Boxing Obituaries 2018 PART TWO: (H-W)

Published

5 years ago

December 30, 2018

In 2018, the “10 count” was tolled for an unusually high number of notable boxing personalities – so many that we here at TSS elected to publish our annual year-end obits story in two parts. Here is PART TWO.

Joergen Hansen – A 1968 Olympian, Hansen was 78-14 in a 13-year career. He was 9-2 in European welterweight title fights but his lone trip to the United States ended in disaster when he was knocked out in the opening round by Pipino Cuevas on the undercard of a big show at the Houston Astrodome. In 2010 he was diagnosed with pugilistic dementia. On March 15 at age 74 in Aalborg, Denmark.

Brendan Ingle – Born in Dublin, one of 15 children, Ingle made little headway as a pro boxer, finishing 19-14, but became one of the most revered trainers of his generation. His grubby little gym in the hardscrabble east end of Sheffield, England, produced five world champions, most notably Naseem Hamed. On May 25 at age 77 in Sheffield from a brain hemorrhage.

Dave Jacobs – Jacobs and his assistant Janks Morton built an amateur boxing dynasty at a rec center in Palmer Park, Maryland. He guided his most prominent student, Sugar Ray Leonard, to an Olympic gold medal and was an assistant to Angelo Dundee during much of Leonard’s pro career. He was also associated with Mike Tyson when Tyson returned from prison. On March 23 at age 84 in Washington, DC, from congestive heart failure.

Alonzo Johnson – Before assuming the role of a trial horse, he split two fights with future light heavyweight champion Willie Pastrano, outpointed a faded Nino Valdes and troubled a young Cassius Clay while losing a 10-round decision in a nationally televised fight. The former New York Golden Gloves champion was 84 when he passed away on Nov. 22 in Braddock, Pennsylvania.

Alvin Blue Lewis – From the meanest streets of Detroit and the meaner confines of Michigan’s Jackson State Prison, Lewis, a heavyweight, was 30-6 in a career that began in 1966. In his most famous fight he was stopped in the 11^th round by former sparring partner Muhammad Ali at Dublin’s Croke Park. He was suffering from dementia when he died on Jan. 21 at age 75 in Flint.

John McCain – A passionate boxing fan, the former POW served six terms in the U.S. Senate and was the 2008 Republican nominee for President. An advocate of federal oversight of professional boxing, he designed the Muhammad Ali Boxing Reform Act intended to free boxers from the stranglehold of long-term promotional contracts. On Aug. 25 in Cornville, AZ, at age 81 of brain cancer.

Martin McGarry – An immigrant from County Mayo, Ireland, McGarry founded a boxing club on Chicago’s South Side and became a legend in Chicagoland amateur boxing circles. On Jan. 24 at age 66 in Chicago from a rare hereditary disease that had claimed other members of his family.

Rafael Mendoza – The Merida, Mexico native was involved in boxing for more than 50 years, serving the sport as a journalist, booking agent, matchmaker, and manager. He advised 26 world title-holders and was the original manager of Canelo Alvarez. Fluent in many languages, Mendoza was an authority on the life of Frank Sinatra. He was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2015. On March 8 in Guadalajara at age 80 of lung cancer.

Karl Mildenberger – Germany’s biggest boxing star since Max Schmeling, Mildenberger was the European heavyweight champion and had a 49-2-3 record when he became the first southpaw to challenge for the world heavyweight title, opposing Muhammad Ali before 45,000 in Frankfurt. He had his moments in the early rounds but the 24-year-old Ali, at the height of his powers, gradually assumed control and the fight was stopped in the 12^th. On Oct. 5 at age 80 in his birthplace of Kaiserlautern where in retirement he worked as a lifeguard.

Elisha Obed – The only fighter from the Bahamas to win a world title, Obed, born Everette Ferguson, accomplished the feat in 1975 when he stopped Brazil’s Miguel de Oliveira in the 11^th round in Paris for the WBC 154-pound diadem. Obed, who turned pro at age 14, compiled a 91-22-4 record with 60 knockouts. Most of his losses came very late in his 21-year career. On June 28 at age 66 in Nassau. He had been suffering from dementia.

Graciano Rocchigiani – A world title holder at 168 and 175 pounds, Rocchigiani finished his career with a record of 41-6-1. The four fighters that beat him (he fought Henry Maske and Dariusz Michaelzewski twice) were collectively 183-1-2 when he fought them. Born and raised in Germany, he died on Oct. 2 at age 54 in Belpasso, Italy, when he was hit by a car while taking a walk.

Luis Rosa Jr. – A 26-year-old featherweight with a 23-1 record, Rosa died on Jan. 14 from injuries suffered in a car crash near his New Haven, Connecticut home.

Maria Elena Rosa – Active from 1999 to 2005, Risa compiled a 19-1 record while competing mostly as a flyweight. She retired after losing a split decision to 47-1-1 Regina Halmich in Halmich’s hometown in Germany. On Dec. 18 at age 44 from cancer in her native Madrid.

Farid Salim – The “Rudolph Valentino of the Pampas” was recognized as the middleweight champion of Argentina when he invaded the U.S. where he had six TV fights, defeating Ted Wright and Joey Giambra, but losing to Wilbert McClure, Yama Bahama, Joey Archer, and Hurricane Carter. He finished 46-5-3 and was never stopped. In Salta, Argentina, on July 17 at age 81.

James Scott – A light heavyweight, Scott had 22 pro fights, the first 11 in Miami Beach and the last 11, seven of which were televised, inside the walls of New Jersey’s Rahway State Prison where he was serving a 30-40 year sentence as a multiple offender. At Rahway, he outpointed future light heavyweight champion Eddie Mustafa Muhammad, then known as Eddie Gregory, and lost a 10-round decision to future cruiserweight champion Dwight Muhammad Qawi, then known as Dwight Braxton. Paroled in 2005, he died on May 8 at age 70 (or thereabouts) in a New Jersey nursing home.

Jay Searcy – He spent most of his 43-year career as a sports journalist with the Philadelphia Inquirer. After a 10-year stint as the paper’s sports editor, he returned to writing, his first love, specializing in boxing and horseracing. In 2000 he received the Nat Fleischer Award from the BWAA for excellence in sports journalism. On Dec. 29 at age 84 in Tellico Village, a suburb of Knoxville, TN, his home for the last 18 years.

Don Smith – A freelance journalist, Smith covered the Arizona boxing scene, amateur and professional, with a fine tooth comb. His “Arizona Boxing News and Notes,” which had various homes over the years, was a must-read for anyone with ties to boxing in Arizona. Smith was 75 when he was killed on May 15 by an apparent drunken driver while walking near his Phoenix home.

Grace Sseruwagi – As an amateur he knocked out Idi Amin and sparred with Cassius Clay and went on to become the most celebrated boxing coach in Uganda. On Feb. 6 at 87 in Kampala from complications of diabetes.

Bunny Sterling – Born in Jamaica, raised in London, Sterling was the first fighter born in the West Indies to win a British title. His signature win was an 8^th round stoppage of future WBC 154-pound champion Maurice Hope. Matched tough throughout his career, he finished with a record of 35-18-4. On Nov. 16 in London at age 70 after a four-year battle with dementia.

Langton Tinago – A legend in Zimbabwe, Tinago was a three-time British Empire lightweight champion who finished his career 86-20-3. On July 17 in Gweru, Zimbabwe after a long illness.

Jerry Turner – A teammate of ill-fated Charlie Mohr at the University of Wisconsin, Turner won the 1960 NCAA tournament in the 156-pound weight class. He was 6-0 as a pro before becoming a probation officer and then, after earning a law degree, a litigator in Milwaukee. In Mequon, Wisconsin at age 78.

Scott Wagner – He promoted dozens of shows at his family’s banquet hall, Michael’s Eighth Avenue in the Baltimore suburb of Glen Burnie. For a time, Wagner’s “Ballroom Boxing” series aired on various cable networks around the country. At age 49 of liver cancer.

Troy Waters – One of three boxing brothers who each won a national title, the Aussie was a three-time world title challenger at 154 pounds and finished his career 28-5. On May 18 at age 53 in Sydney from leukemia.

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Arne K. Lang

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Boxing Obituaries 2018 PART ONE: (A-G)

In a Massive Upset, Dakota Linger TKOs Kurt Scoby on a Friday Night in Atlanta

Published

10 mins ago

April 19, 2024

Arne K. Lang

In-a-Massive-Upset-Dakota-Linger-TKOs-Kurt-Scoby-on-a-Friday-Night-in-Atlanta

Although it was an 8-rounder on a show with two “tens,” Kurt Scoby’s match with Dakota Linger was accorded main event status on tonight’s card at the Overtime Elite Arena in Atlanta. This had everything to do with Scoby (pronounced Scooby), a former record-setting college running back who was considered one of the brightest prospects in the 140-pound weight class. “[Scoby] works harder than almost anyone I’ve ever seen,” said veteran New York promoter Lou DIBella in a conversation with Keith Idec. “But he’s literally getting better after every fight and he’s got the hammer of Thor, man. He can punch through walls.”

The Duarte, California product who has relocated to Brooklyn and trains at Gleason’s Gym, was undefeated (13-0) heading in and was expected to make Linger his ninth straight knockout victim. But Linger, a 29-year-old Buckhannon, West Virginia policemen whose first ring engagements were in Toughman competitions, wasn’t intimidated by Scoby’s press clippings or by Scoby’s bodybuilder physique.

Linger, who improved to 14-6-3 with his tenth win inside the distance, took the fight right to Scoby and repeatedly found a home for his overhand right. In the sixth round, after Linger strafed the ever-retreating Scoby with a barrage of punches, referee Malik Walid determined that he had seen enough and waived it off. The decision seemed a tad premature, but neither Scoby nor his cornermen offered anything in the way of a protest.

Tournament results

In the first installment of an 8-man super welterweight tournament, Brandon Adams returned to boxing after his second three-year layoff and showed no ring rust whatsoever. Adams, a 34-year-old family-man who grew up in the Watts district of LA, dismissed Ismael Villareal with a wicked punch to the liver in the waning seconds of round three. The official time was 2:59.

A former wold title challenger, Adams who improved to 23-3 (16 KOs), has become the king of boxing tournaments. He first attracted notice in 2018 when he won the fifth edition of “The Contender” series, scoring a wide 10-round decision over Shane Mosley Jr in the championship round.

Villareal, a second-generation prizefighter from the Bronx whose dad fought the likes of Hector Camacho, declined to 13-3.

Adams next opponent will be Francisco Veron who will bring a record of 14-0-1 (10).

In an energetic 10-rounder, Veron, a Florida-based Argentine with a strong amateur pedigree, scored a unanimous decision over Mexico-born, LA southpaw Angel Ruiz (18-3-1). The judges had it 100-90, 99-91, and 96-94.

Ruiz certainly had his moments, but Veron launched and landed many more punches despite fighting the last six rounds with a damaged eye.

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Avila Perspective, Chap. 281: The Devin Haney and Ryan Garcia Show

Published

1 day ago

April 18, 2024

David A. Avila

Avila-Perspective-Chap-281-The-Devin-and-Ryan-Show

Over the years bouts between old foes such as Devin Haney and Ryan Garcia tend to be surprising.

Yes, both are only 25 but have known each other for many years.

When undisputed super lightweight champion Haney (31-0, 15 KOs) steps into the prize ring at Barclays Center to meet challenger Garcia (24-1, 20 KOs) on Saturday, April 20, fans will be witnessing the continuation of a feud that began more than a decade ago.

And though the champion is a heavy favorite, familiarity is Garcia’s best weapon heading into their fight on the Golden Boy Promotions card that will be shown on PPV.COM with Jim Lampley and friends. DAZN pay-per-view is also streaming the card.

In many ways Haney and Garcia have ventured down the same path. From amateur sensations to fighting in Mexico while teens to asking for the biggest challenges available.

“Whichever version of Ryan shows up on April 20, I will be ready for him. Ryan Garcia is just another opponent to me,” said Haney who holds the WBC super lightweight title after his win over Regis Prograis.

The first time I saw Haney as a pro he battled the dangerous Mexican contender Juan Carlos Burgos at Pechanga Resort and Casino in Temecula. It was an impressive performance against a fighter who fought three times for a world title.

Haney was 19 at the time.

My first look at Garcia as a pro was in his first bout in the U.S. when he met Puerto Rico’s Jonathan Cruz at the Exchange in downtown Los Angeles. The Boricua looked at Garcia and tried intimidating him with stares, taunts and the usual patter. During the fight both swung and missed until the second round when Garcia zeroed in and took him out.

Garcia had just turned 18, the legal age to fight in California.

Both fighters did not have the Olympics credentials that lead to fame. But their talent has allowed them to fight through the dense smoke that is professional boxing.

Haney has defeated numerous world champions such as Prograis, Vasyl Lomachenko and George Kambosos Jr., while Garcia has stopped champions Javier Fortuna and Luke Campbell.

As amateurs, Garcia and Haney battled six times with each winning three.

“They know each other very well,” said Oscar De La Hoya of Golden Boy Promotions. “Ryan is going to beat Devin Haney.”

Haney has a buttery-smooth style with one of the best jabs in boxing. He’s very adept at keeping distance and not allowing anyone to fight him inside. His reflexes are outstanding, yet he seldom fights inside. That’s his weakness.

Garcia fights tall and has superb hand speed and a lightning quick left hook. Though his defense lacks tightness his ability to rip off three-punch combinations in a blink of an eye pauses opponents from bullying their way inside.

“These guys always just look at me and look at me like I don’t know how to box,” said Garcia on social media. “Why was I one of the best fighters in the amateurs. Why was I a 15-time National champion…why did I beat everyone I came across.”

Haney is a strong favorite by oddsmakers to defeat Garcia. But you can never tell when it comes to fighters that know each other well and are athletically gifted.

When Sergio Mora challenged Vernon Forrest he was a big underdog. When Tim Bradley fought Manny Pacquiao the first time, he was also the underdog. And when Andy Ruiz met Anthony Joshua few gave him a chance.

Haney and Garcia have history in the ring. It should be an interesting battle.

PPV.COM

Jim Lampley will be leading the broadcast on PPV.COM for the Haney-Garcia card at Barclays and texting with fans on the card live. He will be accompanied by journalists Lance Pugmire, Dan Conobbio and former champion Chris Algieri.

The PPV.COM broadcast begins at 5 p.m. PT. and is available in Canada and the USA.

Other News

MMA stars Nate Diaz and Jorge Masvidal will be holding a media day event on Friday, April 19, at NOVO at L.A. Doors open at 5:30 p.m.

Diaz and Masvidal will be boxing against each other in a grudge match on June 1 at the KIA Forum in Inglewood, Calif. The two MMA stars met five years at UFC 244 with Masvidal winning by TKO over Diaz due to cuts.

This is a grudge match, but under boxing rules.

Fight card in Commerce, Calif.

360 Promotions returns to Commerce Casino on Saturday April 20 with undefeated super lightweight Cain Sandoval leading the charge.

Sandoval (12-0) faces Angel Rebollar (8-3) in the main event that will be shown live on UFC Fight Pass. Also on the card are two female events including hot prospect Lupe Medina (5-0) versus Sabrina Persona (3-1) in a minimumweight clash.

Doors open at 4 p.m.

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Boxing Odds and Ends: The Heavyweight Merry-Go-Round

Published

3 days ago

April 16, 2024

Arne K. Lang

Boxing Odds and Ends: The Heavyweight Merry-Go-Round

There were few surprises when co-promoters Eddie Hearn and Frank Warren and their benefactor HE Turki Alalshikh held a press conference in London this past Monday to unveil the undercard for the Beterbiev-Bivol show at Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on June 1. Most of the match-ups had already been leaked.

For die-hard boxing fans, Beterbiev-Bivol is such an enticing fight that it really doesn’t need an attractive undercard. Two undefeated light heavyweights will meet with all four relevant belts on the line in a contest where the oddsmakers straddled the fence. It’s a genuine “pick-‘em” fight based on the only barometer that matters, the prevailing odds.

But Beterbiev-Bivol has been noosed to a splendid undercard, a striking contrast to Saturday’s Haney-Garcia $69.99 (U.S.) pay-per-view in Brooklyn, an event where the undercard, in the words of pseudonymous boxing writer Chris Williams, is an absolute dumpster fire.

The two heavyweight fights that will bleed into Beterbiev-Bivol, Hrgovic vs. Dubois and Wilder vs. Zhang, would have been stand-alone main events before the incursion of Saudi money.

Hrgovic-Dubois

Filip Hrgovic (17-0, 13 KOs) and Daniel Dubois (20-2, 19 KOs) fought on the same card in Riyadh this past December. Hrgovic, the Croatian, was fed a softie in the form of Australia’s Mark De Mori who he dismissed in the opening round. Dubois, a Londoner, rebounded from his loss to Oleksandr Usyk with a 10^th-round stoppage of corpulent Jarrell “Big Baby” Miller.

There’s an outside chance that Hrgovic vs. Dubois may be sanctioned by the IBF for the world heavyweight title.

The May 18 showdown between Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury has a rematch clause. The IBF is next in line in the rotation system for a unified heavyweight champion and the organization has made it plain that the winner of Usyk-Fury must fulfill his IBF mandatory before an intervening bout.

The best guess is that the Usyk-Fury winner will relinquish the IBF belt. If so, Hrgovic and Dubois may fight for the vacant title although a more likely scenario is that the organization will keep the title vacant so that the winner can fight Anthony Joshua.

Wilder-Zhang

The match between Deontay Wilder (43-3-1, 42 KOs) and Zhilei Zhang (26-2-1, 21 KOs) is a true crossroads fight as both Wilder, 38, and Zhang, who turns 41 in May, are nearing the end of the road and the loser (unless it’s a close and entertaining fight) will be relegated to the rank of a has-been. In fact, Wilder has hinted that this may be his final rodeo.

Both are coming off a loss to Joseph Parker.

Wilder last fought on the card that included Hrgovic and Dubois and was roundly out-pointed by a man he was expected to beat. It’s a quick turnaround for Zhang who opposed Parker on March 8 and lost a majority decision.

Other Fights

Either of two other fights may steal the show on the June 1 event.

Raymond Ford (15-0-1, 8 KOs) meets Nick Ball (19-0-1, 11 KOs) in a 12-round featherweight contest. New Jersey’s Ford will be defending the WBA world title he won with a come-from-behind, 12th-round stoppage of Otabek Kholmatov in an early contender for Fight of the Year. Liverpool’s “Wrecking” Ball, a relentless five-foot-two sparkplug, had to settle for a draw in his title fight with Rey Vargas despite winning the late rounds and scoring two knockdowns.

Hamzah Sheeraz (19-0, 15 KOs) meets fellow unbeaten Austin “Ammo” Williams (16-0, 11 KOs) in a 12-round middleweight match. East London’s Sheeraz, the son of a former professional cricket player, is unknown in the U.S. although he trained for his recent fights at the Ten Goose Boxing Gym in California. Riding a skein of 13 straight knockouts, he has a date with WBO title-holder Janibek Alimkhanuly if he can get over this hurdle.

The Forgotten Heavyweight

“Unbeaten for seven years, the man nobody wants to fight,” intoned ring announcer Michael Buffer by way of introduction. Buffer was referencing Michael Hunter who stood across the ring from his opponent Artem Suslenkov.

This scene played out this past Saturday in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. It was Hunter’s second fight in three weeks. On March 23, he scored a fifth-round stoppage of a 46-year-old meatball at a show in Zapopan, Mexico.

The second-generation “Bounty Hunter,” whose only defeat prior to last weekend came in a 12-rounder with Oleksandr Usyk, has been spinning his wheels since TKOing the otherwise undefeated Martin Bakole on the road in London in 2018. Two fights against hapless opponents on low-budget cards in Mexico and a couple of one-round bouts for the Las Vegas Hustle, an entry in the fledgling and largely invisible Professional Combat League, are the sum total of his activity, aside from sparring, in the last two-and-a-half years.

Hunter’s chances of getting another big-money fight took a tumble in Tashkent where he lost a unanimous decision in a dull affair to the unexceptional Suslenkov who was appearing in his first 10-round fight. The scores of the judges were not announced.

You won’t find this fight listed on boxrec. As Jake Donovan notes, the popular website will not recognize a fight conducted under the auspices of a rogue commission. (Another fight you won’t find on boxrec for the same reason is Nico Ali Walsh’s 6-round split decision over the 9-2-1 Frenchman, Noel Lafargue, in the African nation of Guinea on Dec. 16, 2023. You can find it on YouTube, but according to boxrec, boxing’s official record-keeper, it never happened.)

Anderson-Merhy Redux

The only thing missing from this past Saturday’s match in Corpus Christi, Texas, between Jared Anderson and Ryad Merhy was the ghost of Robert Valsberg.

Valsberg, aka Roger Vaisburg, was the French referee who disqualified Ingemar Johansson for not trying in his match with LA’s Ed Sanders in the finals of the heavyweight competition at the 1952 Helsinki Olympics. Valsberg tossed Johansson out of the ring after two rounds and Johansson was denied the silver medal. The Swede redeemed himself after turning pro, needless to say, when he demolished Floyd Patterson in the first of their three meetings.

Merhy was credited with throwing only 144 punches, landing 34, over the course of the 10 rounds. Those dismal figures yet struck many onlookers as too high. (This reporter has always insisted that the widely-quoted CompuBox numbers should be considered approximations.)

Whatever the true number, it was a disgraceful performance by Merhy who actually showed himself to have very fast hands on the few occasions when he did throw a punch. With apologies to Delfine Persoon, a spunky lightweight, U.S. boxing promoters should think twice before inviting another Belgian boxer to our shores.

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