Garcia because he weighed three pounds over the limit.

After Garcia seemingly acting out of control on social media, Haney’s guard must have slipped in the first round during the first few seconds as Garcia connected with that hellish left hook and Haney, with a look of shock in his eyes, almost went down. He barely survived the first round.

“He caught me with it,” said Haney.

During the next few rounds, Haney proceeded to advance toward Garcia seemingly fully aware of the lethal left hook. He used feints and rights to score with a busier approach as Garcia seemed cocked and ready to counter with a left hook.

In the fourth round it seemed Haney was confident he had regained control of the fight, but every time he opened up with more than a two-punch combination Garcia reminded him whose hands were faster and more dangerous.

Though Garcia seldom jabbed he seemed bent on looking for the right moment to unleash his deadly left hook. And every time the Southern California fighter opened up with a combination he scored and Haney dare not exchange.

A few times Haney smiled as if signifying he escaped.

In the seventh round Haney looked to punish Garcia’s body and instead was met with a three-punch combination included a left hook to the chin and down went Haney slumped on the ground. He managed to beat the count and as soon as Garcia came within reach Haney wrapped his arms around him with a python grip. Despite the warnings by referee Harvey Dock, the fallen fighter would not release and Garcia impatiently fired a weak punch during the break. The referee deducted a point from Garcia though he could have deducted a point from Haney for not obeying his instructions to release his hold. Haney actually went down three times in the round but only one was counted by the referee.

From that point on Haney was very cautious but still looking to win by decision.

Though Garcia kept using a shoulder-roll defense that left his body exposed, he would retaliate with three and four punch combinations that usually Haney could defend against other fighters.. But Garcia’s blazing combinations were too fast to defend.

In the 10^th round Haney looked to attack and was countered by Garcia’s right and a blinding left hook to the chin and another two blows that sent the former undisputed lightweight champion to the floor again.

It didn’t look good for Haney to survive.

Garcia walked into the 11^th round still composed and never out-of-control He dared Haney to exchange and when within striking distance Garcia unleashed another lightning combination and down went Haney again with a defeated look.

Both fighters had fought each other as amateurs six times so there were no surprises between them. But Garcia’s power and speed were superior and that was the difference in a professional fight.

In the final round both were cautious with Garcia’s combination punching proving too dangerous for Haney to open up. Garcia celebrated early as the round ended confident of victory.

After 12 rounds Garcia was seen the victor by majority decision 112-112, 114-110, 115-109.

“You really thought I was crazy,” Garcia told the interviewer and the crowd. “You guys hated on me.”

Other Bouts

Arnold Barboza (30-0) won a curious split decision victory over United Kingdom’s Sean McComb (18-2) in a 10-round super lightweight fight. McComb’s long reach and busy southpaw style gave Barboza trouble. But he managed to win the fight though the crowd was not pleased.

Bektemir Melikuziev (14-1, 10 KOs) defeated France’s Pierre Dibombe (22-1-1) by technical decision after eight rounds due to a cut on his eye from an accidental head butt. It was a very competitive super middleweight fight.

Costa Rica’s David Jimenez (16-1, 11 KOs) outworked John “Scrappy Ramirez (13-1, 9 KOs) in a 12-round scrap to upset the Los Angeles based fighter. After a few close rounds Jimenez simply bullied his way inside and forced Ramirez against the ropes and unloaded his guns.

After 12 rounds two judges saw it 117-111 and 116-114 all for Jimenez.

“I’m a hard-working man from Cartago I come from nothing,” said Jimenez. “My corner told me I had to work inside.”

Charles Conwell (19-0, 14 KOs) stepped on the gas early with vicious body shots and uppercuts and blasted through the resilient Nathaniel Gallimore (22-8-1, 17 KOs) for several rounds. After a brutal fifth and sixth round the referee halted the one-side beating in favor of Conwell who was fighting for the first time under the Golden Boy banner.

Another winner was Sergiy Derevyanchenko (15-5) by decision over Vaughn Alexander (18-11-1) in a super middleweight match.

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Haney and Garcia: Bipolar Opposites

Published

2 days ago

April 20, 2024

TSS Press

Haney and Garcia: Bipolar Opposites

One young man flew halfway around the world to take on a world champion in his own living room; not once, but twice. The other young man quit prior to one fight, and then again during another one.

The first guy mentioned is an obedient son of an ultra-streetwise father. The type of parent where, if he doesn’t know the answer (and more times than not he most likely does), he will know where to find it. The second guy doesn’t appear to have that quality guidance scenario going on for him, which is probably for the best, because he believes he has all the answers.

The first guy is on record as saying he wants to go down in boxing history as an all-time great. The other guy? He decided not to continue in a fight while he was still sporting an undefeated record. You may think to yourself if there was ever a time to soldier through, right?

Then yesterday, that same guy missed making weight by 3.2 pounds, and seemed to be more than fine with it, to the point where he actually appeared to be quite pleased with himself.

If you haven’t heard, Devin Haney and Ryan Garcia are going to share a boxing ring in a twelve round go for God knows what will be at stake by the time they actually punch off. The fact that no one from Garcia’s team has stepped in and rescued him from these unfolding events, his own personal well-being, and/or not to mention Devin Haney is, well, troubling in and of itself.

Back in the amateur days, the record shows they split six fights. They were boys back then, so it means zero. If anything, you’d want to be the older of the two, and Ryan had over a three-month age advantage. If you’ve only been on the planet for a total of 120 months or so, every extra month could be a big enough difference in strength and development. Now as world class professionals in their prime? That’s different. Younger is always better. Devin is that guy.

Haney and Garcia fought six times for free but will fight only once as professionals. Then one of them will continue with their march for historic greatness, while the other will head back to Kamp Krazy, where he’s the current Mayor.

It’s never smart to lay 8-1, 9-1 in boxing. And if you see taking Garcia as a value bet with +500 to +600 and beyond, you don’t understand value and you evidently don’t like money.

There is, however, a wagering opportunity here.

Total Rounds: Fight doesn’t go 10.5 rounds.

Take anything over +125. It’s worth a unit on a scale of 5. Logically, there are a lot of ways to cash this ticket: legitimate victory, meltdown, catching lightning in a bottle, etc. Or simply the exiting stage left of a guy who may be already plotting his next career move.

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